Dr. Palash Dhara earned a PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT
Kharagpur). In different courses of his research career, he engaged in various interdisciplinary
projects related to soft matter, surface and interfacial science, mesoscale structure generation
through thin film instability, thin film drainage, etc.

Before joining Anant, he completed his postdoctoral tenure at Stanford University, USA. His postdoctoral research at Stanford University focused on studying bubble-solid interaction and the complex drainage behavior of entrapped liquid films between solid substrates and air bubbles in water and aqueous suspensions of colloidal particles. He was also a postdoctoral fellow at IIT Gandhinagar, where he successfully developed enzyme-tagged biofunctionalized self-propelled microscopic active motors and studied their dynamics under various conditions.

His PhD research was recognized with the prestigious “Shah-Schulman Award” for the best PhD thesis in the area of colloid and interface sciences for 2022, by the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE). He was also awarded multiple scholarships (GATE Scholarship, MHRD Fellowship, etc.) and travel grants for attending national and international conferences and science meetings (MRS Fall Meeting 2016, Boston, MA, USA).

At Anant, he wants to explore his expertise in creating micro or nanopatterned surfaces by utilizing instability-mediated surface patterning, soft-lithography techniques, etc. Surface patterning can be used as an effective tool for tailoring the wettability of a substrate, as well as bio-medical applications via bio-fabrication, anti-biofouling surfaces, antibacterial surfaces, etc. Structural superhydrophobic substrates or hybrid surfaces comprising different wetting regions would be very interesting for various studies like self-cleaning surfaces, fog harvesting, water vapor condensation, etc.