BIO
Sohini Bhattacharyya was born in Kolkata, India on April 3rd, 1991. Bhattacharyya grew up immersed in the richness of Bengali culture and developed a keen interest in the sciences, influenced by her parents who worked in the natural science field. Upon graduation from Presidency College with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, Bhattacharyya pursued an integrated PhD in material sciences at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, conducting research on metal-organic frameworks. After a brief stint as a postdoc at her PhD alma mater, she moved to the US in the summer of 2020 to work as a Rice Academy Fellow at Rice University. As a fellow, Bhattacharyya currently conducts research on the recycling of lithium batteries, mentors PhD and graduate students, and serves as a peer reviewer. Bhattacharyya lives in Houston with her husband. In this interview, Sohini Bhattacharyya delves into how her identity and extensive academic career have been shaped by her geologist father and biology professor mother, her upbringing in Kolkata, and her many academic mentors. She also provides her insight on the differences between the research culture of India and the US and shares her career goals, her advice to PhDs and Asian American women in science, and her passion for singing.