Dr Sanjukta Subudhi is a molecular microbiologist working as an associate director and senior fellow, and leading the Microbial Biofuels and Biochemical group at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi. Her group’s research focus spans the domain of biorefineries for the production of gaseous and liquid biofuels, bio-hydrogen, bio-methane, bio-butanol, bioethanol, and bio-jet fuel, using first-generation and next-generation feedstocks.
“My research contributions are recognised in the form of 70 high-impact, peer-reviewed international publications, four patents, one position paper, two white papers, four book chapters and one knowledge paper (2,420 citations, h-index of 26 and i10-index of 43). I have deliberated on my subject domains at over 140 national and international conferences,” says Subudhi. As the lead project coordinator, she got the opportunity to establish the Tata Chemicals Limited-TERI Centre of Excellence at TERI.
Subudhi obtained a PhD in molecular microbiology in 2001 from University of Delhi and then pursued post-doctoral research (2001-2003) in algal biotechnology from the National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, National Agency for Science and Technology Development, Bangkok, Thailand. Subsequently, she worked as a faculty scientist (2004-2008) at Pilot Plant Development Technology Research Institute, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand. She then returned to India and joined TERI in 2008.
“Human resources are key to developing technologies. They possess different skill sets. I believe in identifying their skill sets and giving them enough opportunities to use their critical thinking to identify research problems and come with their unique ideas and approach. I encourage them to showcase their creativity and continuously review their work and provide mentoring to enhance their research skill sets. This helps them in developing their unique technical skill sets and in contributing to R&D and demonstration of various bioprocesses,” says Subudhi.
During her spare time, Subudhi likes to cook special dishes, listen to music, watch news and read articles. Her key goal is to move various biofuel and biochemical technologies that are currently at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4-7 to the higher TRL 8 and above, in collaboration with industries. This can help in the commercialisation of various green biomolecules and contribute towards India’s bioeconomy growth.
