Ritika Gautam Singh

rgautam@iitk.ac.in

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Previously, I was a research associate with Prof. Kim. D. Janda at the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI). I pursued my Ph.D. from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Arizona, Tucson working with Prof. Elisa Tomat. My research interests are: Metals in Medicine, Biological Inorganic Chemistry, Drug Discovery and metal-based neuropharmacology. Recently, our group has also been interested in self-assembled metal complex based nanoaggregates. I was recently selected as an associate of Indian Academy of Science, Bengaluru.

Education

2006 - 09 - B.Sc. (Hons), Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi

2010 - 12 - M.Sc. Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD)

2012 - 17 - Ph.D. The University of Arizona, Tucson, USA

2017 - 19 - Research Associate: The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA

Awards and Recognitions

July 2025 - Ongoing - Associate Professor, IIT Kanpur

Sep 2019 - June 2025 - Assistant Professor, IIT Kanpur

2019 - Visiting Scientist: Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India.

2017 - 19 - Research Associate: The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA

Professional Experience

2026

2026 - Excellence-in-Teaching Award
2026 - CRSI Darshan Ranganathan Memorial Award Lecture 2027
2026 - P. K. Kelkar Young Faculty Research Fellowship IIT Kanpur 2026
2026 - Thieme Chemistry Journals Awardee 2026

2025

2025 - Merck Young Scientist Award 2025 - Season 4 Runner-Up in the Scientific Excellence category under Chemical Sciences
2025 - Recognition from Springer Nature for Outstanding Contribution to Research and Innovation (India Research Tour 2025)
2025 - Outstanding Early Career Researcher at 1st NOST-ECR hosted at IISER Bhopal, 27th - 29th June, 2025
2025 - Nominated by RSC for Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC) through Future Leaders in the Field (FLiTF) Scheme
2025 - Visiting Professor Position at École Normale Supérieure - Université PSL Paris, France.
2025 - Scientific High Level Visiting Fellowship (SSHN) - 2025, Embassy of France in India

2024

2024 - Selected as an Early Career Chemist to represent CRSI/ICS in the 3rd Commonwealth Chemistry Congress that was held in Stellenbosch, South Africa during 11-14 May, 2025
2024 - Young Associate of Indian Academy of Science, Bangalore – 2024 - 27
Director’s Letter for an exceptionally good rating in teaching for following courses.

CHM646: Bio-inorganic Chemistry during 2025-26-I
CHM113: General Chemistry during 2024-25-II
CHM649: Principles of Inorganic Chemistry during 2023-24-I
CHM241: Basic Inorganic Chemistry – I during 2023-24-III
CHM691A: Frontiers in Inorganic Chemistry during 2022-23-I
CHM242A: Basic Inorganic Chemistry during 2022-23-II
CHM649A: Principles of Inorganic Chemistry during 2020-21-I

2023

2023 - Recognized as 2023 Rising Stars in Organic and Inorganic Chemistry by American Chemical Society Journal ACS Organic & Inorganic Au.
2023 - Recognized as 2023 Royal Society of Chemistry Emerging Investigator by Chemical Communications

2019 and before

2019 - Alexander Von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellowship in Germany, 2019 - Waived
2019 - DST INSPIRE Faculty Fellowship – September 2019 - 2024.
2017 - COACH awardee: Career Launch and Acceleration, Fall ACS Meeting, Renaissance Washington, DC, Geraldine Richmond, August 19th, 2017.
2017 - The ACS Southern Arizona Section Women Chemist Group ACS Award, 2017.
2017 - Southern Arizona American Chemical Society Section Younger Chemists Award, 2017
2016 - Southern Arizona American Chemical Society Section Younger Chemists Award, 2016
2015 - David F. O’Brien Scholar in Chemistry, 2015.
2015 - Galileo Circle Scholar, 2015.
2015 - Distinguished Teaching Assistant Award The University of Arizona, Fall 2015.

Membership of Journal Editorial Boards

Editorial Board Member, Transition Metal Chemistry, Springer Nature (2026 -

Upcoming Invited Talks and Lectures

16th - 20th December, 2026

12th Asian Biological Inorganic Chemistry (AsBIC-12) conference at Jaipur, India.

24th - 27th October, 2026

Chemistry Meet, Jaypee Residency Manor, Mussoorie, India

14th - 15th October, 2026

Keynote Speaker at the International Conference on Chemistry for Science Innovation and Well-being (ICCSIW 2026), at Miranda House, University of Delhi

23rd July, 2026

Thieme India ChemTalks

21st - 26th June, 2026

2026 Metals in Medicine, Gordon Research Conference, Andover, New Hampshire

15th - 18th June, 2026

3rd International NOST Conference , at University of Bayreuth, Germany

8th June, 2026

Lakshya-Science Enrichment Program 2026@IITK

22nd - 26th March, 2026

ACS Spring 2026 Digital Meeting - Global Virtual Symposia

18th February, 2026

Love for Science – Conversations with Merck Young Scientist Award 2025 (MYSA) Winners

18th - 21st December 2025

Modern Trends in Inorganic Chemistry (MTIC-XXII), Delhi University, New Delhi, India

27th - 31st October 2025

International Symposium in Metallomics 10th. École Normale Supérieure (ENS-PSL), Paris, France

14th October 2025

Springer Nature India Research Tour Visit, IIT Kanpur

16th - 17th August 2025

CERTEX Organized TA-Workshop, IIT Kanpur

15th August 2025

Keynote Speaker at Summer Pathways Program at University of Puerto Rico Río Piedras, USA

4th - 5th July 2025

36th Mid-Year Meeting of Indian Academy of Sciences Bengaluru to be held at IISc Bengaluru.

26th to 29th June 2025

NOST (National Organic Symposium Trust (NOST-ESR)) - Early Career Research Symposium to be held at IISER Bhopal.

11th - 14th May 2025

3rd Commonwealth Chemistry Congress (CCC2025) Cape Town, South Africa, 11-14 May 2025.

10th - 14th Dec 2024

Workshop for Navodaya Vidyalayas Teachers held at IIT Kanpur

6th - 8th Dec 2024

PAN-IIT Meeting and Conference on Engineering in Medicine

25th - 27th Dec 2024

SPARC Project Symposium “Point-of-Care Healthcare Devices” & Pant Workshop Series on Medical Technology & Future Medicine

20th Nov 2024

IIT Kanpur – La Trobe University Research Academy Symposium On Healthcare Technology and Digital Engineering

8th - 10th Nov 2024

90th Annual Meeting of the Indian Academy of Sciences: 8–10 November 2024 held during in NISER Bhubaneswar/IIT Bhubaneswar.

26th July 2024

IIT Kanpur - University of Melbourne Joint Online Colloquium Bansal Workshop Series on Clinical & Community Medicine

3rd - 4th March 2024

International Conference on “Current Trends in Chemical Sciences for Sustainable Living” Shyam Lal College at University of Delhi.

7th - 11th Jan 2024

6th Symposium on Advanced Biological Inorganic Chemistry (SABIC-2024) held at Kolkata, India

Institute-level Responsibility

2026 - 28 - Vice-Chairperson of Student Placement Office, IIT Kanpur
2025 - Founding Executive Committee Member of Center for Educational Research and Teaching Excellence (CERTEX), 2024 - 26
2025 - Member, Academic Brochure for Undergraduate Students "Your IITK Academic Compass"
2025 - Member, Senate Students' Affairs Committee (SSAC), 2024 - 25
2024 - Member, Student Placement Cell (SPC) - 2023-24
2023 - Senate Scholarships and Prizes Committee (SSPC)
2022 - Warden of Girls Hostel 1 (GH1), 2022 - 25
2021 - Member of Senate Post-Graduate Committee (SPGC)

Other Professional Activities

Lab Development Coordinator (LDC) Virtual Labs Project, Ministry of Education, Government of India
Selection Committee for 'AcSIR Best Ph.D. Thesis Awards 2025 and 2026

Membership of Professional Societies

Member, American Chemical Society
Member, Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), London
Lifetime Member, Chemical Research Society of India (CRSI)
Lifetime Member, BioGroup-India
Society of Biological Inorganic Chemistry (2023 - 24)

Conferences/Science Camps/Workshops Organized

Convener, CERTEX Organized Teaching Assistant and Staff Workshop, IIT Kanpur, 22nd - 23rd August 2026
Coordinator of TRIPS-2025, Technology, Research, Innovation, and Policy Summit with the theme “Bridging Research, Innovation, and Policy for a Sustainable Future".
Convener, Biological and Chemical Approaches to Combat AMR, GSMST, IIT Kanpur, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences (FMDHS), University of Melbourne, 26th July 2025
Convener, CERTEX Organized Teaching Assistant and Staff Workshop, IIT Kanpur, 16th - 17th August 2025
Convener, Women in Science Conference, Modern Trends in Chemical and Biological Sciences, 6th - 7th October 2023
Bruker Single Crystal X-ray Diffraction Workshop User Training, IIT Kanpur, 27th - 28th February 2020