Principal Investigator
Prof. Ananya Rao
FASc, FNA
Professor of Inorganic Chemistry
Department of Chemistry, Deccan Institute of Science
Swarnajayanti Fellow
Chair, Sustainable Catalysis Programme
Ananya leads the lab. Her favourite element changes every week; right now it is cobalt.
Ananya Rao is Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the Deccan Institute of Science, where she leads a group of twenty researchers working on organometallic catalysis.
Her group discovered iron pincer complexes that hydrogenate esters as well as precious-metal catalysts, and the first cobalt catalyst for asymmetric C–H activation. Before starting her lab she was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cambridge, and she received her PhD from the Indian Institute of Science.
Professional & Research Experience
- 2022 – present
Professor of Inorganic Chemistry, Deccan Institute of Science
- 2015 – 2022
Associate Professor, Deccan Institute of Science
- 2012 – 2015
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Cambridge
Education
- 2012
PhD in Inorganic Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science
Thesis: Pincer complexes of iron and cobalt
- 2007
MSc in Chemistry, University of Hyderabad
Awards & Honours
- 2026
Swarnajayanti Fellowship, National Research Foundation
- 2024
Fellow, Academy of Sciences
- 2018
Young Scientist Medal, National Science Academy
Service & Leadership
- 2023 – present
Associate Editor, Journal of Inorganic Chemistry Letters
- 2024 – present
Chair, Sustainable Catalysis Programme, Deccan Institute of Science
Invited Talks
- 2026
Iron catalysts for a greener chemical industry, Gordon Research Conference on Organometallic Chemistry
- 2025
Catching nickel(III), International Conference on Coordination Chemistry