Principal Investigator
Prof. Ananya Rao
FASc, FNA
Professor of Chemistry
Department of Chemistry, Deccan Institute of Science
Swarnajayanti Fellow
Chair, Clean Energy Materials Programme
Ananya leads the lab. She loves a good cyclic voltammogram and a better cup of chai.
Ananya Rao is Professor of Chemistry at the Deccan Institute of Science, where she leads a group of twenty researchers working on electrochemical energy storage.
Her group discovered the first layered sodium oxide cathode to keep more than 90% of its capacity after 2,000 cycles, and built an operando X-ray cell now used in labs on four continents. 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 Chemistry, Deccan Institute of Science
- 2015 – 2022
Associate Professor, Deccan Institute of Science
- 2012 – 2015
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Cambridge
Education
- 2012
PhD in Solid State Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science
Thesis: Ion transport in layered transition-metal oxides
- 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 Energy Materials
- 2024 – present
Chair, Clean Energy Materials Programme, Deccan Institute of Science
Invited Talks
- 2026
Sodium batteries for the grid, Gordon Research Conference on Batteries
- 2025
Watching batteries work, Materials Research Society Fall Meeting