Biography

Dr. Arti Dua obtained her B.Sc and M.Sc from Delhi University, and Ph.D in theoretical chemical physics from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. She then spent three years at the Max-Planck Institute of Polymer Research in Germany as a postdoctoral fellow, and a year at the University of Edinburgh, UK before joining IIT Madras in December 2006.

Research Interests

Dr. Dua uses the methods of statistical mechanics and stochastic processes to study a wide range of problems in chemical physics and physical chemistry. The current research focuses on two main areas, stochastic reaction dynamics and statistical mechanics of complex fluids. These include:

• Developing stochastic theories for molecular catalysis
• Probing non-equilibrium kinetics of catalytic reactions
• Stochastic thermodynamics of cyclic networks of biochemical interest
• Modeling biopolymer dynamics using phenomenological and coarse-grained theories

Over the last ten years at IIT Madras, the research contributions of her group include developing a stochastic time based approach that unifies the the results of classical (deterministic) and single-molecule (stochastic) enzyme kinetics within a single theoretical framework; developing a new semi-empirical method for kinetic data analysis for unimolecular gas phase reactions that reconciles with the well-known RRKM theory; developing a phenomenological theory for contact formation dynamics in proteins that rationalizes the results of diverse experiments; and developing a coarse-grained analytical theory to understand the phenomenon of counterion condensation in charged polymers.