Ph.D. candidate in Physical & Theoretical Chemistry

Elious Mondal

I am a Ph.D. candidate in Chemistry at the University of Rochester, working with Prof. Pengfei (Frank) Huo on quantum dynamics and spectroscopy of molecular exciton–polaritons. My research focuses on developing mixed quantum–classical dynamics and open quantum systems frameworks to efficiently simulate linear and nonlinear spectra, transport, and collective effects in strongly coupled light–matter systems.

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About

I am currently pursuing my Ph.D. in Chemistry (2021–present) at the University of Rochester. Before that, I completed an integrated BS–MS in Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal (2016–2021), where I worked on non-adiabatic dynamics and decoherence corrections for surface hopping under the supervision of Dr. Varadharajan Srinivasan.

In the Huo group, I develop methods and software for simulating linear and nonlinear spectroscopies in large exciton–polariton systems by combining partial linearized density matrix (PLDM) dynamics with Lindblad-type descriptions, spin-mapping ideas, and open quantum systems techniques. My current work aims to understand how strong light–matter coupling and structured environments reshape quantum dynamics, spectroscopy, and transport in complex molecular systems.

I also build high-performance codes in Python and C++ that leverage MPI and modern numerical libraries, with the goal of making large-scale quantum dynamics and spectroscopy simulations more accessible to the community.

Awards & Fellowships

  • Finalist – ACS Physical Chemistry Graduate Awards (Theoretical Chemistry)

    American Chemical Society, 2025

  • Agnes M. and George Messersmith Fellowship

    University of Rochester (2025). One of the University’s most competitive dissertation fellowships, awarded to students showing exceptional ability and promise.

  • Wu Fellowship

    Department of Chemistry, University of Rochester (2024, 2023). Awarded by the Chemistry faculty committee for outstanding research in chemistry.

  • The Journal of Physical Chemistry Poster Award

    American Conference on Theoretical Chemistry (ACTC-2024) for work on efficient simulations of exciton–polariton spectroscopy.

  • Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) Fellowship

    Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India (2016–2021), supporting studies in fundamental sciences.

  • Certificate of Merit (AISSCE 2015)

    Awarded for outstanding performance in the Higher Secondary examination of CBSE.

Teaching & Outreach

  • Teaching assistantships

    CHM 451 – Quantum Chemistry (Graduate), University of Rochester, Fall 2023 & Fall 2022
    CHM 251/441 – Physical Chemistry I (Undergraduate), Fall 2022
    CHM 132 – General Chemistry II Laboratory, Spring 2022
    CHM 131 – General Chemistry I Laboratory, Fall 2021

  • Science outreach

    Co-designed and taught “Journey to Molecular World”, a short summer course (Summer 2022 & 2023) for K–12 students providing a brief introduction to theoretical and computational chemistry.

  • Mentoring

    Mentored multiple undergraduate and graduate students in theoretical and computational chemistry, including research projects on quantum dynamics and exciton–polariton spectroscopy.

Contact

The best way to reach me is by email. I am happy to discuss science, potential collaborations, and questions about my codes or publications.