Dr Ajay Jha

Ajay is using ultrafast spectroscopic methods to unravel mechanistic details of light induced post-translational installation of reactive protein side chains.

He received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi in 2007. After finishing his masters in organic chemistry from University of Delhi in 2009, he moved to Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai for his Ph.D. under the supervision of Professor Jyotishman Dasgupta. His thesis work (August 2009 – September 2015) was focused on developing mechanistic understanding of ultrafast electron transfer reactions in homogeneous solutions and at heterogeneous interfaces by employing ultrafast transient absorption and Raman spectroscopies. In 2015, he moved to Max Planck Institute for Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) to work with Professor R. J. Dwayne Miller. At MPSD (Oct. 2015 – Sept. 2020), whilst there he used ultrafast multidimensional electronic spectroscopy and electron diffraction techniques to study energy and electron transfer processes in natural and artificial photosynthetic systems.