Title
Current Director of IIT Ropar, Professor Rajeev Ahuja
(Tenure- Year: 2021- Till Present)
(Tenure- Year: 2021- Till Present)
Description
Professor Rajeev Ahuja is a Professor of computational Materials science at Uppsala University, Sweden. Currently, he is the Director of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar, India serving from April 2021. He was also holding the additional charge of Director of IIT Guwahati, India from Nov. 2023 to May 2024. He is one of the most highly cited researchers as well as top 5 materials Scientist in Sweden & India. He has done his Ph.D. from I.I.T. Roorkee in India in 1992. Same year he has joined Uppsala University, Sweden as post-doctoral fellow. He became Professor in 2007 at Uppsala University, Sweden. His main area of interest is material science with focus on energy such Batteries, Hydrogen Storage & production, sensors as well high-pressure physics. He has published more than 1200 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals H-Index of 106, i-10 index 817 & no. of citations more than 52147. Dr. Ahuja has supervised 30 PhD students and more than 35 postdocs. He has been elected FRSC UK, APS-Fellow by American Physical Society (APS), USA and appointed in the Advisory Board of Journal of Materials Chemistry A & Materials Advances from Royal Society of Chemistry (England). He is Associate Editor of Nano Energy. He was also awarded Beller Lectureship for the APS March Meeting 2017. He been awarded the Wallmark prize for 2011 from KVA (Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences), and has previously received the Eder Lilly & Sven Thureus prize and the Benzelius prize from KVS. Dr. Ahuja is an elected member of the Swedish Royal Society of Sciences (KVS). He has been awarded Best Alumnus award from IIT Roorkee, India for excellence in research for 2021.
Contributions & Vision at IIT Ropar
• Under his leadership, IIT Ropar has sharpened its research focus, deep-tech orientation and industry collaboration. (For example: positions in advanced materials, quantum/AI applications)
• He emphasises a model of “global research–India innovation”, seeking to leverage both his international network and the Indian ecosystem.
• Prof. Ahuja is known for the student-friendly, accessible leadership style: in media reports his rapport with students (e.g., the viral sunglasses moment at convocation) has been highlighted. Indulgexpress
• He underscores the teacher-student relationship as founded on mutual trust and friendship, indicating his commitment to mentoring and institutional culture.
Contributions & Vision at IIT Ropar
• Under his leadership, IIT Ropar has sharpened its research focus, deep-tech orientation and industry collaboration. (For example: positions in advanced materials, quantum/AI applications)
• He emphasises a model of “global research–India innovation”, seeking to leverage both his international network and the Indian ecosystem.
• Prof. Ahuja is known for the student-friendly, accessible leadership style: in media reports his rapport with students (e.g., the viral sunglasses moment at convocation) has been highlighted. Indulgexpress
• He underscores the teacher-student relationship as founded on mutual trust and friendship, indicating his commitment to mentoring and institutional culture.