The focus of our current research is on exploring routes to design novel structures via self- or directed-assembly. On a broader perspective, we are interested in understanding principles of self-organisation in a wide spectrum of condensed matter, especially soft matter, systems to exploit them in the context of materials science. To this end our research develops, adapts, and applies computational methods, uses tools of statistical mechanics, and often undertakes a survey of the underlying energy landscape for the system of interest. An outline of current research activities is given below.

Nanoscale and Colloidal Self-assembly
Self-assembly of nanoparticles and colloidal building blocks has enormous potential as a means of structure fabrication because of the scope for tuning the interparticle interactions under laboratory conditions. Anisotropy in interactions, now increasingly being achieved by either shape anisotropy or heterogeneous (patchy) surface chemistry at the nano- or micro-scale, has greatly enhanced the prospect of building complex three-dimensional architectures in a bottom-up fabrication. However, design rules for engineering their assembly into target structures are yet rather limited. We seek to devise strategies for programmed assembly of nanoparticles and colloidal building blocks in silico and to elucidate the kinetics of assembly in close connection with contemporary experimental research.
Self-organisation of Liquid Crystals
Self-organisation of liquid crystals is a remarkably rich phenomenon with emergence of partial long-range order to a variable degree. Of our particular interest are a spectacular variety of columnar phases, exhibited by discotic molecules, which may display an intriguing interplay between chirality and ferroelectricity. Apart from the fundamental importance of elucidating the phase behaviour for discotic liquid crystals, understanding the organisation of disc-shaped mesogens in columnar phases is of practical interest because of their immense potential opto-electronic applications.
Atomic, Molecular and Colloidal Clusters
While studies of atomic and molecular clusters, an intermediate between single entity and bulk matter, are important for fundamental understanding, they also shed light on a wide variety of phenomena at the nanoscale. Colloidal clusters, the mesoscopic counterpart of atomic or molecular clusters, have also emerged as an important system to study. Colloidal clusters, because of the features that colloidal particles are large enough to be amenable to direct real space imaging and the interparticle interactions are tunable, provide an attractive platform to investigate structure, energetics, and kinetics of finite-sized systems.