Dr. Pragati Pandey obtained her B.Sc(Hons.) (2010) and M.Sc. (2012) in Chemistry from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. She pursued her Ph.D. (2020) in Organometallic Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India, under the supervision of Prof. Jitendra K. Bera, where she worked on NHC-based proton-responsive ligands in bifunctional catalysis and mechanistic studies. In 2020, she moved to the  University of Pennsylvania, USA, for her post-doctoral research and worked with Prof. Eric J. Schelter in f-elements chemistry, mainly focused on quantum information science, functional molecular materials, and photocatalysis. To further expand her horizon in f-elements in October 2023, she moved to École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, where she worked as a scientist with Prof. Marinella Mazzanti on stabilization, isolation, and reactivity of unusual oxidation states of lanthanide and actinide metals for activation of small molecules. In September 2025, she joined Patliputra University (PPU), Patna, Bihar, as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry. After briefly served to PPU, in February 2026, Dr. Pandey joined the Inorganic Chemistry division of the Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Jodhpur, as an Assistant Professor. Her current research interests include understanding the fundamentals of rare earth elements in organometallic and coordination chemistry and their applications in functional molecular materials and (photo)catalysis.

Research

Dr. Pandey’s current research program focuses on expanding the landscape of rare earth elements chemistry, which are actually not “Rare but Critical” for the development of sustainable modern technologies. The research area mainly focuses on fundamental understanding of the structure, bonding, electronic, and magnetic properties of organometallic and coordination compounds of rare earth metals supported by advanced ligand platforms like cyclic (alkyl) (amino) carbene (CAAC) and mesoionic carbene (MIC). Beyond fundamental chemistry, the isolated rare earth metal complexes will be explored for applications in functional molecular materials with emergent quantum properties, challenging (photo)catalytic transformations, and activation of small molecules. Eventually, in the long run, the electronic, magnetic, and luminescent properties of molecular compounds of rare earth metals are harnessed for the critical and innovative technological advancements via highly collaborative interdisciplinary research in areas of spintronics, photonics, display technology, and critical mineral separation technology.