Faculty Profile
Dr. Garima Agrawal
Associate Professor
Office: A4-302
School of Chemical Sciences
E-mail: garima@iitmandi.ac.in
Phone: +91-1905-26-7827
Personal Information
- Associate Professor, IIT Mandi (2024-present)
- Assistant Professor, IIT Mandi (2019-2024)
- DST-Inspire Faculty, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India (2016-2019)
- Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Pharmaceutics, Ghent University, Belgium (2015-2016)
- Ph.D: DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, RWTH Aachen University, Germany, 2010-2014 (With Prof. Andrij Pich)
- M.Tech: (Polymer Science & Technology) Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Delhi, 2008-2010
- M.Sc: (Chemistry) from University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, 2006-2008
- B.Sc: (Chemistry) from University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, 2003-2006
Teaching
- CY506-Chemistry of Transition Elements
- CY555-Introduction to Polymer Science & Technology
- CY554-Science & Technology of Nanomaterials
- CY402-Applied Materials Chemistry
- DP403P-Research Literature Presentation I
- CY563P-Postgraduate Project I
Awards, Recognition and Membership
- Featured as Emerging Investigator in RSC Applied Polymers 2025, Biomaterials Science 2025, Chemical Communications 2023, and Nanoscale 2023 by Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
- Young Achiever Award 2023 by IIT Mandi (2023)
- NASI Young Scientist Platinum Jubilee Award 2022 by National Academy of Sciences India, (2022)
- DST-Inspire Faculty Award by DST, New Delhi, India (February 2016)
- Magna Cum Laude Award in Ph.D. from the Faculty of Natural Sciences, RWTH Aachen University, Germany (2015)
- DAAD scholarship for M.Tech. research project in Germany under DAAD-IIT Master's sandwich Program (2009)
- Council of scientific and Industrial Research Fellowship (CSIR-JRF) (2008)
- All India 123rd rank in GATE in Chemical Sciences (2008)
- 1st rank in M.Sc. final in Chemistry at Vedic Kanya Mahavidhyalaya, Jaipur (2008)
- 6th rank in BSc at the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur (2006)
- Certificate of merit in secondary examination under National Scholarship Scheme by Government of India (2004)
- State level Gargi Puraskar in secondary examination by Balika Shiksha Foundation, Rajasthan Government, Jaipur (2002)
Research Area
Polymer Chemistry, Materials Chemistry
- Synthesis of Functional Polymers
- Stimuli Responsive Polymers
- Biodegradable Polymers
- Microgels and Hydrogels
- Chemical designing of Nanostructured Materials
- Polymer based Interactive Materials for Targeted Applications such as Healthcare, Plant Care, Food Packaging
- Biomaterials
Research Interests
The aim of Functional Polymers and Nanomaterials Laboratory (FunPolyNanoLab) at Indian Institute of Technology Mandi is to develop functional polymers and colloidal particles with controlled chemical structure and morphology. Taking inspiration from nature, we focus in particular on the chemical design of macromolecules that show stimuli responsive behavior, self-assembly, and programmable degradation. We are particularly interested in the synthesis of novel polymer based micro/nanomaterials and using them for designing interactive materials with active properties for targeted applications such as catalysis, controlled release, plant care in agricultural applications, active packaging, water purification, functional coatings, biomaterials, drug delivery, tissue engineering etc.
Representative Publications
- Bhardwaj, D.; Kumar, S.; Agrawal, G.* "Multifunctional Microgels: From Material Design to Skin Wound Healing Applications", Small, 2026, e74406.
- Bhardwaj, D.; Chawla, V.; Nandwani, V.; Thakur, Y.; Singh, Y.; Agrawal, G.* "A multifunctional electrospun nanofiber/hydrogel based pro-healing bilayer dressing as a next generation biomaterial for skin wound care", Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 2025, 13, 11821. (Featured in J Mater Chem B- Most Popular Articles Collection 2025)
- Dhiman, A.; Thaper, P.; Bhardwaj, D.; Agrawal, G.* "Biodegradable Dextrin-Based Microgels for Slow Release of Dual Fertilizers for Sustainable Agriculture", ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2024, 16, 11860.
- Gupta, D.†; Dhiman, A.†; Sood, A.; Bharadwaj, R.; Silverman, N.; Agrawal, G.* "Dextran/eudragit S-100 based redox sensitive nanoparticles for colorectal cancer therapy", Nanoscale, 2023, 15, 3273. (Featured in Nanoscale Emerging Investigator Series 2023)
- Sood, A.,† Gupta, A.,† Bharadwaj, R.; Ranganath, P.; Silverman, N.; Agrawal, G.* "Biodegradable Disulfide Crosslinked Chitosan/stearic Acid Nanoparticles for Dual Drug Delivery for Colorectal Cancer", Carbohydrate Polymers, 2022, 294, 119833.