The Physics Department has chosen one of our newest members, Assistant Professor Manasa Kandula, for our November Physics Spotlight. Not only would we like to introduce her, but also highlight her research in Soft Matter. As one of our Condensed Matter Physicists, we welcome her to the department and are very excited to have her join us here at UMass. Learn more about her in the Q&A below!
Welcome to the University of Massachusetts Amherst Campus! As a new professor, what are you excited about the most with regards to your first semester here?
Thank you! I’m looking forward to starting my lab and interacting with students. I was living in South Korea prior to moving to Amherst, so I am excited to live in a new place as well. I really like it out here so far!
What is your professional background? What did you major in and where? Where did you go to graduate school and for what? How can your educational background help you teach and mentor students at UMass?
I received my master’s in physics from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), India and my Ph.D. at JNCASR, India. While my Ph.D. is from the material science department, the lab’s focus is on soft matter physics. After grad school, I was a postdoc at the Center for Soft and Living Matter in South Korea. My experience working in labs in different countries helped me pick up valuable lessons such as the basics of mentoring. I expect these lessons will help when mentoring students and eventually assist me when it comes to refining my own mentoring style. I did not do a lot of formal teaching prior to this, but I always enjoyed teaching both undergraduate and graduate students. As such, I am looking forward to teaching in a classroom here at UMass where I can instruct and mentor students at various stages in their educational careers.
Why did you decide to go to graduate school? How did you decide which grad school to go to? What advice would you have for a student who wants to go to graduate school?
I generally enjoyed physics and math in my undergrad and I wanted to learn more about physics in particular, so I decided to go for a Ph.D. For all good graduate schools in India, a Master’s is a prerequisite. So naturally I enrolled into one and my program gave me the time and opportunities that I needed in order to figure out my research interests.
The advice I would give to students who wanted to attend graduate school would be:
Since a Ph.D. is a long-time commitment, I would be sure that you want to pursue it before you decide to go to grad school. In general, research needs perseverance and hard work regardless of the field, so unless you have the commitment, it can become difficult to complete. While some people are able to decide early on about what they want to do, that doesn't happen right away for everyone. In that case, my suggestion is to take the time to explore different areas of research. I suggest being open minded and to try out new areas of research. In fact, projects given to me during my Master’s, played a key role in choosing the research field for my Ph.D. Deciding where you want to go to grad school is important. Most importantly, I think having a healthy lab atmosphere and a good advisor/mentor matters more than the school itself.
In 140 characters, explain your research:
My research is aimed towards unraveling the underlying fundamental principles of assembly of soft and biological matter using microscopy techniques.
What class in the undergraduate curriculum is closest to your research?
There are multiple courses related to my research here at UMass. Soft matter requires interdisciplinary knowledge and encompasses aspects of thermodynamics, electromagnetism, statistical physics, and optics. For students interested in studying soft matter, I would advise them to study the fundamentals of chemistry and biology.
Do you take undergraduates in your research group? What type of work do they do? Have you published any papers with undergraduates?
Yes, I plan to work with undergraduate students. I actually started working with an undergraduate recently, and I am so excited about it. Most of my work involves imaging the structure and dynamics of soft materials, using computational tools to extract the physics from these images. So, I can see a lot of places where undergrads would be able to contribute and learn, such as microscopy all the way to image analysis.
What do you like best about being a professor and a physicist?
I think the best part is the chance to interact with students and pursue research directions I wish to. I am excited about starting the new lab and conducting experiments here. The best part about being a physicist is seeing how fundamental physics emerges in almost everything around us from biology to materials of daily use.
What is the most interesting research or project that you’ve worked on in the past?
I’ve enjoyed all the projects I worked on. My most memorable experiment was also my first successful experiment as a graduate student. The experiment required assembling colloids into a crystal, but I cannot forget the joy when I saw a crystal growing live under an optical microscope for the first time.
What do you do outside of physics? Do you have a hobby?
I enjoy listening to music, the genre depends on my mood, but in particular I like Indian classical music. I have been taking Carnatic vocal lessons (an Indian classical music style) for a little while now as well. Although I am still pretty inexperienced in singing, I have not given up yet and continue to learn.