Our research group mainly focuses on the following topics:

• Laboratory Astrophysics
• Laboratory Astrochemistry
• Molecular Biophysics

In molecular biophysics which is our current focus, we would like to understand how stable biomolecular ions are against photodestruction. To achieve this goal, our objective is to measure for the first time the absolute photodetachment cross-sections of biomolecular ions in the gas phase. We are also interested in exploring how various processes such as fluorescence, intravibrational relaxation, and intersystem crossing are governed by the structure and dynamics of the molecules and their interaction with the environment. Both experimental and theoretical tools are employed.

In laboratory astrophysics and astrochemistry, we strive to address mainly the following problems both experimentally and theoretically:

• There are more than five hundred absorption features present in the spectra of stars, which are caused by the absorption of light by some complex molecules present in the interstellar medium (ISM). These absorption features are referred to as the Diffuse Interstellar Bands or DIBs for short. Not a single spectral feature in the DIBs was identified unambiguously for nearly a century until 2015, when the first unambiguous identification of C₆₀⁺ being a carrier for five of these bands. Since then, the rest of the features again remain as mystery! Our objective is to contribute towards solving this century-old puzzle by means of spectroscopy of gas-phase molecular ions proposed to be the carriers of the DIBs.
• It has reported by several studies that there are prebiotic molecules in the interstellar medium! However, there is no conclusive identification of a biomolecule present in the gas-phase in the ISM. Toward this direction, we are planning to perform experiments and theoretical calculations for the identification of the first biomolecular ion in the ISM.
• Formation of molecular species in the interstellar medium has been proposed to occur either via gas-phase reactions or on the dust grains. One of the processes by which new molecules are formed in the interstellar medium is through ion-molecule reactions. One of our objectives is to conduct experiments to generate astrochemistry data for the absolute rate coefficients which can be used for modeling the abundance of molecular species in the ISM.
• The abundance of molecular species in the ISM is governed by their formation and destruction mechanisms. The molecules in the interstellar medium may be destroyed by a variety of processes such as photodetachment, gas-phase reactions, destruction by cosmic radiation etc. We also aim to measure the absolute photodetachment / photodissociation cross-sections and absolute ion-molecule reaction rate coefficients involving molecular ions of astrophysical interest at interstellar temperatures.