Biography
About
Research Fellow in the Research School of Physics at the Australian National University.
01Biography
From ion tracks to single molecules
I am a physicist working on single-molecule sensing. I build solid-state nanopores, measure the ionic current through them as proteins, DNA and RNA pass, and develop the software and machine-learning methods that interpret the signals.
I studied physics at Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar, graduating first in both the B.Sc. and M.Sc. (Honours) programmes, and came to ANU in 2018 for a PhD on functional solid-state nanopore membranes. That work combined ion-track technology, thin-film deposition and small-angle X-ray scattering at the Australian Synchrotron to understand how pores form and what shape they take.
Since December 2023 I have been a Research Fellow at ANU (promoted from Level A to Level B), leading the group's nanopore biosensor work. Results include label-free identification of similarly sized proteins, the first solid-state nanopore study of RNA conformational dynamics, and ultra-thin membranes that last for millions of events. I co-manage three laboratories, supervise PhD, Honours and undergraduate students, and am academic in charge of first-year physics laboratories.
02Positions and education
Career
Part-time research positions overlapped the final years of the PhD, which was completed in October 2024.
Positions
Dec 2023 – present
Research Fellow
Research School of Physics, Australian National University
Appointed at Level A, promoted to Level B. Leads nanopore biosensor development, co-manages three laboratories and supervises research students.
Nov 2022 – Nov 2023
Research Officer (0.4 FTE)
Research School of Physics, Australian National University
Part-time during the PhD: technology transfer of silicon-based membranes.
Education
Sep 2018 – Oct 2024
PhD in Physics
Australian National University
Thesis: Development and investigation of functional solid-state nanopore membranes.
2016 – 2018
M.Sc. Physics (Honours)
Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar
University Gold Medallist (rank 1), GPA 9.75/10.
2013 – 2016
B.Sc. Physics (Honours)
Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar
University Gold Medallist (rank 1), GPA 9.92/10.
03Record in numbers
Every figure, with its source
Each number states what it counts, where it comes from and when it was last checked.
- Journal articles
- 22
- Peer-reviewed journal articles, counted from the curated publication list on this site.
- Publication list · as of Jul 2026
- In top-10% journals
- 38.1%
- Share of articles in journals in the top 10% by CiteScore percentile.
- CV (Nov 2025), Scopus CiteScore · as of Nov 2025
- Protein identification
- 88.7%
- Highest F-value (specificity 96.4%) for label-free identification of similarly sized proteins from single-molecule nanopore events classified by machine learning.
- Dutt et al., Small Methods 7 (2023) 2300676 · as of Nov 2023
- Protein translocations, one pore
- 1.8 million
- Protein translocations recorded through a single pore in an ultra-thin silicon nitride membrane (effective thickness about 3 nm), alongside more than 500,000 DNA translocations.
- Dutt et al., Analytical Chemistry 95 (2023) 5754–5763 · as of Nov 2025 · awaiting confirmation
- DNA translocations, one pore
- 500,000+
- DNA translocations through a single pore in the same membranes.
- Dutt et al., Analytical Chemistry 95 (2023) 5754–5763 · as of Nov 2025
- Event-extraction speed-up
- up to 1120×
- Speed-up of a parallel, multi-core nanopore event-extraction framework over existing tools, under the benchmark conditions reported in the paper.
- Bandara, Dutt et al., Small Methods 8 (2024) 2400045 · as of Dec 2024
- Patent applications
- 2
- Applications filed in 2021 on methods of fabricating nanopores (international phase: USA, Europe, China, Japan, Australia) and membranes (PCT phase).
- CV (Nov 2025) · as of Nov 2025
- Students supervised
- 24
- 5 PhD (primary or associate), 3 Honours and 16 undergraduate or masters research students.
- CV (Nov 2025) · as of Nov 2025
- Cash funding (AUD)
- 500k+
- Competitive cash grants on which I am a named investigator, in any role (lead, co-investigator or collaborating entrepreneur), 2019–2025.
- CV (Nov 2025); itemised on the Recognition page · as of Nov 2025
- In-kind support (AUD)
- 1M+
- Mostly the assessed value of 13 Australian Synchrotron SAXS beamtime awards (2018–2025) as co- or lead proposer, plus GPU hardware and cloud-computing credits.
- CV (Nov 2025); ANSTO award letters · as of Nov 2025
- News stories
- 100+
- News stories on the 2023 protein-identification study, including ABC and 2GB radio and outlets in the US, UK and China.
- ANU media report, cited in CV (Nov 2025) · as of Nov 2025
04Partners and collaborators
Who the work is done with
Grouped by the kind of relationship, so that a research collaboration is not confused with access to a facility or a compute grant.
Industry partner03
Thaum Pty Ltd
Nanopore sensing and machine learning for Alzheimer's biomarker detection.
AEA Ignite grant awarded (2025)
Rio Tinto
Heavy-metal ion sensing with solid-state nanopores.
Proposal submitted, AEA Ignite round 2
New Frontier Technologies
Thin coatings protecting carbon composites from radiation and atomic oxygen in space.
Government partner01
ACT Office of Water, Icon Water and ACT Health
Metal release into water after bushfires and floods.
Proposal submitted, Disaster Ready Fund round 3
Research collaboration03
The Ohio State University
tRNA biochemistry (Nucleic Acids Research, 2026).
GSI Helmholtz Centre, Darmstadt
Swift heavy-ion irradiation and ion-track technology.
John Curtin School of Medical Research (ANU)
Biomedical applications of nanopore sensing.
Facility access01
Australian Synchrotron (ANSTO)
Small-angle X-ray scattering beamtime, 13 successful proposals (2018–2025).
Compute support02
NVIDIA
GPU hardware grant for machine-learning model development (2022).
Google
Cloud research credits for data-analysis pipelines (2022).
05Media coverage
In the press
100+ news stories on the 2023 protein-identification study, including ABC and 2GB radio and outlets in the US, UK and China. Selected articles:
ANU Reporter2026
Scientists develop technique to identify malfunctions in our genetic code
“We can directly detect and measure shapes in real time, and see how they change their shape from one form to another, at scale — something which has been impossible until now.”
ANU Physics2026
Nanopores reveal glitches in tRNA, unlock a world of biochemical understanding
“We can directly detect and measure shapes in real time — something which has been impossible until now.”
ANU Science2025
Creating sunscreen for satellites
“If we can make a satellite structure or a rocket body which has the same strength but maybe half the weight, we can save a lot of money and fuel.”
ANU Reporter2023
Simple test could help predict risk of Alzheimer's disease 20 years in advance
“By employing advanced filtration techniques and harnessing our nanopore platform, combined with our intelligent machine learning algorithms, we may be able to identify even the most elusive proteins.”
ANU Physics — Megavolts2023
Simple test could give 20 years warning for Alzheimer's disease
“If that person can find out their risk level that far in advance, then it gives them plenty of time to start making positive lifestyle changes...”
ANU Physics2021
How a coffee machine helped to make perfect nanopores
“We're the first to quantify the shape of the nanopores, using small-angle X-ray scattering at the Australian Synchrotron in Melbourne.”