Shyam Kumar Banjare earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Government M.M.R.P.G. College, Champa, and his Master of Science degree in Chemistry from Government Autonomous Science College Bilaspur, both affiliated with Bilaspur University, in 2013 and 2015, respectively. After completing his master’s degree, he qualified for the CSIR–NET–LS. He subsequently served as a temporary faculty member in the Department of Chemistry at Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya (a Central University), Bilaspur, from 2016 to 2017. He later joined the National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar, as a Junior Research Fellow under the supervision of Prof. Ponneri C. Ravikumar, where he completed his doctoral degree in March 2023. His PhD research focused on cobalt-catalyzed C–H bond functionalization. Following his doctoral studies, he joined the University of Münster, Germany, as a postdoctoral researcher with Prof. Armido Studer, where his research centered on radical reactions and photoredox chemistry. He is currently serving as an Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, with research interests in transition metal catalysis, N-heterocyclic carbene chemistry and organic synthesis.

Recipient of the Outstanding Doctoral Student Award (Best Thesis) from the Homi Bhabha National Institute HBNI, Mumbai, India, in 2024.

His research program focuses on the design and development of innovative and broadly applicable catalytic platforms for contemporary organic synthesis. We harness the unique reactivity of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs), both as privileged ligands in transition-metal catalysis and as powerful organocatalysts, to enable challenging C–C, C–N, and C–X bond-forming and bond-activation processes. By synergistically integrating transition-metal catalysis with NHC catalysis and Lewis acid activation, our approach enables precise molecular construction, exceptional efficiency, and high levels of chemo-, regio-, and stereoselectivity, while uncovering fundamentally new reaction manifolds. This research program offers an intellectually stimulating environment for students to engage in state-of-the-art catalysis, gain deep mechanistic understanding, and make creative, impactful contributions toward advancing the frontiers of catalytic science and synthetic methodology.

Research Objectives:

• Develop innovative NHC-based catalytic systems for modern organic synthesis.
• Integrate transition-metal catalysis with NHCs to achieve synergistic reactivity
• Train students in state-of-the-art catalytic methods and mechanistic analysis.
• Discover new reaction manifolds and gain fundamental mechanistic insights in catalysis.