Amit Chakrabarti is a theoretical physicist with interests in soft matter and statistical physics.
He has worked on diverse soft-matter systems ranging from liquid mixtures, polymers, liquid crystals, aerosols, colloids, nanoparticles and, most recently, self-assembly of proteins.
Chakrabarti's research is curiosity-driven and focuses on how particles in a dispersed phase come together and form aggregates. His individual and collaborative research projects have received extramural funding from agencies such as NASA and the National Science Foundation.
Chakrabarti is presently collaborating with several K-State faculty on projects that have been funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation.
One of his research collaborations is with Jim Gunton, a professor at Lehigh University, to understand how insulin crystals form from aqueous solutions. Insulin is an important drug in the treatment of diabetes; understanding the process of microcrystal formation is important for developing new methods of drug delivery. Chakrabarti also is working on fiber formation in sickle cell hemoglobin, the mutant form of hemoglobin responsible for sickle cell anemia.
Chakrabarti received K-State's 2009 Commerce Bank Distinguished Graduate Faculty Award, which recognizes quality research and advising of graduate students. He also received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 2002, and is a two-time winner of the Stamey Award for Teaching Excellence from the College of Arts and Sciences.
Chakrabarti has a doctorate in physics from the University of Minnesota, and master's and bachelor's in physics, both from the University of Calcutta, India. He joined K-State in 1990 and was named a full professor in 2000.
Chakrabarti has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and mentored eight doctoral students and several postdoctoral fellows.
He can be reached at 785-532-1625 or amitc@k-state.edu.