Kushal Sengupta

Dr. Kushal Sengupta is a Research Professor and Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion (MPI CEC) in the Department of Inorganic Spectroscopy. He leads the Metalloenzyme Mechanistic Explorations team focusing on fundamental biochemical processes related to energy conversion.

Education:

• B.Sc. & M.Sc. from Jadavpur University, India
• Ph.D. from Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science
• Postdoctoral work at Cornell University

Research Interests: Dr. Sengupta specializes in understanding metalloenzyme mechanisms for reactions including nitrogen fixation, hydrogen production, and methane oxidation. His group combines biochemical, spectroscopic (UV-Vis, EPR, XAS), and electrochemical techniques to study catalytic sites in enzymes like nitrogenase and methane monooxygenase.

Publication Trends: Recent work demonstrates strong focus on nitrogenase mechanisms using advanced spectroelectrochemical methods, with consistent themes in metalloprotein catalysis, enzyme kinetics, and bioinorganic reaction pathways across publications.

Awards:

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Seal of Excellence (2021)
• Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship (2020)
• SBIC Travel Award (2015)

Research Leadership: Leads a team including postdoctoral researchers, technicians, and students developing recombinant expression systems for metalloenzymes. The group actively utilizes synchrotron facilities for spectroscopic studies and maintains international collaborations.

Laboratory & Team: The BioLabs team specializes in protein biochemistry and advanced spectroscopy, with ongoing work on heterologous expression of challenging metalloenzymes like soluble methane monooxygenase.