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Kinjal

What inspired you to pursue this project and join the DAMC CDT?  

My name is Kinjal Vaja, and I am from India. I have enjoyed science ever since I first studied it in school, and that interest only grew stronger over the years. I completed my Bachelor’s degree at Mumbai University and my Master’s at IIT-M. After that, I spent a year working in R&D at Gulf Oil. It was a good experience, but I realised I missed the curiosity and creativity of academic research.

Doing a PhD is something I had always wanted to pursue, and I felt it was the right time to return to academia. When looking for a project, I wanted to work on something with environmental impact, since I feel this is one of the most important challenges our society faces. That motivation led me to my current research project.

I was also attracted to the CDT because of its close links with industry. I really value the chance to work on research that doesn’t just stay in the lab but has a pathway toward real-world application. For me, this is the perfect balance between academic exploration and practical impact.

What is your research project about, and what impact do you hope it will have?     

My research project is 'High-throughput discovery of new materials as functional coatings on glass for net-zero applications'. In simpler words it focuses on making new generation of transparent conductors which are an integral part of touch-screen technology, LEDs, PV cells and display screens. World has come to rely a lot on Indium based transparent conductors which are suffering from In scarcity, high cost of Indium and its environmental toxicity. This project is looking into finding alternatives to using Indium based transparent conductors.

What has been the most exciting or rewarding part of your PhD journey so far? How does your project benefit from being part of an interdisciplinary CDT like DAMC?  

My project High-throughput and a lot of materials we work on are based on some structure property calculations. CDT has been helpful in making sure I have an all-round knowledge of computational aspects as my project is experimental. Given that it is high throughput it uses a lot of automation. This is also something that CDT helps with as well.