GYTI Award winner: Rittika Ray will spend a year conducting research at TU Braunschweig

TU Braunschweig welcomes Indian scientist Rittika Ray, who will be conducting research at the Institute of Plant Biology for one year. Ray is a doctoral student at the renowned Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee in the working group of Professor Debabrata Sircar, an internationally renowned expert in plant metabolomics, functional genomics and the development of sensors for the detection of economically relevant plant diseases. The research stay in Braunschweig is the result of a close, long-standing cooperation between the two institutes and is made possible by Professor Robert Hänsch’s visiting professorship at IIT Roorkee.

Doctoral student Rittika Ray will be conducting research at the Institute of Plant Biology at TU Braunschweig for one year. Photo credit: Robert Hänsch/TU Braunschweig

For her scientific achievements to date, Rittika Ray was awarded the Gandhian Young Technological Innovation (GYTI) Award this year. The GYTI Award is one of the most prestigious innovation awards for young researchers in India. It recognises projects that combine technological creativity with social benefits and provide new impetus in areas such as sustainability, agriculture, health research and resource efficiency.

In her doctoral project, Ray is investigating volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that plants release in the earliest stages of infection. These gaseous signalling molecules act as indicators of disease processes beginning long before visible symptoms appear. Her work aims to use these specific VOC profiles to detect plant diseases early, precisely and non-invasively, i.e. without causing tissue damage. She has achieved initial success in her studies of potato tubers, identifying characteristic patterns that reliably indicate the onset of infection.

During her research year at TU Braunschweig, Ray will continue and expand this work using additional molecular and cell biology methods. She is currently undertaking various internships at the Institute of Plant Biology, learning new experimental approaches and broadening her methodological expertise.

“The combination of her expertise in plant signalling and the technological and analytical capabilities available in Braunschweig provides an excellent basis for joint research,” says Professor Hänsch.

Ray’s presence strengthens the Institute of Plant Biology’s international networking and deepens its scientific relations with Professor Sircar’s working group at IIT Roorkee in India. The GYTI award also highlights the significant contributions that young researchers can make to this collaboration and the benefits that international exchange programmes can bring to both research partners.

Text: Robert Hänsch