V.S.V.S.N. Swamy was born in Andhra Pradesh, India, in 1989. After receiving his B.Sc. and M.Sc. from Andhra University, he obtained his Ph.D. in the research group of Prof. Sakya S. Sen in the Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis Division at the CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India, in 2019. With the support of a Ruhr-Universität Bochum fellowship (RUB), he did two years of postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Prof. Viktoria Däschlein-Gessner at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany. He is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier in France.
Swamy’s research interest lies in the preparation and reactions of the heavier group 14 elements in low oxidation states and the application of these compounds in catalysis. In his doctoral research, he mainly used isonitrile and amidinato-based ligands for stabilizing the low-valent Ge(II) dication, Si(II), and Si(IV) compounds. Recently, he has also been working on stabilizing ylide-substituted main group compounds and their application in strong bond activation reactions. He has published his work in several prestigious international journals and presented it at various national and international conferences.
From spring 2023, Swamy’s postdoctoral research will focus on “Geometrically Constrained PIII Centers with Newly Designed Ligand Systems” and the potential of these stabilized systems in small-molecule activation and possibly in catalysis. Apart from his research, he enjoys music, playing tennis and cricket, and cooking in his leisure time.