Diwakar Shukla

Diwakar Shukla
Principal Investigator

PI About Diwakar

Diwakar Shukla is an associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is also an affiliate faculty in the Center for Biophysics and Quantitative biology, Department of Plant Biology, Bioengineering and Chemistry. His research work is focused on understanding the complex molecular processes in chemical and biomolecular systems using computational and experimental techniques. He started his research career at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, India, where he received B. Tech and M. Tech. degrees in chemical engineering. He then joined Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in chemical engineering. Before joining Illinois, he was postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Prof. Vijay S. Pande, Department of Chemistry at Stanford University.

Diwakar has received early-career faculty awards from the American Chemical Society, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. At Illinois, Shukla has been recognized for his research and teaching: he has been awarded the Dean’s Award for excellence in research (2020, 2024); Stanley H. Pierce Award for excellence in mentoring (2024); Engineering Council Outstanding Advising Award (2016, 2024) and the Teaching Excellence Award from the School of Chemical Sciences (2019).

Appointments Education

2024-

Affiliate Faculty

Department of Chemistry,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2022-

Affiliate Faculty

Department of Bioengineering,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2020-

Affiliate Faculty

Center for Digital Agriculture,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2019-

Affiliate Faculty

Cancer Center at Illinois,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2019-

Affiliate Faculty

Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2016-

Affiliate Faculty

Plant Biology,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2015-

Affiliate Faculty

National Center for Supercomputing Applications,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2015-

Affiliate Faculty

Center for Biophysics & Computational Biology,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2015-

Blue Waters Assistant Professor

Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2014

SimBios Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow

Chemistry, Stanford University

2011

Ph. D.

Chemical Engineering,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2006

B. Tech

Chemical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

Selected Awards

  • 2024 Stanely H. Pierce Award for Excellence in Mentoring

    College of Engineering, University of Illinois

  • 2024 Dean's Award for Excellence in Research

    College of Engineering, University of Illinois

  • 2024 Engineering Council Outstanding Advising Award

    College of Engineering, University of Illinois

  • 2022 Editorial Advisory Board, Journal of Physical Chemistry

    American Chemical Society

  • 2022 Pivot Fellowship

    Simons Foundation

  • 2022 U.S. Frontiers of Engineering

    National Academy of Engineering

  • 2021 List of Influential Researchers in Bioengineering

    Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, American Chemical Society

  • 2021 Maximizing Investigator Research Award

    National Institutes of Health

  • 2021 Journal of Physical Chemistry and PHYS Division Lectureship Award

    American Chemical Society

  • 2020 Dean's Award for Excellence in Research

    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  • 2019 SCS Excellence in Teaching Award

    School of Chemical Sciences,
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  • 2019 Faculty Fellow

    National Center for Supercomputing Applications,
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  • 2019 Sloan Research Fellowship in Chemistry

    Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

  • 2018 NSF Early CAREER Award

    National Science Foundation

  • 2018 CoMSEF Young Investigator Award

    American Institute of Chemical Engineers

  • 2018 OpenEye Outstanding Junior Faculty Award in Computational Chemistry

    American Chemical Society

  • 2017 New Innovator Award in Food & Agriculture Research

    Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research