Student Spotlight: Kandarp Sojitra

Kandarp Sojitra earned a Paul & Ellen Deisler Fellowship. His research is on simulation for disordered proteins and RNA. Read further to learn about his PhD experience and advice for graduate students.

What motivates you about your research?

My research focuses on simulating disordered proteins and RNA to understand how they phase separate and form assemblies using molecular dynamics simulations. What really draws me in is the connection between scales. I get to see how interactions at the atomic level translate into the behaviors observed in experiments. Computational approaches also let us explore systems that are challenging to study experimentally or at least provide a different angle on what's happening at the molecular level. I'm particularly interested in how this work might contribute to therapeutics and drug discovery. That's the direction I'm hoping to take my career, using these computational skills in a pharmaceutical setting.

What is a highlight in your PhD experience and what did you take away from the experience?

Working in collaboration with experimental labs has been one of the most rewarding parts of my PhD. In one project, I developed a coarse-grained polymer model that helped explain what experimentalists were seeing but also made predictions they could actually test. Watching that back and forth between computation and experiment play out was really satisfying. It showed me how much stronger science becomes when you're working in collaborations.

Another project involved a system that was hard to characterize experimentally. Our simulations ended up revealing details that just weren't accessible in the wet lab. I think the main takeaway for me has been that good science often happens when different methods come together. No single approach tells the whole story.

What advice do you have for current graduate students?

Research rarely goes in a straight line. You'll have failed experiments, results that don't make sense, and days when you question everything. That's all normal. It doesn't mean you're not cut out for this. Stay curious and try not to be too hard on yourself. Also, the small wins matter. Celebrate them. Whether it's finally getting a code to run or understanding one small piece of a bigger puzzle, those moments add up.