Dr Ruchi Gupta BEng, MASc, PhD, MRSC, AFHEA

Dr Ruchi Gupta

School of Chemistry
Associate Professor of Biosensors
Global Engagement Lead for the School of Chemistry

Contact details

Address
School of Chemistry
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT

Dr Ruchi Gupta is an Associate Professor at the University of Birmingham since 2017. Dr Gupta is Global Engagement and International Recruitment Leads for School of Chemistry.

Dr Ruchi Gupta’s research is in study of analytical tools/techniques, and spans from fundamental science through engineering to translational activities. Research in her group is divided into three themes (1) optical bio/chemical sensors, (2) sample preparation, and (3) fluid manipulation.

Dr Gupta is a recipient of RSC’s 2021 Joseph Black Award. She has received major grants and fellowships from Research Councils UK, Royal Society of Chemistry, Royal Academy of Engineering, and industry. Dr Gupta is an appointed member of RSC’s Analytical Division Council, elected member of IOP’s Instrument Science and Technology Group, permanent steering committee member of the Europtrode conferences, and Associate Editor of an open-access journal, RSC Advances.

Dr Gupta ORCID profile

Ruchi Gupta Group web page

Qualifications

Biography

Dr Gupta attended Nanyang Technological University, Singapore for her undergraduate studies on a prestigious SIA-NOL scholarship and subsequently received an IEEE Reliability/CPMT/ED Chapter (Singapore) book prize. She completed her MASc at McMaster University (Canada) where she developed the basic components of generic and programmable microfluidics. This project bridged chemical, biological and computational sciences, and resulted in the award of first runner-up of the Brian L. Barge Award of Excellence in Microsystems Integration. Her MASc thesis won Radisav Stevanoic Book prize.

Her PhD at the University of Manchester (UK) was funded by Syngenta and focused on developing electroseparation methods for sample preparation and analysis of self-digesting bagasse reliably to produce biofuels from waste (rather than food crops). Her PhD research received cash prizes from the RSC including the Electroseparations Group, and the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI). 

Dr Gupta’s research as a Postdoctoral Research Associate and later as a Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) Enterprise Fellow developed hydrogel-based optical waveguide sensors, studied mechanisms of light propagation in hydrogels, as well as investigated their applications.

 She was a Lecturer in Analytical Chemistry at University of Hull between 2014 and 2016 before joining University of Birmingham in 2017.

Other activities

Grants and Fellowships

  • Leverhulme Trust Research Grant, 2021
  • EPSRC GCRF PhD studentship, 2018
  • EPSRC NPIF PhD studentship, 2017
  • BRIDGE Seed Fund, 2017
  • EPSRC Healthcare Technologies Challenge Fellowship, 2016
  • RSC Tom West Fellowship, 2016
  • Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellowship, 2013
  • Mini Proof-of-Principle Fund, 2013
  • Investigating in Success Funfd, 2012

Awards and prizes

  • RSC Joseph Black Award, 2021
  • Featured in Women in Optics calendar, SPIE, 2021
  • Annual Review Award, University of Birmingham, 2017
  • Staff Excellence Award, University of Hull, 2016
  • Virgin MEdia Pioneer Award, Virgin Media, 2010
  • BioPharm 2020: Bio Business Plan Competition (Runner up), 2010
  • EMERGE – Social Innovation Ideas Competition (Winner), 2010
  • Young Researcher Travel Award, Science Foundation Ireland, 2009
  • Electroseparations Award, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2009
  • Radisav Stevanic Book Award, McMaster University, Canada, 2007
  • Brian L. Barge Award of Excellence in Microsystems Integration, CMC Microsystems, (Runner up), 2007
  • Reliability/CPMT/ED Chaper Book Award, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2005

Committee memberships/ leads

Organisation of scientific meetings

Reviewing activities

  • 2021: Guest Editor, Gels (special issue on Hydrogel Based Sensors for Biomedical Applications)
  • 2020: Associate Editor, RSC Advances
  • 2020: Scientific Evaluation, Daphne Jackson Trust
  • 2020: Scientific Evaluation, Scleroderma & Raynauds
  • 2018: EPSRC UKRI Innovation Fellowship Interview Panel
  • 2×2017, 2016: Panel Member of EPSRC Prioritization Meetings
  • 2016 – Present: Review panel member, Research Councils

Publications

Please visit Researchgate and Orcid for an up-to-date list of publications.

Selected publications

  • R. Gupta, N.J. Goddard, A Study of Diffraction-based Chitosan Leaky Waveguide (LW) Biosensors, Analyst, 2021, 20, 4964, DOI: 10.1039/D1AN00940K.
  • N.J. Goddard, R. Gupta, 3D Printed Analytical Platform for Automation of Fluid Manipulation Applied to Leaky Waveguide Biosensors, IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2021, 70, 7502612, DOI: 10.1109/TIM.2021.3082276.
  • A.K. Pal, N.J. Goddard, H.J. Dixon, R. Gupta, A Self-Referenced Diffraction-based Optical Leaky Waveguide Biosensor Using Photofunctionalisable Hydrogels, Biosensors, 2020, 134. DOI: 10.3390/bios10100134. This work was focused on the cover page of the journal.
  • R. Gupta, N.J. Goddard, Leaky Waveguides (LWs) for Chemical and Biological Sensing − A Review and Future Perspective, Sensors and Actuators B, 2020, 128628. DOI: 10.1016/j.snb.2020.128628.
  • R. Gupta, E. Labella, N.J. Goddard, An Optofluidic Young Interferometer Sensor for Real-Time Imaging of Refractive Index in µTAS Applications, Sensors and Actuators B, 2020, 128491. DOI: 10.1016/j.snb.2020.128491.
  • A.K. Pal, N.J. Goddard, R. Gupta, Aqueous Photochemistry for the Fabrication of Grating Sensors in Hydrogels, Photosensitive Materials and their Applications, 2020, 1136702. DOI:10.1117/12.2564246.
  • S.R. Makhsin, N.J. Goddard, R. Gupta, P. Gardner, P. Scully, Optimisation Synthesis and Biosensing Performance of an Acrylate-based Hydrogel as an Optical Waveguiding Sensing Film, Analytical Chemistry, 2020, in press. DOI: /10.1021/acs.analchem.0c00586.
  • R. Gupta, N.A. Alamrani, G.M. Greenway, N. Pamme, N.J. Goddard, Biosensor for Determining Average Iron Content of Ferritin by Measuring its Optical Dispersion, Microfluidics, BioMEMS, and Medical Microsystems XVIII, 2020, 112350. DOI: 10.1117/12.2542162.
  • N.J. Goddard, R. Gupta, A Novel Manifestation at Optical Leaky Waveguide Modes for Sensing Applications, Sensors and Actuators B, 2020, 127776. DOI: 10.1016/j.snb.2020.127776.
  • N.J. Goddard, H. Dixon, N. Toole, R. Gupta, 3D Printed Instrumentation for Point-of-Use Leaky Waveguide (LW) Biochemical Sensor, IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2020, 6390. DOI: 10.1109/TIM.2020.2969036.
  • N.J. Goddard, R. Gupta, Speed and Sensitivity – Integration of Electrokinetic Preconcentration with a Leaky Waveguide Biosensor, Sensors and Actuators B, 2019, 301, 127063. DOI: 10.1016/j.snb.2019.127063.
  • N.A. Alamrani, G.M. Greenway, N. Pamme, N.J. Goddard, R. Gupta, A Feasibility Study of a Leaky Waveguide Aptasensor for Thrombin, Analyst, 2019, 144, 6048. DOI: 10.1039/C9AN01421G.
  • R. Gupta, N.A. Alamrani, G.M. Greenway, N. Pamme, N.J. Goddard, Method for Determining Average Iron Content of Ferritin by Measuring its Optical Dispersion, Analytical Chemistry, 2019, 91, 7366. DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.9b01231.
  • A.K. Pal, E. Labella, N.J. Goddard, R. Gupta, Photofunctionalizable Hydrogel for Fabricating Volume Optical Diffractive Sensors, Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics, 2019, 220, 1900228. DOI: 10.1002/macp.201900228. This work was focused on the cover page of the journal.

View all publications in research portal