Dr Divya Utreja earned her MSc (Hons School) degree in Chemistry in 2005 from the Department of Chemistry, Guru Nanak Dev University. During her MSc she cleared UGC-NET examination and joined PhD (Organic Chemistry) in the same Department. She was appointed as Chemist in the Department of Chemistry, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana in May 20, 2011. She has joined as Senior Chemist on May 20, 2023 (till date). She has guided 4 PhD and 27 MSc research students. Her research work has been published in 72 different research papers of National and International repute, 4 book Chapters and she has presented her work in 42 National and International Conferences. She has also filed two patents for her research. She is also a Visiting Researcher in Queen’s University, Belfast, United Kingdom. She is also providing her services as NSS Program Officer of College of Basic Sciences and Humanities since July 1, 2022.

Professional Accomplishments

Research Projects
1. Structural modifications of dihydropyrimidinones to evaluate their potential as metal ion capturing agents and their antifungal activity as PI (Completed in 2017).

2,Development of wine yeast starter inoculum with improved flavor phenotype through metabolic foot printing (started in September 2023) as Co-PI

Selected Publications (Five) :

1. Ekta and Utreja D (2023) Sulfonamide functionalized silica nanocomposite: characterization and fluorescence “turn-on” detection of Fe3+ ions in aqueous samples. Photochem Photobiol Sci 1-13. (IF: 4.328 ; NAAS : 10.33)
2. Ekta, Utreja D and Singh K (2022) Synthesis of Sulfonamide based Chemosensor for sensing of toxic Hg2+ ions in Soil extract. J Photochem Photobiol A: Chem 426:113784. (NAAS rating: 10.966)
3. Utreja D, Kaur K, Dhillon N K and Pathak R K (2022) 3-Hydroxy-3-alkylindolin-2-ones: Regioselective synthesis, molecular docking and nematicidal studies against Meloidogyne incognita. J Environ Sci Health B. 1-13. (NAAS rating: 8.506)
4. Kaur K, Utreja D, Dhillon N K, Pathak R K, Singh K (2021) N-alkyl isatin derivatives: Synthesis, nematicidal evaluation and protein target identifications for their mode of action. Pest. Biochem. Physiol. 171: 104736. (NAAS rating: 10.97)
5. Ekta and Utreja D (2021) Fluorescence based comparative sensing behavior of the nano-composites of SiO2 and TiO2 towards toxic Hg2+ ions. Nanomaterials 11: 3082. (NAAS rating: 10.32).

Awards/Honours/Distinctions:

1. 1st position in M. Sc. (H.S.) Chemistry (Gold Medalist)
2. Awarded with Late Shri Sunder Nayyar Memorial Trophy for obtaining first position in M. Sc. (Hons.) Chemistry in G. N. D. U. Amritsar
3. Awarded JRF and SRF during Ph.D