In 2000, when Nitin Gupta secured All India Rank 1 in the IIT-JEE and entered the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, the expectation was familiar: a high-performing engineer, likely headed for the tech industry. Instead, Gupta’s career took a quieter, more exacting turn—into laboratories, neural circuits, and the unresolved mechanics of how the brain produces behaviour.Today, an Associate Professor at IIT Kanpur, he works at the intersection of neuroscience, computation and behaviour, studying how sensory signals—something as elemental as smell—are translated into decisions.
An early departure from the expected path
Gupta graduated from IIT Kanpur in 2004 with a BTech in Computer Science. Even during his undergraduate years, however, his interests had begun to move beyond engineering. That shift took concrete form at the University of California San Diego, where he pursued a PhD in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology.Working with Prof. Pavel Pevzner, he focused on computational mass spectrometry—developing algorithms for protein identification and statistical validation. The work contributed to early developments in proteogenomics, aimed at refining genome annotations and understanding protein-level processes.Parallel industry stints at Amgen and Genomatica provided exposure to both large-scale pharmaceutical research and startup-driven biotechnology, grounding his computational work in applied biological systems.
From computational biology to the science of the mind
Gupta’s move into neuroscience began with a brief postdoctoral phase at UCSD, where he worked in the cognitive neuroscience lab of Prof. Adam Aron. Here, he used Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to study motivation-linked signals in the human motor system—marking a shift from molecular data to brain function.
At NIH, probing how neurons encode perception
A longer postdoctoral tenure at the National Institutes of Health between 2010 and 2014 deepened this transition. Working in the Laboratory for Sensory Coding and Neural Ensembles under Dr. Mark Stopfer, Gupta focused on electrophysiology—specifically, how patterns of spiking activity across populations of neurons give rise to sensory perception.This phase marked a methodological and conceptual pivot: from analysing biological datasets to directly interrogating neural circuits.
Building a neuroscience programme at IIT Kanpur
In 2014, Gupta returned to IIT Kanpur as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2020. Since then, he has built a research programme that integrates Neuroscience with Computational Biology, combining experimental and computational approaches.His work focuses on how neural circuits generate behaviour—particularly how organisms process and respond to sensory inputs.
Decoding behaviour through smell and sensory systems
A central strand of Gupta’s research examines olfaction using insect models, especially mosquitoes. His lab studies how neural circuits distinguish between competing cues—such as human odours and chemical repellents—and how these signals translate into attraction or avoidance.The approach allows for precise mapping between neural activity and behavioural output, offering insights that extend beyond simple organisms to broader questions in brain science. The work also carries implications for public health, particularly in understanding vector behaviour.
Taking neuroscience beyond the lab: Mental health interventions
Alongside his core research, Gupta has engaged with applications in mental health. He has been involved in developing TreadWill, a digital cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) platform designed to make mental health interventions more accessible.His teaching and research now also include mental health and stress management, reflecting a shift towards applying neuroscience in real-world contexts.
A career shaped by first principles, not convention
Gupta’s path, which has taken him from rank one at the IIT-JEE to becoming a neuroscientist, breaks away from the usual career tracks followed by engineers who top their courses. Rather, his journey has revolved around asking an important fundamental question: How does the brain convert signals into actions?This investigation of the question by venturing into various fields, including computation, biology, and behaviour, highlights an important shift in the realm of scientific research.
