Rate My Professor Rupesh Deshmukh

Professor Rupesh Deshmukh is a distinguished biotechnologist serving as Professor and Head of the Department of Biotechnology at Central University of Haryana since 2024. He previously held the position of Associate Professor in the same department from 2022 to 2024. Prior to joining Central University of Haryana, he was a Ramalingaswami Re-entry Fellow at the National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute, Mohali, from 2018 to 2022. Deshmukh earned his PhD in 2011 from Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University and his MSc in 2004 from Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, Raipur. He has also served as Dean of the Office of International Affairs at Central University of Haryana and maintains affiliations as a visiting professor at Laval University, Quebec, Canada. His career includes postdoctoral research experiences contributing to his expertise in plant molecular biology.

Deshmukh's research specializes in plant stress tolerance, particularly the role of silicon in mitigating abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, and heavy metal toxicity. His work encompasses silicon uptake and transport mechanisms, genome editing, omics approaches, and silicate solubilizing bacteria for sustainable agriculture. He has authored or co-authored 257 publications, including highly cited papers such as 'The controversies of silicon's role in plant biology' (New Phytologist, 2018, 807 citations), 'Role of silicon in mitigation of heavy metal stresses in crop plants' (Plants, 2019, 435 citations), and 'Integrating omic approaches for abiotic stress tolerance in soybean' (Frontiers in Plant Science, 2014, 368 citations). With an h-index of 64 and over 10,230 citations, his contributions have significantly influenced plant biotechnology. Deshmukh has supervised six doctoral theses and received prestigious awards, including Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate (2023 and 2024), Fellow of the Maharashtra Academy of Sciences (2024), Khankhoje Gold Medal (2024), Professor K. S. Bhargava Memorial Award (2024), Best Editor Award from the American Society of Agronomy (2023), NASI Scopus Young Scientist Award (2019), and the Ramalingaswami Re-entry Fellowship (2018). He holds memberships in several professional societies, including the Society for Plant Research and the Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding.