Dr. Manna earned his Ph.D. from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre/University of Mumbai. Before joining TERI, he worked for seven years in premier institutes like Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Mumbai, India), University of Manitoba (Winnipeg, Canada), and National Institute of Science Education and Research (Bhubaneswar, India).

His research focuses on different aspects of materials science involving physics, chemistry and biology. Some of the research activities include synthesis and coating chemistry of a variety of materials (e.g., metals, oxides, zeolites, and mesoporous silica), finding the chemical composition down to the elemental/atomic level, establishing a correlation between structural and physical or chemical properties, and finally exploring their potential applications in controlled release of pesticides and nutrients, targeted drug delivery, and magnetic hyperthermia. He has several years of research experience on thin films, 2D materials and a variety of magnetic materials, as well.