Sudhakar was born and raised in Solapur, India. After completing his master’s degree, he was awarded a DAAD fellowship to pursue his PhD studies (2012–2018) under the guidance of Prof. Michael Schmittel in Siegen, Germany, where his research focused on metallo-responsive functional molecular machines. Prior to joining the Ramanujan Fellowship (2021–2023) at the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India, he carried out postdoctoral research (2018–2021) with Prof. Ivan Huc in Munich, Germany, and with Prof. Tomáš Šolomek/Prof. Marcel Mayor in Basel, Switzerland. His postdoctoral work involved molecular recognition of complex molecules using foldamers and the study of donor–acceptor nanohoops for optoelectronic applications.

 

In January 2024, he joined the Nitschke group as a Royal Society Newton International Fellow to investigate complex interlocked molecular topologies. Outside of work, Sudhakar enjoys travelling, playing cricket, and watching science-fiction series and films.