Dr. Sunil A. Patil is currently working as an Assistant Professor of Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology at the Indian Institute of Science Education Research Mohali (IISER Mohali). He obtained Ph.D. in Microbiology from S. P. Pune University in 2011.

Before joining IISER Mohali, Dr. Sunil worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Technical University Braunschweig, Germany, Lund University, Sweden, and Ghent University, Belgium. His current research focuses on two major themes: (i) Understanding extracellular electron transfer-based anaerobic metabolisms and microorganisms from extreme environments, and (ii) Developing integrated microbial electrochemical technologies for renewable electricity-driven bioproduction of chemicals from industrial CO2 and wastewater management at the point sources. His research accomplishments include over 60 SCI publications in top journals in the field, 3 patents, 14 book chapters, and >80 conference contributions. According to Google Scholar, his works have been cited over 4600 times, with an H index of 33. Dr. Sunil has been on the editorial board of Bioresource Technology Reports since its launch in 2017. He is also the associate editor for the Microbiotechnology specialty section of Frontiers in Microbiology, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, and Frontiers in Environmental Science journals.

He has been on the board of directors of the International Society of Microbial Electrochemistry and Technology (ISMET) since 2020. Dr. Sunil is a recipient of the DAAD doctoral scholarship (2008-2010), Marie Sklodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellowship (2011-2015), and Alexander von Humboldt fellowship for senior researchers (2016-2017). He was conferred the best teacher award 2021 by IISER Mohali and the CDC India-Professor Ashok Pandey Research Excellence award 2021 by the Biotech Research Society of India (BRSI) in recognition of his contributions in the area of Environmental Biotechnology.