Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science


Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in basic sciences under the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India. Established on 29 July 1876 by Mahendralal Sarkar, a private medical practitioner, it focuses on fundamental research in basic sciences. It is India's oldest research institute located at Jadavpur, South Kolkata near Jadavpur University, Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute and Indian Institute of Chemical Biology. It is spread over a limited area of 9.5 acres and currently in the process of building an advanced SMART campus at Baruipur.
The association is engaged in research in various fields of physical sciences, chemical sciences, biological sciences, mathematical and computational sciences, materials sciences and various applied and interdisciplinary sciences areas.
WWW iacs.res.in

Indian Journal of Physics (IJP)

Indian Journal of Physics was founded in 1926. It is published monthly. Springer distributes print version of the Journal worldwide. The present chief editor of the journal is Prof. Subham Majumdar, who is a senior professor in the School of Physical Sciences, IACS.

Second Campus (Offshore Campus at Baruipur)

On September 13, 2018, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the Union Minister of Science and Technology, unveiled the foundation stone of the Syamaprasad Mukherjee Advanced Research and Training campus of the IACS at Baruipur, Kolkata. The SMART campus is envisioned as a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to fostering cutting-edge research and training across multidisciplinary research, including Fundamental sciences, Engineering sciences, Medical sciences, Named after Syamaprasad Mukherjee, a notable Indian politician and academic, this campus aims to serve as a hub for innovation and scientific advancement in India.

Academic Divisions

Starting from 2018, after being declared as a deemed university by MHRD, for academic purposes, departments and centres in the Institute are broadly assigned to six major schools, each headed by a Chairperson :
  • School of Applied and Interdisciplinary Sciences
  • School of Biological Sciences
  • School of Chemical Sciences
  • School of Materials Sciences
  • School of Mathematical and Computational Sciences
  • School of Physical Sciences
Apart from these six major schools, there are a few centers, designed to perform specific and cutting-edge research, by the institute administration:
  • Centre for Computer Research, Education and Services
  • Director's Research Unit
  • Technical Research Center
  • Central Scientific Services
  • Raman Centre of Atomic, Molecular & Optical Sciences
  • Polymer Structural Unit
  • Energy Research Unit

Administration

At its inception, the IACS was headed by a president, with the Honorary Secretary responsible for the day-to-day running of the Society. Until 1911, the office of President was de facto held by the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, when the Lieutenant-Governor became the co-patron of the Society alongside the Viceroy of India, whose office-holders were automatically Patrons of the Society until 1947. Following India's independence in 1947, the administration of the IACS was reconstituted, with the designation of "Honorary Director" substituted for "Honorary Secretary." The Director's prefix of "Honorary" was dropped in 1953. Post 1947, according to Article 12 of the Constitution of India status of the institute has changed.

Presidents of the IACS (1876-present)

Secretaries and Directors of the IACS

Honorary Secretaries of the IACS (1876-1947)

NamePeriod in officeDuration in office
Mahendralal Sarkar 15 January 1876 – 23 February 1904
Amritalal Sarkar16 June 1904 – 8 September 1919
C. V. Raman18 September 1919 – 31 March 1933
K. S. Krishnan31 March 1933 – 19 June 1934
Sisir Kumar Mitra19 June 1934–November 19351 year, 5 months
Jnanendra Nath MukherjeeNovember 1935–31 December 19438 years, 1 month
Meghnad Saha31 December 1943–October 19449 months
Priyadaranjan Ray October–31 December 19442 months
Priyadaranjan Ray1 January 1945 – 1 October 1947

Notable alumni and associates

Source:

Nobel Laureate

Bharat Ratna (Highest Civil Honor in India)

Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), London

Padma Vibhushan (Civil Honor in India)

  • C. N. R. Rao, former Chairman of the Review Committee of IACS and IACS Fellow
  • M. M. Sharma, former Chairman of the IACS Governing Council and IACS Fellow

Padma Bhusan (Civil Honor in India)

Padma Shri

TWAS Prize

Source:

Alexander von Humboldt Research Award

Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences (FTWAS)

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) Prize

Notable research works

Nobel laureate Sir C. V. Raman conducted his work on the Raman effect in this institute. His work was first published in the Indian Journal of Physics, which is published by IACS.
At the university, Debashis Mukherjee developed the Mk-MRCC method to account for electron correlations in molecular systems. Another important discovery has been in the area of solvation dynamics of molecules and in particular the dynamics of water molecules around the surfaces of membranes. These experiments performed by Professor Kankan Bhattacharyya provided an insight into the behavior of water near biological surfaces and led to his coining of the phrase "biological water".
Scientists at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science in Kolkata found a new way to target cancer cells, focusing on how they repair DNA during division. This could lead to better treatments, especially for patients resistant to current drugs.