# Dibyendu Nandi

Dibyendu Nandi is an Indian space scientist known for his research related to the solar cycle, solar dynamo activity and their influence on space weather. Nandi is the head of the Center of Excellence in Space Sciences, India or CESSI at IISER Kolkata. He is associated with Montana State University, the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian and IISER Kolkata where he carried out most of his research work.

## Education

Nandi did his early schooling at the Cossipore English School and St. James School, both in Kolkata. He then graduated in Physics from St. Xavier's College, Kolkata in 1995 and joined IISc from where he received his M.S. and PhD degrees in 1997 and 2003, respectively.

## Career

Following his PhD, Dibyendu worked as a postdoctoral fellow, research scientist and assistant research professor at the Solar Physics Group at Montana State University, Bozeman, US. He returned to India in 2008 and joined the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata as an assistant professor in the physics department. He is currently professor and head of the Center of Excellence in Space Sciences India. He has held a visiting faculty position at the Institute of Mathematics and Statistics at St Andrews University (UK), a visiting astrophysicist position at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (USA) and a Wenner Gren Visiting Professorship at the Nordic Institute of Theoretical Physics (NORDITA) in Stockholm (Sweden).
He established the Center of Excellence in Space Science India which is a multi-institutional center engaged in astronomy and space science research and technology development at IISER Kolkata.
He is also currently the chairperson of the Public Outreach and Education Committee of the Astronomical Society of India, vice president of the International Astronomical Union's Commission E4 and coordinator of the Education Cluster of the International Space Weather Action teams of the Committee on Space Research.

## Awards and recognition

Dibyendu Nandi was the 2012 recipient of the Karen Harvey Prize of the American Astronomical Society. This is the first time that a space scientist working in the Asia-Pacific region has received this honour. He also received the Modali Award of the Astronomical Society of India, and the Young Career Award of the Asia-Pacific Solar Physics Meeting society. A list of his honours follows.
* National scholarship of the Government of India based on the B.S. exams in 1995.
* "Brueckner Studentship" by the Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society in 2000.
* Research work regarding the role of meridional flows in the Sun's interior in setting the period of the sunspot cycle.
* "Martin Forster Gold Medal" for the best thesis of 2002–2003, by the Division of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the IISc, Bangalore in 2004
* United Kingdom British Council's "Researcher Exchange Programme Award" in 2007.
* American Astronomical Society Solar Physics Division's "Parker Lectureship" at the AAS-SPD Annual Meeting in 2008.
* "Ramanujan Fellowship" by Department of Science and Technology, Government of India in 2009.
* Solar cycle (dynamo) simulation selected as an exhibit for EPO purposes at NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio and featured in SDO pre-launch outreach videos in 2010.
* News-articles and interviews related to research on the unusual lull in solar activity published in multiple media outlets, including Reuters, ABC, CBC, Sydney Morning Herald, Dawn, Times of India, Telegraph, Hindu, Deccan Herald, Hindustan Times, Indian Express etc. Also covered in the following magazines: Scientific American, Sky and Telescope and Discovery. Interviews were aired in: CNN-IBN, Lok Sabha TV, All India Radio (Kolkata) in 2011.
* "Karen Harvey Prize" of the American Astronomical Society's Solar Physics Division in 2012.
* Wenner-Gren Professorship, Nordic Institute of Theoretical Physics, Sweden in 2018.
* Laxminarayana & Nagalaxmi Modali Award, Astronomical Society of India in 2018
* Asia-Pacific Young Career Award in Solar Physics in 2019