# Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science

Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) 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 Asia'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 physics, chemistry, biological sciences, mathematical and computational sciences, materials sciences and various interdisciplinary areas.

## 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)

Union Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Harsha Vardhan unveiled the foundation stone of the Syamaprasad Mukherjee Advanced Research and Training (SMART) campus of Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science(IACS) at Baruipur. It will have the facilities for cutting-edge research in multiple disciplines such as fundamental sciences, engineering sciences and medical sciences.

## 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 Chair):
* School of Applied and Interdisciplinary Sciences (SAIS)
* School of Biological Sciences (SBS)
* School of Chemical Sciences (SCS)
* School of Materials Sciences (SMS)
* School of Mathematical and Computational Sciences (SMCS)
* School of Physical Sciences (SPS)
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 (CCRES)
* Director's Research Unit (DRU)
* Technical Research Center (TRC)
* Central Scientific Services (CSS)
* 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 (Governor from 1912) 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.

### Presidents of the IACS (1876-present)

* Sir Richard Temple, 1st Baronet FRS (1876-1877)
* Mahendra Sarobar, IACSThe Hon. Sir Ashley Eden FASB (1877-1882)
* Sir Augustus Rivers Thompson (1882-1887)
* Sir Steuart Bayley (1887-1890)
* Prof. Meghnad Saha, first director of IACSSir Charles Alfred Elliott FASB (1890-1895)
* Sir Alexander Mackenzie (1895-1898)
* Sir John Woodburn (1898-1903)
* Sir Andrew Henderson Leith Fraser FASB (1903-1909)
* Sir Edward Norman Baker (1909-1911)
* Raja Pyare Mohan Mukherjee FASB (1911-1922)
* Hon. Justice Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee FASB, FRSE, FRAS, MRIA (1922-1924)
* Sir Rajendra Nath Mookerjee FASB (1924-1934?)
* Sir Nilratan Sircar (1934-1942)
* Prof. Rai Bahadur Sir Upendranath Brahmachari FNI, FASB (1942-1946)
* Prof. Meghnad Saha FNI, FASB, FRS (1946-1951)
* Prof. Sir Jnan Chandra Ghosh FNI (1951-1954)
* Hon. Justice Charu Chandra Biswas (1954-1957)
* Hon. Chief Justice Phani Bhusan Chakravartti (1957-1958)
* Prof. Satyendra Nath Bose FNI, FRS (1958-1962)
* Hon. Justice Rama Prasad Mookerjee (1962-1965)
* Prof. Jnanendra Nath Mukherjee FNI, FCS (1965-1968)
* Prof. Basanti Dulal Nagchaudhuri FNA (first term, 1968–1970)
* Prof. Sushil Kumar Mukherjee FNA (first term, 1970–1973)
* Prof. Sukumar Chandra Sirkar FNA (1973-1974)
* Prof. Basanti Dulal Nagchaudhuri FNA (second term, 1974–1977)
* Prof. Bimal Kumar Bachhawat FNA (1977-1983)
* Prof. Sushil Kumar Mukherjee FNA (second term, 1983–1997)
* Prof. Arun Kumar Sharma FNA, FASc (1997-2000)
* Prof. M. M. Chakraborty (2000-2003)
* Independence Day celebration at IACS (15 August 2019)Prof. Ashesh Prosad Mitra FNA, FASc, FRS (2003-2007)
* Prof. Shri Krishna Joshi FNA, FASc (2007-2014)
* Prof. Man Mohan Sharma FNA, FASc, FRS, FREng (2014–2021)
* Prof. Srivari Chandrasekhar, FNA, FASc (2021 – 2022)
* Prof. Vinod K. Singh, FNA, FASc, FNASc, FTWAS (2022–present)

### Secretaries and Directors of the IACS
#### Honorary Secretaries of the IACS (1876-1947)

| Name | Period in office | Duration in office |
| Mahendralal Sarkar (Founder) | 15 January 1876 – 23 February 1904 | 28 years, 1 month and 8 days |
| Amritalal Sarkar | 16 June 1904 – 8 September 1919 | 15 years, 2 months and 23 days |
| C. V. Raman | 18 September 1919 – 31 March 1933 | 13 years, 6 months and 13 days |
| K. S. Krishnan | 31 March 1933 – 19 June 1934 | 1 year, 2 months and 19 days |
| Sisir Kumar Mitra | 19 June 1934–November 1935 | 1 year, 5 months |
| Jnanendra Nath Mukherjee | November 1935–31 December 1943 | 8 years, 1 month |
| Meghnad Saha | 31 December 1943–October 1944 | 9 months |
| Priyadaranjan Ray (acting) | October–31 December 1944 | 2 months |
| Priyadaranjan Ray | 1 January 1945 – 1 October 1947 | 2 years and 9 months |

#### Honorary Directors of the IACS (1947-1953)

| Name | Period in office | Duration in office |
| Priyadaranjan Ray | 1 October 1947 – 1 January 1953 | 5 years and 3 months |

#### Directors of the IACS (1953-present)

| Name | Period in office | Duration in office |
| Meghnad Saha | 1 January 1953 – 16 February 1956 | 3 years, 1 month and 15 days |
| Priyadaranjan Ray (officiating) | 4 March 1956 – 2 December 1958 | 2 years, 8 months and 28 days |
| Sukumar Chandra Sirkar (acting) | 8 December 1958 – 10 December 1959 | 1 year and 2 days |
| Kedareswar Banerjee | 11 December 1959 – 1 October 1965 | 5 years, 9 months and 20 days |
| Bishwambhar Nath Srivastava (acting) | 1 October 1965 – 31 December 1968 | 3 years, 2 months and 30 days |
| Debidas Basu | 1 January 1969 – 31 August 1980 | 11 years, 7 months and 30 days |
| G. S. Banerjee IAS (acting) | 19 September 1980 – 8 March 1981 | 5 months and 17 days |
| Sadhan Basu | 9 March 1981 – 14 July 1982 | 1 year, 4 months and 5 days |
| G. S. Banerjee IAS (acting) | 14 July–8 December 1982 | 4 months and 24 days |
| Asok Kumar Barua (acting) | 9–30 December 1982 | 21 days |
| Asok Kumar Barua | 31 December 1982 – 1989 | 6 years |
| Usha Ranjan Ghatak | 1989–1993 | 4 years |
| Dipankar Chakravorty | 1993–9 September 1999 | 6 years |
| Debashis Mukherjee | 10 September 1999 – 31 March 2009 | 9 years, 6 months and 21 days |
| Kankan Bhattacharyya | 1 April 2009 – 10 February 2013 | 3 years, 10 months and 9 days |
| Subhas Chandra Roy (acting) | 10 February–11 September 2013 | 7 months and 1 day |
| Deb Shankar Ray (acting) | 11 September 2013 – 21 April 2015 | 1 year, 7 months and 10 days |
| Santanu Bhattacharya | 22 April 2015 – 23 April 2021 | 6 years and 1 day |
| Tapas Chakraborty (acting, additional charge) | 24 April 2021–6 April 2023 | 1 year, 11 months and 14 days |
| Ranjan Sen | 6 April 2023 – present | 1 year, 9 months and 24 days |

## Notable alumni and associates

Source:

### Nobel Laureate

* Sir C.V. Raman, FRS, Former Faculty of IACS

### Bharat Ratna (Highest Civil Honor in India)

* Sir C.V. Raman, FRS, Former Faculty of IACS
* Prof. C.N.R. Rao, FRS, Former Chairman of Review Committee of IACS

### Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), London

* Sir J. C. Bose, former faculty of IACS
* Sir C. V. Raman, former faculty of IACS
* Prof. Meghnad Saha, former faculty and Director of IACS
* K. S. Krishnan, alumnus, former faculty of IACS
* S. N. Bose, former faculty of IACS
* A. P. Mitra, former Chairman of the IACS Council
* 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
* TV Ramakrishnan (IACS Fellow)
* Ajay Sood (IACS Fellow)

### 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)

* K. S. Krishnan, alumnus, former faculty of IACS
Padma Shri (Civil Honor in India)
* Vinod K. Singh, Chairman of Governing Council, IACS

### TWAS Prize

Source:
* C. N. R. Rao, former Chairman of the Review Committee of IACS and IACS Fellow
* Animesh Chakravorty, former faculty of IACS
* Kankan Bhattacharyya, former student, faculty and Director of IACS
* Santanu Bhattacharya, former Director of IACS
* D. D. Sharma, former faculty member, IACS

### Alexander von Humboldt Research Award

* D. Mukherjee, former student, faculty and Director of IACS

### Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences (FTWAS)

* C. N. R. Rao, former Chairman of the Review Committee of IACS and IACS Fellow
* D. Mukherjee, former student, faculty and Director of IACS
* Kankan Bhattacharyya, former student, faculty and Director of IACS
* Santanu Bhattacharya, former Director of IACS
* T. Saha-Dasgupta, former Faculty of IACS

### Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) Prize

* K. S. Krishnan, alumnus, former faculty of IACS
* S. Basu, received in 1965, former faculty of IACS
* C. N. R. Rao, former Chairman of the Review Committee of IACS and IACS Fellow
* U. R. Ghatak, former Director and faculty of IACS
* Animesh Chakravorty, former faculty of IACS
* Mihir Chowdhury, former faculty of IACS
* D. Mukherjee, former student, faculty and Director of IACS
* Kankan Bhattacharyya, former student, faculty and Director of IACS
* Akhil R. Chakravarty, former Student of IACS
* D. S. Ray, former student and faculty of IACS
* Sourav Pal, former student of IACS
* Santanu Bhattacharya, former Director of IACS
* Samaresh Bhattacharya, former Student of IACS
* Krishnendu Sengupta, present faculty member, IACS
* Pradyut Ghosh, present faculty member, IACS
* P. S. Mukherjee, former Student of IACS
* Jyotirmayee Dash, present faculty member, IACS

## 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".