Annual Report-2007-08.Pdf
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ISSN.0973-9319 ANNUAL REPORT 2007-2008 JAWAHARLAL NEHRU CENTRE FOR ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH (A Deemed University) Jakkur, Bangalore – 560 064. Website: http://www.jncasr.ac.in CONTENTS Page No The Centre 1. Foreword ................................................................................................................................................. 1 2. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 2 3. Objectives ................................................................................................................................................. 3 4. Progress .................................................................................................................................................... 4 5. Highlights of research and other activities ............................................................................................ 5 6. Activities Chart ......................................................................................................................................... 7 7. Organisation Chart .................................................................................................................................. 8 The Organisation 1. Council of Management .......................................................................................................................... 9 2. Finance Committee ................................................................................................................................. 10 3. Academic Advisory Committee .............................................................................................................. 11 4. Faculties .................................................................................................................................................... 11 5. Administration ......................................................................................................................................... 12 Units, Centres,Computer Laboratory, Library and Endowed Research Professors ........................................................................................................... 13 Academic Programmes 1. Academic Activities ................................................................................................................................. 38 2. Discussion Meetings/Workshops ........................................................................................................... 39 3. Colloquia .................................................................................................................................................. 40 4. Endowment Lectures .............................................................................................................................. 41 5. General Lecture ....................................................................................................................................... 41 6. Lectures delivered at the Annual Faculty Meeting by Faculty/ Hon. Faculty ..................................... 41 7. Seminars ................................................................................................................................................... 42 8. International Conferences/Workshops .................................................................................................. 44 Extension Activities 1. Summer Research Fellowship Programme ........................................................................................... 45 2. JNC-TWAS-ROCASA- Summer Research Fellowships Programme ................................................... 46 3. Academic Exchange Programme ........................................................................................................... 46 4. Visiting Fellowships ................................................................................................................................. 47 5. Project Oriented Chemical Education Programme .............................................................................. 48 6. Project Oriented Biological Education Programme ..............................................................................48 7. Science Education Programme .............................................................................................................. 49 8. Intellectual Property ................................................................................................................................ 49 Research Programmes 1. Research Areas ........................................................................................................................................ 51 2. Research Facilities ................................................................................................................................... 52 3. Sponsored Ongoing Research Projects ................................................................................................. 53 Publications 1. Research Publications of Units .............................................................................................................. 57 2. Research Publications of Honorary Faculty/ Endowed Professors .................................................... 74 3. Books authored/edited by Faculty ......................................................................................................... 76 4. Books authored/edited by Honorary Faculty ...................................................................................... 76 Awards / Distinctions .......................................................................................................................... 77 Financial Statements .......................................................................................................................... 81 The Centre Foreword It gives me great pleasure in presenting the Eighteenth Annual Report of the Centre, for the year 2007-2008. The Centre is one among the leading institutions in the country for higher learning and research in frontier areas of science and engineering. The Centre has also been recognized as a Deemed University. During the year, significant contributions have been made in the research areas of materials science, theoretical physics, molecular biology and genetics, evolutionary and organismal biology, chemical biology, engineering mechanics and geodynamics. The Centre has witnessed a phenomenal growth in various academic activities. Many of the new activities have stabilized and have made an impact on both research and potentially useful applications. The student strength is increasing steadily adding to the vibrant atmosphere in the campus. Several of the Centre’s Faculty have done extremely well during the last year and have been decorated with prestigious awards including the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize of the CSIR. It is extremely fortunate that the Centre is being considered as one of the potential places for taking up an academic career by young researchers. Many new faculty members have joined the Centre over the last year and with this increase in young faculty members, we hope to expand our research and academic efforts in the years to come. Prof. C.N.R. Rao’s Education Foundation has generously donated funds to establish a Hall of Science which will be named as “Prof. C.N.R. Rao Hall of Science”. The Centre is also adding various infrastructural facilities to take care of the needs of various academic activities. In all these endeavours, continued encouragement and support of Department of Science and Technology is gratefully acknowledged. The publication statistics have shown very impressive progress and during the year 292 papers have been published in international and national peer reviewed journals. After obtaining the status of Deemed University, 42 students have obtained Ph D Degrees; 10 students M S (Engg.) and 6 students M S (Int. Ph D) degrees. While 9 students for Ph D and 5 students for M S (Engg.) degree completed all the academic requirements for the award of respective degrees during this year, 4 students have submitted theses for the Ph D degree which are under process. The student strength has been steadily increasing, keeping the academic activities as vibrant as ever. With the admission of 50 students for various programmes, the present student strength is 141. Several new initiatives like nanoscience and computational materials science have taken root in the Centre with substantial support from DST. Various infrastructural facilities have also been upgraded to cope up with the increased activities at the Centre. The proposal of the Centre for establishing an International Centre for Materials Science has been approved by the DST and the work has been progressing. A new programme of Integrated Ph D in Materials Science has been started from the academic year 2007-08 with an intake of 10 students. In addition to pursuing research in various contemporary areas, the Centre also has several Science Outreach Extensions and Fellowship Programmes. One such activity is the Summer Research Fellowship Programme for young students. During the year, 4,810 applications were received, out of which 120 were offered fellowships, in addition to 49 selective renewals from the previous year. This is one of the highly acclaimed programmes of the Centre and the students are very appreciative of the benefits, enabling them to get inspired towards