Dr. R. Chidambaram Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of , and Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet

Dr. R. Chidambaram is the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India and the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet. He is also the Chairman of the High-Level Committee for the National Knowledge Network.

He is one of India’s distinguished physicists and has made outstanding contributions to fundamental science and nuclear technology. After receiving his Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Science, in 1962, he joined the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in 1962 and became its Director in 1990. He was Chairman, Indian Atomic Energy Commission from 1993-2000. He was Chairperson of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) during 1994-1995. He was a member of the Commission of Eminent Persons appointed by the IAEA in 2008 to prepare a report on the “Role of the IAEA to 2020 and Beyond”. He was a member, and later Vice-President, of the Executive Committee of the International Union of Crystallography during 1990-1999. He has D.Sc. (h.c.) degrees from more than twenty Universities in India and abroad. He has more than 200 research publications in refereed journals and has guided the Ph.D. work of many individuals who have themselves become outstanding scientists.

Dr. Chidambaram is a recipient of numerous outstanding awards, including the Padma Vibhushan, (India’s second highest civilian award) presented to him by the President of India in 1999. A representative list of his other awards include the C. V. Raman Medal (2013) from the Indian National Science Academy, Lifetime Contribution Award in Engineering (2009) from the Indian National Academy of Engineering, Homi Bhabha Lifetime Achievement Award (2006) of the Indian Nuclear Society, Meghnad Saha Medal (2002) of the Indian National Science Academy, the R.D. Birla Award (1996) of the Indian Physics Association, the Distinguished Materials Scientist of the Year Award (1996) of the Material Research Society of India (MRSI), the C.V. Raman Birth Centenary Award (1995) of the Indian Science Congress Association, and the Second Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary International Visiting Fellowship (1992) by the Indian National Science Academy.