dm{f©H$ à{VdoXZ Annual Report 2016-17 ^maVr¶ {dkmZ {ejm Ed§ AZwg§YmZ g§ñWmZ nwUo Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune XyaX{e©Vm Ed§ bú` uCƒV‘ j‘Vm Ho$ EH$ Eogo d¡km{ZH$ g§ñWmZ H$s ñWmnZm {Og‘| AË`mYw{ZH$ AZwg§YmZ g{hV AÜ`mnZ Ed§ {ejm nyU©ê$n go EH$sH¥$V hmo& u{Okmgm Am¡a aMZmË‘H$Vm go `wº$ CËH¥$ï> g‘mH$bZmË‘H$ AÜ`mnZ Ho$ ‘mÜ`m‘ go ‘m¡{bH$ {dkmZ Ho$ AÜ``Z H$mo amoMH$ ~ZmZm& ubMrbo Ed§ Agr‘ nmR>çH«$‘ VWm AZwg§YmZ n[a`moOZmAm| Ho$ ‘mÜ`‘ go N>moQ>r Am`w ‘| hr AZwg§YmZ joÌ ‘| àdoe& Vision & Mission uEstablish scientific institution of the highest caliber where teaching and education are totally integrated with state-of-the-art research uMake learning of basic sciences exciting through excellent integrative teaching driven by curiosity and creativity uEntry into research at an early age through a flexible borderless curriculum and research projects Annual Report 2016-17 Correct Citation IISER Pune Annual Report 2016-17, Pune, India Published by Dr. K.N. Ganesh Director Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune Dr. Homi J. Bhabha Road Pashan, Pune 411 008, India Telephone: +91 20 2590 8001 Fax: +91 20 2025 1566 Website: www.iiserpune.ac.in Compiled and Edited by Dr. Shanti Kalipatnapu Dr. V.S. Rao Ms. Kranthi Thiyyagura Photo Courtesy IISER Pune Students and Staff © No part of this publication be reproduced without permission from the Director, IISER Pune at the above address Printed by United Multicolour Printers Pvt. Ltd. 264/4, Shaniwar Peth, Pune 411 030 Email: [email protected] Governance Board of Governors Chairperson Dr. K. Venkataramanan Director and President (Engineering and Construction Projects), Larsen & Toubro, Mumbai Members Shri V.S. Oberoi, IAS; Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India, New Delhi (up to 01.12.2016) Shri Kewal Kumar Sharma, IAS; Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India, New Delhi Prof. K.N. Ganesh, Director, IISER Pune Prof. Anurag Kumar, Director, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru Prof. Indranil Manna, Director, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur Dr. Sekhar Basu, Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy, Mumbai Shri Sumeet Mallick, IAS; Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra, Mumbai Prof. Srikumar Banerjee, DAE Homi Bhabha Professor, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai Dr. Madhavan Nair Rajeevan, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Science, Govt. of India, New Delhi Ms. Darshana M. Dabral, Joint Secretary & Financial Advisor, Ministry of Human Resource Development, New Delhi Prof. Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath, Chairperson, Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru Prof. L.S. Shashidhara, Professor, IISER Pune Prof. A. Raghuram, Professor, IISER Pune Secretary Col. G. Raja Sekhar (Retd.), Registrar, IISER Pune Finance Committee Chairperson Dr. K. Venkataramanan Director and President (Engineering and Construction Projects), Larsen & Toubro, Mumbai Members Prof. K.N. Ganesh, Director, IISER Pune Shri Praveen Kumar, Joint Secretary (Administration), Ministry of Human Resource Development, New Delhi Ms. Darshana M. Dabral, Joint Secretary & Financial Advisor, Ministry of Human Resource Development, New Delhi Shri C.P. Mohan Kumar, Registrar, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai Shri R.Y. Deshpande, Director (Legal & Contracts), CDAC, Pune (up to 18.09.2016) Cmdr. Atul Kumar Sinha, Registrar, Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, Pune Secretary Col. G. Raja Sekhar (Retd.), Registrar, IISER Pune Senate Chairperson Prof. K.N. Ganesh, Director, IISER Pune Members (Institutional) Prof. L.S. Shashidhara, Professor and Chair (Biology) Prof. Shyam Rai, Dean (Faculty), Professor and Chair (Earth and Climate Science) Prof. G. Ambika, Dean (Graduate Studies) and Professor Prof. Sunil Mukhi, Professor and Chair (Physics) Prof. Sanjeev Galande, Dean (Research & Development) and Professor Prof. A. Raghuram, Professor and Chair (Mathematics) Prof. Milind Watve, Professor Prof. M. Jayakannan, Professor and Chair (Chemistry) Dr. Shivprasad Patil, Dean (Student Activities) and Associate Professor Dr. Amit Hogadi, Dean (Doctoral Studies) and Associate Professor Dr. Prasad Subramanian, Associate Dean (Doctoral Studies) and Associate Professor Dr. Soumen Maity, Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) and Associate Professor Dr. T.S. Mahesh, Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) and Associate Professor Dr. Umeshareddy Kacherki, Deputy Librarian Members (External) Prof. Shekhar Mande, Director, NCCS, Pune Prof. Sonal Kulkarni-Joshi, Professor, Deccan College, Pune Dr. Ashish Lele, Chief Scientist and Chair, Polymer Science and Engineering Division, CSIR-NCL, Pune Secretary Col. G. Raja Sekhar (Retd.), Registrar, IISER Pune Building and Works Committee Chairperson Prof. K.N. Ganesh, Director, IISER Pune Members Shri K.S. Wagh, Chief Advisor, Civil Infrastructure, IIT Bombay Shri Sushant Baliga, Additional Director General (Retd.), CPWD, New Delhi Shri P.M. Kanvinde, Architect and Former Principal, Abhinav College of Architecture, Pune Shri Mohan Khemani, Chief Engineer (Retd.), CPWD, New Delhi Prof. L.S. Shashidhara, Professor, IISER Pune Col. G. Raja Sekhar (Retd.), Registrar, IISER Pune Secretary Shri Y.S. Rajput, Superintending Engineer, IISER Pune Contents Foreword Academic Activities and Achievements of Faculty Members Awards and Honors 03 Publications in 2016 05 Invited Lectures 25 Contributed Talks and Poster Presentations 37 Academic Events Organized 46 Memberships and Affiliations 48 National and International Visits 54 Conferences, Events, and Initiatives Conferences, Symposia, and Workshops 59 News and Events 68 International Relations 91 Outreach Activities 98 Colloquia and Public Lectures 103 Research Seminars 106 Academic Programs PhD Program 123 Integrated PhD Program 130 BS MS Program 132 Personnel 151 Funding and Infrastructure Sponsored Projects 161 New Equipment 178 Library 182 Scientific Report 187 Accounts at a Glance 255 Foreword I am delighted to present the annual report of the Institute for the period April 2016-March 2017. This year has been a very special year for the Institute, which has seen a marked phase shift in its activities and has broken new grounds. Our faculty members have received prestigious professional recognitions. Some of these are: Dr. Seema Sharma was elected as the Convener of JetMET Working Group of CERN Collaboration, Dr. V.G. Anand received Bronze Medal of Chemical Research Society of India, Prof. Shyam Rai received the National Award in Geoscience and Technology for 2016 by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India, Dr. Nixon Abraham was bestowed with the 2017 Pfizer Research Prize of Switzerland which he shared with two other scientists for their work on neuronal networks involved in the sense of smell carried out at the University of Geneva. Our heartiest congratulations to them and other faculty members who have made the Institute proud by their achievements. The present student strength of the Institute is close to 1300 with 771 BS-MS, 157 Integrated PhD and 325 PhD students. The UG academic program at IISER Pune has been strengthened by the creation of new disciplines in Earth and Climate Science, and Humanities and Social Sciences. Significantly, both the quality and quantity of research publications from the Institute have shown a remarkable upward trend this year. Our students continue to bring laurels to the Institute, with 7 students selected for DAAD-WISE Fellowship and 2 students each selected for Charpak Research Internship, Mitacs Global Program and Khorana Fellowship. Tejal Agarwal was selected to participate in Lindau Meeting in 2016, while Abhishek Swarnakar has been selected for the same in 2017. IISER Pune students bagged the overall championship in the Inter-IISER Sports Meet held at IISER Kolkata in December 2016, winning maximum number of medals. They broke the tradition of the host institute becoming the champions during the previous meets by winning the championship in individual and team games. The Institute organized student flagship events such as cultural festival Karavaan, inter-institutional pan-India science quiz event Mimamsa, in addition to regular institutional functions such as Foundation Day, Science Day, and Math Day. IISER Pune is emerging as a favorite academic hub for hosting several national and international scientific conferences and workshops. This year saw the organization of 16 such meetings, some of the prominent ones being National Seminar on Crystallography, International Conference on Oriental Astronomy, Indian Strings Meeting and National Conference on Library Innovations for Excellence. Institute also hosted 17 events related to science outreach, public engagement, and professional development. The first category of meetings were mainly oriented to creating new careers for women and included topics such as Science Journalism and Science Administration and Management; programs for teachers included School Teacher Training Workshops, School Teachers’ Science Congress, Pedagogy Workshops for Undergraduate Science Teachers, Salters' Program supported by Dr. Yusuf Hameid for Chemistry teachers, and programs oriented toward science communication such as workshops on basics of audio / video production, 3D animation, etc. Other events were on professional networking – grant proposal writing, startups, and Indo-German Dialogue on Excellence in Research and Education. The Institute has also been very active in promoting various government initiatives such as Ishân Vikâs for students from the north-east