As India heads towards the 100th anniversary of Indian Independence in 2047, the activities of SAMat (School of Advanced Materials) and Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Research (JNCASR) will endeavor to realize the India’s ambitions in materials research and beyond.
In stating this, Department of Science and Technology (DST) Secretary S Chandrasekhar on Saturday underlined the important role that the two major institutions were expected to play in the field. His remarks came during the unveiling of the foundation stone for the building of a complex for SAMat at the Jakkur campus in Bangalore.
The foundation stone for the School of Advanced Materials (SAMat) was unveiled on Friday. It is expected to bring together all the materials research activities of the Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Research (JNCASR) – a center that has become one of the frontier areas of materials research in the country and the world over the past 30 last years.
“A building for SAMat on the JNCASR campus, based on non-governmental funds, as envisioned by Prof. CNR Rao, is a dream come true,” said S Chandrasekhar.
“Setting up a new construction facility will lead to new ideas, new thinking processes, new facilities,” he stressed while congratulating the SAMat team. “As India heads towards the 100th anniversary of Indian Independence in 2047, the activities of SAMat and JNCASR will strive to realize India’s ambitions on the ground and beyond,” added Chandrasekhar.
The President of JNCASR, Prof. GU Kulkarni emphasized, “The research activities of JNCASR have definitely made their mark globally and the professors of the institute have found their place among the best in India and the world. whole”.
The foundation stone of the SAMat building was unveiled in the presence of Bharat Ratna Prof CNR Rao, FRS at the Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), an autonomous institution under DST and an institution deemed to be a university.
The ceremony was attended by the directors of the Center for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS) and the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIAP), as well as deans, unit chairs, faculty members and officers of the center . A presentation video of the SAMat construction project was shown on the occasion, says a note from the Ministry of Science and Technology here.
“SAmat in Sanskrit means equanimity. The idea of establishing the SAMat was realized in 2018 and it consists of 28 faculty members from multiple units,” said Professor A Sundaresan, Chairman of the Chemistry and Physics of Materials Unit (CPMU) and SAMat coordinator.
“Given the number of faculty members involved in a wide range of materials research, encompassing nanomaterials, energetic materials, soft materials, biomaterials, and theory; it was deemed necessary to have an umbrella structure to bring together all materials research activities at the Centre,” the ministry note adds.
