The foundation stone of the School of Advanced Materials (SAMat) was unveiled yesterday to bring together all the materials research activity of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Research (JNCASR) – a centre that has emerged as one of the frontier areas of materials research in the country and worldwide over the last 30 years.
“A building for SAMat at JNCASR campus, based on non-Governmental funds, as envisioned by Prof. CNR Rao, is a dream coming true,” said Dr. S. Chandrasekhar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India at the unveiling ceremony at the JNCASR, Jakkur campus.
“The setting up of new building facility will lead to new ideas, new thought processes, new facilities,” he pointed out while congratulating the SAMat team. “As India marches towards 100th year of Indian Independence in 2047, activities of SAMat and JNCASR will strive to realise India’s ambitions in the field and beyond,” he added.
“Research activities in JNCASR have definitely made its mark globally and faculty of the institute found their place among the some of the best in India and all over the world,” Prof G. U. Kulkarni President, JNCASR pointed out.
The foundation stone of SAMat building was unveiled in the presence of Bharat Ratna Prof C. N. R. Rao, FRS at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), an autonomous institution under DST and an institution Deemed-to-be-University.
The ceremony was attended by directors of Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS), and Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIAP), along with deans, chairs of the units, faculty members and officers of the centre. A walk-through video of the proposed building of SAMat was screened on the occasion.
“SAMat in Sanskrit stands for equanimity. The idea of creating the SAMat was realized in 2018 and it consists of 28 faculty members drawn from several units,” told Prof. A. Sundaresan, Chair, Chemistry and Physics of Materials Unit (CPMU) &SAMat Coordinator.
In view of the number of faculty members involved in a broad spectrum of materials research, encompassing nano-materials, energy materials, soft materials, biomaterials and theory; it was found necessary to have an umbrella structure to bring all the materials research activity together at the Centre. The meeting concluded with Words of Thanks proposed by Mr. Joydeep Deb, Administrative Office, JNCASR.