New Delhi: Former Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India K. by Vijayaraghavan was appointed Chairman of the newly formed Science Advisory Council of Ashoka University.
The university said the Institute of Liberal Arts and Sciences created the council to guide its vice-chancellor on “enhancing research, teaching and training in the natural sciences, computer science and mathematics”. in a statement monday.
The founding members of the council are: Rajesh Gopakumar, Senior Professor and Director, ICTS-TIFR Bangalore; Yamuna Krishnan, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Chicago; Priyamvada Natarajan, Professor of Astronomy and Physics at Yale University; and Somak Raychaudhuri, Director, IUCAA, Pune.
vijayraghavanAn emeritus professor and former director of the National Center for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalore, served as the PSA from March 2018 to April 2022.
The 68-year-old was appointed PSA after retiring as Secretary, Department of Biotechnology (DBT). He served in that position for five years from January 2013 to January 2018.
Asked about the new council, he said: “The university is making significant progress in various areas of cutting-edge research, aimed at solving some of the most important scientific issues of our time.”
He added that the council has “an important role to play in guiding the research and development agenda of the university”.
Achievements and Awards
“I’m not going to be stupid and try a whole nut. I’m going to try something in my fist,” he said When he quit his job at NCBS – an institute he helped build from the ground up – to head DBT in Delhi.
He said he wanted to introduce rigor in Indian science and train scientists to work together on workable problems.
Professor Vijayaraghavan’s contribution to science as an outstanding developmental geneticist and neurobiologist has also been widely recognized.
according to Infosys Science Foundation, their work with Drosophila has revealed important principles and mechanisms that control the assembly and wiring of nerves and muscles during development. He has worked to define how these neuromuscular circuits direct specific locomotor behavior.
Vijayraghavan is known For his innovative use of tools and concepts from genetics, microscopy, molecular biology, developmental biology and behavioral biology. He is also known for being fearless in incorporating new methods when necessary to tackle new biological questions.
The eminent scientist was awarded the Padma Shri in 2013 and the inaugural Infosys Prize in Life Sciences in 2009. vijayraghavan He was also the recipient of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, India’s most prestigious science award in 1998.
he has been a fellow of Royal Society – Formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge – since 2014. An IIT-Kanpur alumnus, he is also a Fellow of The Indian National Science Academy and The Indian Academy of Sciences and served on the latter’s council.
He is also an associate member of the European Organization for Molecular Biology and has received the Procter & Gamble Postdoctoral Fellowship and the Lucille P. Markey Senior Research Fellowship.
he’s been a friend of World Academy of Sciences, Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, international science council and is a JC Bose Fellow of the Government of India.
In April 2014, he was Selected As a foreign associate of the US National Academy of Sciences.
education
Professor K. Vijayaraghavan completed his Bachelor of Technology degree in Chemical Engineering and Master of Technology degree in Bio-Medical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He did Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.
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