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38 PIONEERING A NEW FUTURE
Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science
Dr Mahendra Lal Sirkar, founder of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science
The Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), the oldest research institute in Asia, celebrated its 145th foundation day on 29 July 2020. The
premier scientific and educational institute started its journey from Bowbazar in Calcutta on 29 July 1876, guided by the visionary nationalist and great philanthropist, and renowned medical practitioner Dr Mahendra Lal Sircar. The journey from Bowbazar campus to the present-day
campus at South Kolkata has been through some of the great discoveries and path-breaking researches of all times. Indeed, IACS is credited to be
the only Indian institution where a Nobel Prize winning work in science has been conducted.
Although the primary motive has been cutting edge basic scientific research in all the major areas of fundamental sciences, over the years, the institute has metamorphosed successfully
its abilities in the modern-day interdisciplinary advancements, like nanotechnology, biotechnology, chemical biology, advanced functional materials, polymers, energy, and sustainability. IACS is
ranked top ten (#7) in India and at #367 globally as per the survey in the 'Nature' in terms of its research performance. IACS has been chosen
as one of the five centres of excellence in India through granting of a Technical Research Centre where emphasis is laid on employing fundamental science for translational purposes which may be of direct relevance to the industry and society
at large. In 2018, IACS was conferred the deemed-to-be-university status under de novo category by the University Grants
Commission and Ministry of Human Resource Development, which led IACS to spread its wings in imparting
unique research-oriented education to students from the undergraduate
level. Notably, within two years of existence as a research university, the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR, cwur.org) declared IACS to be amidst the top 5 per cent of the best 20,000 universities worldwide in the new list for 2019-2020, with a National Rank of #19, which
is a notable feat! The Syamaprasad Mookerjee Advanced Research and Training (SMART) was conceptualized and inspired by Dr Harsh Vardhan,