Leading Physicist Ajay Kumar Sood Appointed As Principal Scientific Advisor To Government Of India

Professor Ajay Kumar Sood has been appointed as the Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to the government, a personnel ministry order issued on Wednesday said.

Sood, a member of Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, has been appointed to the post for a period of three years to succeed renowned biologist K VijayRaghavan.

A renowned Indian physicist and researcher, Sood is known for his pioneering research findings on graphene and nanotechnology. Sood has played a significant role in development of graphene- based transistors that are smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient than today's silicon-based ones

Sood was till recently a honorary professor in the Department of Physics at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. He served as a professor in IISC from 1994 to 2016. He was President of Indian Academy of Sciences from 2010 to 2012.

Awarded the Padma Shri in 2013, Sood is also the recipient of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, the G. D. Birla Award for Scientific Research, the TWAS Prize in Physics, the Millennium Gold Medal of the Indian Science Congress Association, the Sir C. V. Raman Award of the UGC, the Homi Bhabha Medal of the Indian National Science Academy and the G. M. Modi Award for Science and Technology, among others.

Sood is also the Chairman, Governing Council, Raman Research Institute. He also serves as the Chairman of the boards at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research in Mohali and Bhopal.He was part of the Vision Group on Nanotechnology set up by the Government of Karnataka.

Sood served at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam as Scientific Officer till 1988. While working at IGCAR, he received PhD (1982) from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. He did postdoctoral work (1983-85) with M Cardona at Max Planck Institut for Festkorperforschung, Stuttgart.

The PSA’s office aims to provide pragmatic and objective advice to the prime minister and cabinet on matters related to science, technology and innovation with a focus on application of science and technology in critical infrastructure, economic and social sectors in partnership with government departments, institutions and industry.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Sood as Principal Scientific Advisor to the government, the order further noted.

(With inputs from PTI)