Bose Institute

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Bose Institute
Established 1917
Type Research institution
Director Professor S. Raha
Location Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Campus Urban
Website Website

Bose Institute is a premier world-class research institute in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Plant biology, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Biophysics, Animal physiology, Immunotechnology and Environmental science. The institute was established in 1917 by Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose, who was the founder of modern scientific research in India. Bose Institute pioneered the concept of inter-disciplinary research in India in synch with global trends. Its alumni have achieved renown in India and the world.

Bose Institute or Basu Bigyan Mandir, the main campus, at A P C Roy road, Kolkata.

[edit] History

Directors

Acharya Bose founded the Institute on 30'th November 1917. In his opening speech he said: "I dedicate today this Institute as not merely a laboratory but a temple .... In the pursuit of my investigations I was unconsciously led into the border region of physics and physiology. To my amazement, I found boundary lines vanishing, and points of contact emerging, between the realms of the living and the non-living .... The lectures given here will not be mere repetitions of second-hand knowledge. They will announce new discoveries, demonstrated for the first time in these halls. Through regular publication of the work of the Institute, these Indian contributions will reach the whole world. They will become public property. No patents will ever be taken. The spirit of our national culture demands that we should forever be free from the desecration of utilizing knowledge only for personal gain."

Acharya Bose's early career included many marvellously inventive and pioneering experiments on electromagnetism which, in J. J. Thomson's words, marked "the dawn of the revival in India, of interest in researches in the Physical Sciences", and on the response of plants to electric and mechanical stimuli. Those early successes lay behind the stated purpose. Bose's successors remained true to that purpose. Dr. D. M. Bose and Dr. Biva Chowdhury made the first experimental recording of Meson tracks. Dr. Bose made further pioneering contributions on the susceptibility measurement of paramagnetic compounds. The institute was actively involved in pioneering discovery of Cholera Toxin and its role in the pathogenesis of Cholera by Prof. S. N. De. This led to breakthrough in understanding of the molecular mechanism of toxin-receptor interaction in microbial pathogenesis. Prof. B. B. Biswas and his group demonstrated multiplicity of RNAP from higher plant sources. His group also discovered the inositol phosphate cycle in plants.

The institute has evolved over the years into a multi-disciplinary research organization with stress on fundamental research in its pursuit of advancement of knowledge in Science and technology and at the same time developing highly competent and able scientific manpower. The institute has on its staff highly qualified and experienced scientists devoted to original and path breaking research in the fields of Biological, Biochemical, Chemical and Physical sciences placed in long established departments of Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Microbiology, Biochemistry, and Biophysics, and research sections on Plant Molecular & Cellular Genetics, Animal Physiology, Immunotechnology and Environmental science.

The institute's research activities today span a wide compass, a feature that makes it unique amongst all research institutes in India. It has succeeded in developing a vast intellectual resource in areas ranging from astrophysics, radiation physics, quantum mechanics to the frontline areas of contemporary biology such as systems biology, bioinformatics & computational biology, structure and functional dynamics of biomolecules, drug modeling, molecular genetics of microbes, development of transgenic plants etc. Based on the enduring development of scientific expertise for 85 years, the institute has scripted a programme of research in its recent five year plan that will allow it to retain the competitive edge in the 21st Century. Moreover, the steady high rate of peer reviewed publications from the institute and individual achievements of scientists in their respective area of specialization is a testimony of the excellent overall performance.

The Institute's staff and students mostly work out of three campuses in the city of Kolkata, which house its various academic departments and sections, together with a Library and other service units. The J.C. Bose Museum is a special attraction in the Main Campus. It houses a fine collection of the manuscripts, instruments etc. that record Bose's life and work which are on permanent display. The institute infrastructure includes the Acharya J. C. Bose High Altitude Research Centre at Darjeeling and experimental field stations at Falta and Madhyamgram in West Bengal catering to the need and requirements of scientists in their researches.

In recent years the impact of scientific research is assessed on objective criteria e.g. Citation Index, impact factors, Peer Review. In an independent assessment of research activities in India by the National Information System for Sciences & Technology (NISSAT) of the Government of India, the research work from Bose Institute was rated High impact in the areas of Biology and Biomedical research.

The eminence attained by Bose Institute in multi-disciplinary scientific research is evident from the fact that during the last 10 years, nearly a thousand research papers were published in high quality peer reviewed international journals (including Nature, Science and PNAS) and 167 students from the institute were awarded Ph.D. degrees during the period. The high quality of research at the institute attracted more than an Extramural funding support of more than Rupees thirty crore in its 9th Five year Plan. The scientists have received recognition in their respective areas of specialization from national and international research organizations. Current faculty include two S. S. Bhatnagar awardees; two Fellows of Indian National Science Academy; nine Fellows of National Academy of sciences; six Fellows of Indian Academy of Sciences. In addition, several research scientists have been awarded well known fellowships, such as Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship, Homi Bhabha Fellowship, Nehru Fellowship, KS Krishnan Fellowship and young scientists have received the DST, DBT and INSA Young Scientist Awards. Other awards won by Bose Institute Scientists include the Darshan Vigyan Samman, the DBT Young Women Bioscientist Award, and the Pratima-Sucharu Samman for Women Scientist of the Year.

[edit] Location

The institute has three campuses with the main campus being situated in the former residence of Jagadish Chandra Bose on Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road.

[edit] External links

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