Foundation Day of IISER Pune
C.V. Raman Auditorium, Lecture Hall Complex, IISER Pune
IISER Pune invites you to its
FOUNDATION DAY LECTURE-2025
Title of the Lecture: Excellence and Relevance in Education: Tradition, Transition and Challenges
Speaker: Prof. K.N. Ganesh, SERB National Science Chair, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bengaluru; Founder Director, IISER Pune and IISER Tirupati
Date and Time: Monday, April 7, 2025 at 11 am
Venue: C.V. Raman Auditorium, Lecture Hall Complex, IISER Pune
Programme
1100 hrs: Welcome of Dignitaries
1105 hrs: Director’s Report
1115 hrs: Introduction of the Chief Guest
1120 hrs: Foundation Day Lecture by Prof. K.N. Ganesh
1200 hrs: Foundation Day awards to students, faculty, and staff
1220 hrs: Vote of Thanks by Dean, Academics, IISER Pune
About the Speaker
Prof. Ganesh is a renowned scientist in the field of Nucleic Acid Chemistry and Biology with extensive research contributions on therapeutic and diagnostic applications of DNA analogues, structural biology of collagen peptides and the emerging area of DNA nanotechnology. He is well-known for his contributions to designing and developing Peptide Nucleic Acid (PNA) analogues for effective cell permeation. He has more than 175 publications in reputed international journals and 2 international patents, and has guided 49 students for their doctoral degrees.
After his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Central College, Bangalore University (1972), he obtained his first PhD degree in Chemistry from Delhi University (1976) and a second one from the University of Cambridge, UK (1980). Prof. Ganesh joined CSIR-CCMB, Hyderabad, in 1981, where he initiated the chemical synthesis of DNA and RNA when automated machines were not available. He moved to the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, in May 1987, to initiate a new programme in bioorganic chemistry of nucleic acids and peptides. From 1993 to 2006, he served as the Head of the Organic Chemistry Division. He is the Founder and first Director of two of the IISERs, Indian Institutes of Science Education Research (IISER) Pune (June 2006-October 2017) and Tirupati (November 2017- April 2023). Currently, he is SERB National Science Chair at JNCASR, Bengaluru.
Prof. Ganesh has received innumerable professional awards including the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in the Chemical Sciences category (CSIR) and the Chemical Sciences Prize from The World Academy of Science (TWAS). He is a Fellow of all the 3 science academies in India and a Fellow of TWAS. He has served as a member of the Editorial Advisory Boards of various journals including Chemistry, An Asian Journal (Wiley), J Organic Chemistry (ACS), Beilsten J Organic Chemistry, Oligonucleotides and Nucleic Acid Therapeutics. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of ACS Omega (since 2016), the first open-access journal of the American Chemical Society. He was the President of Division III of IUPAC during the years 2011-2013. He has served as a member and Chair of several scientific committees of CSIR, DST and DBT. Prof. Ganesh is currently associated with Symbiosis International University (Pune), SRM University (Chennai and Amaravati), Gujarat Biotechnology University (Gandhinagar), IISER Berhampur, Shiv Nadar University, JNCASR and Bose Institute (Kolkata) in their governing bodies and in advisory roles.
Due to his eminent contributions to teaching and research on nucleic acids, science education and institution building, the Government of India bestowed on him the civilian honour “Padma Shri” in 2023. Recently, in July 2024, Prof. Ganesh was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Gold Medal of the Chemical Research Society of India (CRSI).