Borkar is Institute Chair Professor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai (IIT, Bombay). He obtained a PhD degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley (1980). He has held positions at TIFR Centre, Bangalore, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. He is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, National Academy of Sciences of India, Indian National Academy of Engineers, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, and the American Mathematical Society. He has received the S.S. Bhatnagar Award, Homi Bhabha and J. C. Bose Fellowships, P.C. Mahalanobis Medal and TWAS Award in Engineering, and has been an invited speaker to the International Congress of Mathematicians, Madrid, 2006.

Chakrabarti is senior professor, Department of Biochemistry, and Bioinformatics Centre, Bose Institute, Kolkata. He obtained his PhD from the Indian Institute of Science (1981), did postdoc. research at ETH, Zürich, Purdue Univ., UCLA and Caltech, USA, then worked at the National Chemical Lab., Pune (1990-97). Finding patterns in sequence and structure and deriving the underlying factors stabilizing the native fold of proteins and macromolecular interactions have been the hallmark of Chakrabarti’s work, which spans biophysics and bioinformatics. He is also involved in structural studies on proteins from Vibrio cholera, and the understanding the biological activity of nanoparticles. He is a fellow of all 3 science academies of India, and recipient of the JC Bose Fellowship. He is the President (2013-16) of the Asian Crystallographic Association.

Chakraborti (PhD, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Jadavpur University, India, 2003; and Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, France, 2013) is professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India. He was: registrar, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU); dean, School of Computational and Integrative Sciences, JNU; dean of research and development, BML Munjal University, India; professor, chair of quantitative finance, Ecole Centrale Paris, France (now CentraleSupélec); lecturer in theoretical physics, Banaras Hindu University, India. He had postdoctoral tenures at Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA, and Helsinki University of Technology, Finland (now Aalto University). He is Founding Member, Center for Complexity Economics, Applied Spirituality and Public Policy, Jindal School of Government and Public Policy, OP Jindal Global University, India; International Member, Centro Internacional de Ciencias A.C., Cuernavaca, Mexico; council member of Centre for Quantum Social and Cognitive Science, Memorial University, Canada. He was awarded the Young Scientist Medal of the Indian National Science Academy (2009) for work in econophysics.

Chakravarty is professor at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. He obtained his PhD in 1982 from Calcutta University working at IACS (Kolkata) and did his postdoctoral studies at Texas A and M University prior to joining IISc in 1985 as assistant professor. He has made important contributions in bioinorganic chemistry towards developing the chemistry of bio-essential first-row transition metal-based synthetic photo-chemotherapeutic agents that are active in visible light in different types of cancer cells. His awards include: SS Bhatnagar Prize in 1998; CSIR, New Delhi; CRSI Silver Medal in 2007; JC Bose national fellowship of DST, Govt. of India; and Alexander von Humboldt fellowship, Germany, in 1994. His membership includes: Indian National Science Academy (FNA) in 2006 and Indian Academy of Sciences (FASc) in 1995.

Chakravortty is a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, India. Dipshikha received her PhD from the DBT-National Center of Cell, Pune in 1999. She worked at Aichi University, Japan, and later received a Humboldt Fellowship to work at Friedrich Alexander University, Germany. Her research focuses on molecular pathogenesis, infectious diseases, vaccine development and novel delivery systems. She has received many awards, including Prof. Rustom Choksi Award for Excellence in Research in Science/Engineering, DAE Outstanding Investigator award, Astra Chair Professorship, DBT-National Bioscience Award, NASI-Reliance Industries Platinum Jubilee award, Tata Innovation Fellowship, P.A. Kurup Endowment Award by the Society of Biological Chemists (India), Yogmaya Devi Award for Research in Biomedical Science for outstanding work, S.K Chatterjee Award of IIT. She is a Fellow of the National Academy of Science, India, Indian National Science Academy, Delhi, and Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore. To date, she has mentored 28 PhD students, who are now reputed faculty members.

Chakravorty got his MSc (Tech) at Calcutta University and PhD (1965) from Penn State University USA. He is currently emeritus professor,SERB Distinguished Fellow of DST and INSA Emeritus Scientist at Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata, where he also served as director during 1993-1999. He was also Professor and Head, Advanced Centre for Materials Science, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur during 1976-1982 His research contributions include a wide range of nanocomposites and their electrical,magnetic, magnetodielectric and multiferroic properties. He is a Fellow of Indian National Science Academy and the Indian Academy of Sciences, and has won the MRSI Medal, MRSI ICSC Prize,INSA Prize for Materials Science, Nano Science and Technology Award of DST, New Delhi and Materials Scientist of the Year Award of MRSI 2014.

Chakravorty was educated in Kolkata at Mitra Inst., Scottish Church College, U. College of Sc. (PhD 1961), and at MIT and Harvard. He is emeritus prof. of IACS, Dept. of Inorganic Chem., Indian Ass. for the Cultivation of Sc., Kolkata, where he also served as prof. and head. He was also prof. and head, Dept. of Chem., Indian Inst. of Tech., Kanpur. His awards and honours include: SS Bhatnagar Prize; TWAS Award in Chem.; DSc (h.c.); TR Seshadri, Acharya JC Ghosh, RC Mehrotra, CRSI Gold and ICS Gold Medals; INSA Golden Jubilee Research Professorship; JNCASR Hidustan Lever Research Professorship, Tata Chemicals Platinum Jubilee Distinguished Emeritus Professorship; fellowships of Indian Acad. of Scs. and INSA. He has been on the editorial boards of major journals and publications including Inorg. Chem., Dalton Trans., Inorg. Chim. Acta and Comprehensive Coord Chem (2nd edition).

Chandak, a physician scientist, is the former director of the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, and Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose Fellow at the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree in biochemistry from the Institute of Medical Sciences, at Banaras Hindu University, and his PhD in biochemistry from Osmania University. He is a Fellow of all four National Science Academies in India. His research interests include understanding the genetic and epigenetic basis of complex disorders of pancreas, including chronic pancreatitis, type 2 diabetes, and intermediate traits associated with them, with a focus on the foetal origins of adult common diseases. His other passion includes reducing the genetic burden on the society through the development of robust, rapid and affordable genetic tests for common genetic disorders like hemoglobinopathies and musculopathies and extending prenatal diagnosis and genetic counselling to the common man. He has developed a whole blood-based screening-cum-confirmatory molecular test that can help in early identification and aid to eliminate sickle cell anaemia In India.

Chandrasekaran is a INSA Senior Scientist at the Department of Organic Chemistry , Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India. He is also a Honorary Professor of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore. He was previously lecturer, assistant professor and professor of the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, India from 1978-89. He is a synthetic organic chemist who is internationally recognized for his contributions to methodology development. His work has included the study of chemistry of Mo-S systems, organic-inorganic hybrid materials as catalysts for asymmetric synthesis, synthesis of peptides and synthesis of thiosugars as glycosidase inhibitors. He has been awarded the SS Bhatnagar Prize, CSIR, New Delhi and JC Bose National Fellowship of DST. He is a fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences and the Indian National Science Academy.

Chandrasekhar is the Director of the National Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhubaneshwar, India. He is on a deputation from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He obtained his PhD in 1982 at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. He investigates main-group organometallic chemistry, inorganic rings, metal clusters and cages. He also works on materials with emphasis on catalysis, magnetism and photophysical properties. He is a fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, Indian Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences of India. His honours include the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, the Friedrich Wilhelm-Bessel Award by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany, the JC Bose National Fellowship by the Dept. of Science and Technology, New Delhi and the SASTRA-CNR Rao award.

Chandrashekar is prof., Indian Inst. of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, India. He was previously: Dir., Natl. Inst. of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar. Presently he has taken over the charge of Secretary, Science and Engineering Research Board, Dept. of Science and Technology, New Delhi (since 2013). He has made significant contributions in the area of molecular receptors for neutral, cationic and anionic substrates, photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy, model compounds for photosynthetic intermediates, catalysts for organic conversions and supramolecular systems for molecular devices. His awards include: SS Bhatnagar Prize; Prof. P. Ray Memorial Award; CRSI bronze and silver medals; Homi Bhabha Award; and JC Bose National Fellowship, Dept. of Science and Technology, New Delhi, India. He is an elected fellow of all three national science academies of India.

Chattaraj is a Professor at BIT Mesra. He was an Institute Chair Professor at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, India. He received his PhD from IIT Bombay where he is now a Distinguished Visiting Professor. A former research associate of UNC Chapel Hill and FAU, Erlangen-Nürnberg. Received University Gold and Bardhaman Sammilani medals; INSA (Young Scientist) medal; CRSI Bronze and Silver medals; IAAM medal ; Associate, Indian Academy of Sciences; BM Birla Science Prize; BC Deb Memorial award ; Acharya P.C.Ray Memorial Awards (ICS and NASI); Prof. S. Basu Memorial Lecture Award, INSA; Prof. R.P.Mitra Memorial Lecture, DU; Prof. S.K.Siddhanta Memorial Lecture,BU. He is a member of the Indian Natl. Science Academy; Indian Academy of Sciences; National Academy of Sciences, India; West Bengal Academy of Science and Technology; Royal Society of Chemistry, UK and FWO, Belgium. He is Sir J.C. Bose National Fellow. He is a member of the Science Education Panel of the Indian Science Academies. He was Convener, CTS , Convener, Kharagpur Local Chapter, INSA, council member of CRSI, Dean (Faculty) and Head of the Chem. Dept., IIT Kharagp

Chatterjee is a Professor of Pharmacology, Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Kolkata, India. Upon completing her MBBS and MD from University of Calcutta, she received her PhD from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India. Her work as a medical immunopharmacologist includes multiple aspects of Leishmania biology that includes (i) delineating the immunopathology of Post Kala-azar Dermal Leishmaniasis (PKDL), a disease unique to South Asia, and especially challenging as it has no animal model; (ii) development of diagnostic/prognostic objective molecular tools for monitoring anti-leishmanial therapy; and (iii) studying redox-dysfunction as an effective leishmanicidal approach. In sum, the thrust of Chatterjee’s work is translational research in Indian Leishmaniasis with a view towards facilitating a greater understanding of disease pathogenesis through worldwide collaborations across geographic borders, and supporting the ongoing kala-azar elimination programme. She is a member of four Indian science academies and has over 175 publications in leading International journals (Clin Infect Dis, J Invest Dermatol, J Clin Invest, J Inf Dis).

Bharat Chattoo is a professor in the department of microbiology and biotechnology centre, MS University of Baroda, coordinator of the Biotechnology Programme and director of the Centre for Genome Research. He is the founder vice chancellor of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University. He obtained his PhD from the University of Delhi. Subsequently, he worked at the University of Rochester Medical Centre and has been a visiting scientist/professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, National Institute of Bioscience and Human Technology, Rice Genome Programme in Tsukuba, Japan, and Ciba-Geigy in Basle. He was a staff scientist at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, and also worked at the Friedrich Miescher Institute, Basle. He serves on several committees of the Government of India and Gujarat state and has published extensively.

Chaudhuri is a K.N. Bajaj chair professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. He earned his Bachelor of Technology in electronics and communication engineering at IIT Kharagpur (1985), his Master of Science at the University of Calgar (1987) and his PhD (1990), both in electrical engineering, at the University of California, San Diego. For his research excellence, he has received major national awards including the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, Swarnajayanti Fellowship, J.C. Bose National Fellowship, G.D. Birla Award and the NASI-Reliance Award. Chaudhuri was honoured with the title of TUM Ambassador by Technical University Munich, Germany. He is a Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Science India, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (US). He has been recognized as a distinguished alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and UCSD. He has received a Doctor of Science degree (honoris causa) by Burdwan University. His areas of research include computer vision, machine learning and computational haptics.

C.Siva Ram Murthy earned his B.Tech. degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from REC (now NIT) Warangal in 1982, M.Tech. degree in Computer Engineering from IIT, Kharagpur in 1984 and Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from IISc, Bangalore in 1988. Since September 1988, he has been with the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Madras where he is currently the Richard Karp Institute Chair Professor. He has held the INAE Chair Professorship and also short-term visiting appointments at several European and North American universities. He has authored many textbooks, and published research papers over 175 in peer-reviewed international journals and over 175 in refereed international conference proceedings. He is a recipient of Best Ph.D. Thesis Award from IISc, INSA Medal for Young Scientists, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai Research Award, IBM (USA) Real-Time Innovation Award, JC Bose Fellowship and several Best Paper Awards. He is an elected Fellow of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE, USA), TWAS - Italy, Indian National Science Academy (INSA), National Academy of Sciences (NASI), and Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE).

Chopra (PhD, Delhi School of Economics,1969). She was formerly director, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi University, where she was professor (1980-2009). She has been on the editorial and policy boards of several international journals including Environment and Development Economics, and Ecological Economics, and was Senior Associate of the Ecological and Environmental Economics Programme hosted by the ICTP, Trieste, Italy (2002-2006). She was member, Assessment Panel of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2001-2005) and co-chair of its Working Group on Response Options. She is a fellow of the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, Stockholm and of the South Asia Network of Development and Environmental Economics. She was President of the Indian Society for Ecological Economics (2010-2012 and 1998-2000) and President of the Indian Society of Agricultural Economics (2004). Currently, she co-edits " Ecology, Economy and Society: the Journal of the Indian Society for Ecological Economics

Chopra (PhD, Edinburgh) is chancellor of the Central University of Kerala, India. He was educated at the University of Delhi and Indian Agricultural Research Institute where he began his research career in 1958. He has held key positions in the government of India including Dir. Gen., Indian Council of Agricultural Research, and Member, Planning Commission. He sat on the Boards of Trustees of IRRI, ICRISAT and CYMMIT, and was a member of the Science Council, CGIAR. He is a fellow of the Indian Natl. Science Acad.; Indian Acad. of Science; Natl. Acad. of Science India; Natl. Acad. of Agricultural Science and Eur. Acad. of Science, Arts and Humanities. His honours include: Padma Bhushan, India; Aryabhata Award, INSA; Biological Science Award, FICCI; and Borlaug Award. He served as president of the Natl. Acad. of Agricultural Science, and has received DSc (h.c.) from six universities.

Dasgupta is professor in the Department of Physics at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, India. He did doctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania, postdoctoral work at the University of California, San Diego, and Harvard University. Afterwards, he taught at the University of Minnesota for a few years before joining IISc in 1987. He has made important contributions in the theory of phase transitions, statistical mechanics of disordered systems, kinetics of surface growth and fluctuations, and dynamics of supercooled liquids near the glass transition. His awards include: Fellowship of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the DAE-Raja Ramanna Prize and the J.C. Bose National Fellowship. His memberships include all three science academies in India.

Datta was educated at the University of Kolkata, India (PhD, 1968, and DSc, 1974). He is Distinguished Professor, Natl. Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), New Delhi. His previous positions include: Vice chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University; General President, Indian Science Congress (2003-2004); founder director and Professor of Eminence, NIPGR; and President, National Academy of Sciences (2009-2010). His honours include: SS Bhatnagar Prize; Guha Memorial Award; GD Birla; BR Ambedkar; RD Birla; Sir Amulya Rattan Oration Award; Om Bhasin; TWAS Award; Adhar Chandra Mookerjee Award, Goyal Prize in Life Sciences; Ranbaxy Award; Padma Shree; Padma Bhushan; Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini, G. M. Modi Science award, Bharat Ratna Mother Teresa Gold Medal Award, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Gold Medal Award, Bharat Vikas Award, Glory of India Award, Best Citizens of India and Bharat Jyoti Puraskar. His membership includes: INSA; Indian Academy of Sciences; National Science Academy, India; and New York Academy of Sciences.

After doctoral (Brookhaven Lab.) and postdoctl. work (Carnegie-Mellon), he joined the Materials Science Lab., IGCAR, Kalpakkam (1976-81), served as reader, U. of Hyderabad (1981-86); prof. and dean, Phys. Scs. JNU (1986-99); dir., SN Bose Ctr., Kolkata (1999-2005), Found. Dir., IISER, Kolkata (2006-11) and Vice-Chancellor, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan (2011-16). Honours include: INSA Young Scientist Medal; Snr. assoc. ICTP; Humboldt fellowship; Ramanna prize; Raman award, Science Congress; Saha Medal, Natl. Acad., Allahabad; Raman Prize, INSA, JC Bose Fellowship. He is fellow of all Ind. natl. sci academies. Four notable research monographs are 'Relaxation Phenomena in Condensed Matter Physics' (1987), 'Dissipative Phenomena in Condensed Matter', with S. Puri (2004), 'A Paradigm Called Magnetism' (2008) and 'Diffusion - Formalism and Applications' (2013).

Deekshatulu (PhD 1964, IISc Bangalore) is distinguished Fellow, Institute for Research and Development in Banking Technology(IDRBT) (Govt. of India), Hyderabad. He previously was: Professor, IISc; dist. scientist and dir., Natl. Remote Sensing Agency (NRSC), Hyderabad; dir., Centre for Space Science and Technology Education for Asia and the Pacific (CSSTEAP), 1995-2002; vis. prof., Dept. of Computer Sciences, U. of Hyderabad (2002-2011). His honours include: National Systems Award (Gold Medal), India; Sir M. Viwesraya Award; Brahmprakash Award, INSA; Biren Roy Award; Padma Shri; Om Prakash Bhasin Award; Sivananda Eminent Citizen Award; and the Bhaskara and Aryabhatta awards. His membership includes: Indian National Science Academy (INSA), Delhi; Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore; IEEE, USA; National Academy of Agricultural Sciences Newdelhi, National Academy of Engineering, India, Computer Society of India. Hon Member Asian Assocn. for Remote Sensing.

Desiraju obtained his BSc (1972) from the U. of Bombay and PhD (1976) from the U. of Illinois, Urbana. He was in the U.of Hyderabad between 1979 and 2009. In 2009, he joined the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. He is a very well known structural chemist. His books on crystal engineering (Elsevier, 1989) and the weak hydrogen bond (OUP, 1999) are now standard works with 4000 and 6000 citations respectively. He co-authored a textbook in crystal engineering in 2011. He is on the past or present editorial advisory board of Angewandte Chemie, Chem. Communications and the J. of the American Chem. Soc.. He is a Past President of the International Union of Crystallography. He received the Humboldt Forschungspreis in 2000 and an Honorary Doctorate from the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba in Argentina in 2013. He received the ISA Medal for science of the University of Bologna in 2018. He is one of the most highly cited Indian scientists with an H-index of 101.

Dhar obtained his MSc in physics from the Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur and PhD in physics from the California Institute of Technology. He has been at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai since 1978. He has worked on the problems in disordered systems, in particular relaxation in disordered magnets. His most influential work has been in the area of self-organized criticality, finding models which can be solved exactly. He is a fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, and of the National Academy of Sciences. He is recipient of the Young Scientist Award, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in Physics, the JR Schrieffer Prize of the ICTP, TWAS prize in Physics, and the SN Bose medal of the Indian National Science Academy.

Dikshit has made significant contributions to molecular pharmacology with special emphasis on redox/NO biology and metabolism. In the area of neutrophil biology she enhanced our understanding of how nitric oxide modulates neutrophil differentiation, survival, free radical generation, NETosis, chemotaxis, and microbicidal activity. She has investigated the role of iNOS in metabolic regulations and insulin sensitivity. She led the anti-thrombotic drug discovery team at Central Drug Research Institute, and one of their new chemical entities has received permission for phase I clinical trial in India. She initiated a programme on drug and biomarker discovery in the area of fatty liver disease at the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, with significant contributions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, under a Department of Biotechnology - Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH) project, she undertook preclinical and pharmacokinetic evaluations of AYUSH herbal formulations for mitigating SARS- CoV2 and associated pathologies. Dikshit has published 200+ papers, 23 reviews, and 8 patents, edited 3 books, and has supervised 37 PhD and 10 MD theses.

Dube is Emeritus Scientist of Indian National Science Academy and Csir JC Bose National Fellow, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, India. Her research focus is on the endemic organism Leishmania sp., a protozoan parasite causing Kala-azar, a neglected tropical disease and a major health problem in pockets in the Indian sub-continent. She identified novel vaccine and drug targets using functional genomics and proteomics, leading to the development of indigenous protein vaccines. This also led to the detection of new biomarkers for drug resistance in Leishmania. She developed and established the first non-human primate model for preclinical evaluation of a potential antileishmanial drug/vaccine, and generated fluorescent Leishmania organism for rapid drug screening which were recognized nationally and internationally. Member of the three Indian science academies, she has received awards such as Sir J.C. Bose National Fellowship, Indian Council of Medical Research Kshanika Oration, and Dr. B.N. Singh Memorial Oration among others.

Gadagkar is Prof., Centre for Ecol. Scs., Ind. Inst. of Sc.(IISc); Chairman, Centre for Contemp. Studies (IISc); DST Year of Science Chair Professor; Hon. prof., Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Adv. Sci. Res., Bangalore; non-resid. perm. fellow, Wissenschaftskolleg, Berlin; Member, Executive Board, International Council for Science (ICSU). His awards include: TWAS Award in Biology; Yg Associateship, Ind. Acad. of Scs (IAS); INSA Medal for Yg Scientists; SS Bhatnagar Prize; BM Birla Sci. Prize; Homi Bhabha Fell.; BP Pal Natl. Envrnmnt. Fell., JC Bose Natl. Fell.; 2014 AV Rama Rao Tech. Award, CSIR; Cross of the Order of Merit, Germany. He is a fellow of IAS; INSA; Natl. Acad. of Scs.; for. assoc., Natl. Acad. of Scs., USA; member, German Natl. Acad. of Scs. Leopoldina, 2012, Intl. Council for Sc. (ICSU).

Ghosh is currently Distinguished Professor and Dean, Academic Affairs at the UM-DAE-Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences, University of Mumbai, Kalina Campus, Santacruz (East), Mumbai 400098, India. Earlier he served as Head of the Theoretical Chemistry Section, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India, and senior professor and dean-academic (chemical sciences) at Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India. He was educated at the University of Burdwan, India (MSc), and Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (PhD, 1982). He has worked in different areas of theoretical chemistry, dealing with density functional theory at different length scales and time-dependent systems, theory of chemical binding, structure of soft matter at interfaces, dynamics in condensed phase and modeling materials for energy applications. He is a fellow of all three national science academies of India and is recipient of the TWAS Prize in Chemistry, silver medal of the Chemical Research Society of India, JC Bose National Fellowship of DST, India, Jagdish Shankar Memorial Lecture Award of INSA and D.Sc. (honoris causa) from Kalyani University, India.