University of Calcutta

History

Year of Establishment :  2002

History of the department : Late Professor Sisir Kumar Mitra, FRS, is the pioneer of radio and space researches in this part of the globe. He established the Institute of Radio Physics and Electronics of this University in 1949 with his school of space physicists as its core group. The activities of this Institute were subsequently expanded to cover areas like Solid State Electronics, Computer and System Science, in addition to the Ionosphere and Wave Propagation. In the beginning of the current century, it was felt that the activities in the areas of radio and space science, although internationally recognized, could not sufficiently expand mainly due to lack of funds and manpower. The University, with the support of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), proposed to establish a Centre in memory of Late Professor Sisir Kumar Mitra to undertake research in the existing as well as new fields, extending from troposphere to upper atmosphere. After prolonged interactions with the Advisory Committee on Space Research (ADCOS) of ISRO four research areas namely: (i) Lower Atmospheric Chemistry, (ii) Atmospheric Electricity, (iii) Radio Remote Sensing, and (iv) Space Weather, were identified for further expansion of research activities. Late Dr. A.P. Mitra, FRS, played the key role in formulating the scientific programme of the Centre and extended his support as the then Chairman of ADCOS, ISRO. The Centre was formally inaugurated on 12 March 2002. The Institute of Radio Physics and Electronics was chosen as the nodal department to organize the Centre which would be inter-departmental in nature, involving the University departments like Radio Physics and Electronics, Physics, Chemistry, Atmospheric Science and Marine Science. Several research projects in the chosen areas were sponsored by ISRO to initiate the activities of the Centre. In 2009, the University was chosen for implementing the ISRO sponsored Space Science Promotion Scheme (SSPS) which covered M. Tech. Fellowships, Visiting Faculty Programme, support for contractual faculty and one-time grant for laboratory augmentation. Currently, a number projects sponsored by ISRO, DST, AOARD, Japan, are being implemented at the Centre. A major national project “ST Radar Facility at Calcutta University” has been sanctioned by Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), DST, Govt. of India, to carry out atmospheric researches with a Stratospheric Tropospheric Radar system to be setup at Ionosphere Filed Station of the University at Haringhata, Nadia.