HYDERABAD, FEBRUARY 21, 2025: The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) Hyderabad hosted a two-day symposium focusing on the contributions of scientific and technical staff towards research and infrastructure development in premier research institutions. The event brought together experts from multiple TIFR centres and field stations to discuss the role of scientific instrumentation and allied support systems in aiding the process of research.
In TIFR institutions, fundamental science research takes the main stage. Such ambitious endeavours require sophisticated instrumentation to be developed, maintained and upgraded with time. TIFR centres have groomed expertise to take up such challenges in-house. Scientists who take up these responsibilities, also contribute to active research and training of PhD students. The institute commended the TIFR Hyderabad scientific staff for initiating this unique pan-TIFR symposium and hoped that this would be the first of many symposiums that promote an exchange of ideas among the scientific staff of all TIFR centres.
Given TIFR’s rich legacy of building state-of-the-art instrumentation to address ambitious research questions, this meeting helped revisit the existing as well as discuss the upcoming infrastructure in the TIFR institutes and the gamut of research questions it helps us address.
The symposium included plenary sessions by Jayaram Chengalur (TIFR, Director), Krishna Ella (Executive Chairman, Bharat Biotech International Limited), Anurag Kumar (Director, Electronics Corporation of India Ltd), and Dheeraj Pande (Director, Atomic Minerals Directorate). Apart from the above, the symposium talks spanned several interdisciplinary research areas across the TIFR centres.
TIFR Hyderabad houses the National Facility for High-Field NMR, a significant development in the field of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance research in India. The TIFR Research Infrastructure for Studies in High-intensity Ultrashort Lasers (TRISHUL), utilises ultrashort, ultra-intense laser systems to study matter and radiation in transient laser plasmas that can replicate extreme astrophysical conditions.
Additionally, there is also a Thin Film Deposition and Cleanroom Facility equipped with high-end lithography facilities. Surface characterisation tools such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy along with ultra-violet photoelectron spectroscopy are also available. The High-Performance Computing (HPC) facility supports researchers with data-intensive studies. Other key facilities include a range of sophisticated microscopes, a state-of-the-art Animal Facility, a Dynamic Mechanical Analyser (that allows the analysis of thin films, polymer and ceramic composites, and fibres), the Single Crystal X-ray diffractometer (SCXRD) for determining molecular structures, and an LC-MS and MALS facility for peptide and protein mass analysis. At the end of the symposium, the attendees of the symposium toured the facilities at TIFR Hyderabad.
Today, TIFR has centres and field stations spread across the country, which are home to an extensive array of unique research facilities. To name a few: TIFR boasts of the Balloon Facility, which has launched over 500 zero-pressure balloon flights for research experiments at high altitudes. Participants gained insights into radio astronomy research using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) at Pune, sequencing techniques at the National Genomics and Genotyping Facility (NGGF) at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru, and advanced spectroscopy and imaging techniques at TIFR Mumbai. The meeting also highlighted the broader science communication and research support framework within TIFR.
This symposium highlighted the contributions of scientific and technical staff in enabling high-quality research. As TIFR continues to expand its research capabilities, such initiatives will strengthen interdisciplinary collaborations and drive technological advancements.
