Chair
Welcome Message from the Chair
Welcome to the Centre for Advanced Functional Materials (CAFM) at IISER Kolkata. CAFM was officially founded on 01 August 2016, coinciding with the ten years celebration of IISER Kolkata. Materials science has come a long way from being considered as a sub-field of chemistry, physics, biology and engineering through the later decades of the 20th century to having crossed boundaries today as a specific and distinct field of science and engineering. With a rich Faculty strength of IISER Kolkata working in the core and related areas of advanced functional materials, the idea of creating this Centre was to promote this research field with well-defined goals. Given the significant expertise and competence of the Faculty members from the Departments of Biological, Chemical and Physical Sciences of IISER Kolkata, CAFM is dedicated to foster collaborative, interdisciplinary research and education in the science and technological applications of advanced solid state and soft materials.
The research at CAFM is focused in the areas of third-generation photovoltaic cells; fuel cells; strongly correlated materials; polymer and supramolecular delivery vehicles; materials for environmental remediation. The synthesis of smart nanomaterials followed by their characterization, structure-property elucidation, computational modelling and cutting-edge device applications form the backbone of these interdisciplinary research areas. The research funding of CAFM is solely dependent on the project proposal grants received from external funding agencies.
CAFM is dedicated to impart research training in the related fields of functional materials and applications to BS-MS and Integrated Ph.D. students, Ph.D. scholars and postdoctoral fellows of IISER Kolkata. CAFM also conducts interdisciplinary advanced courses for students interested in specific subject areas. We are interested in establishing collaboration with researchers from national and international academic institutions, and industrial consultancy for promotion of technology transfer of developed materials and devices. CAFM looks forward to organize conferences and workshops to promote the education and research on advanced materials.
It is worth mentioning here that the faculty members of CAFM have excellent academic credentials and are highly regarded. They have been conferred with prestigious awards and recognitions. Many of the CAFM Faculty members are associate editors and editorial board members of prestigious international journals, review technical articles for journals and project proposals on a regular basis.
This website provides an overview of the research activities and academic programs of CAFM, brief profile of the Faculty members and students. We hope that whether you are a prospective graduate or undergraduate student, or our colleague from another institution/university, or work in industry or a visitor, you will find this website informative. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us or write to our Faculty members by email. CAFM endeavours to provide best academic and professional opportunities to our students and look forward to their bright future. We as a team resolve to deliver and contribute to the solutions of scientific and technological challenges with active participation from all sections of the society.
Thank you for visiting us.
Best wishes,
Sayan Bhattacharyya
Head of CAFM
IISER Kolkata
E-mail: cafm.chair[at]iiserkol[dot]ac[dot]in