Professor Ayyappanpillai Ajayaghosh, an Honorary Professor of AcSIR and J. C. Bose National Fellow at the CSIR-NIIST in Thiruvananthapuram, recently delivered a Distinguished Lecture on ‘Exploring Classical Photochemistry for Energy Saving Smart Windows’. The lecture was presided by Prof. B J Rao and was attended by students, faculty and staff of the University of Hyderabad.
His research interests pertain to organic materials, such as fluorescent materials, photo-responsive materials, organogels, molecular probes, covalent organic frameworks, etc. He introduced a new class of soft materials called pi-gels, which is widely recognized by the scientific community. His research findings and publications are highly valued and well-cited. His study on fluorescent molecular assemblies has the potential to be used to create security markers for currency, and other documents and also for diagnostic purposes.
Professor Ayyappanpillai Ajayaghosh former director of NIIST Thiruvananthapuram and a outstanding professor. He is a recipient of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (2007), awarded by CSIR, Govt. India, DAE Outstanding Researcher Award (2009), Thomson Reuters Research Excellence-India Research Front Award (2009), The Infosys Prize for Physical Sciences (2012), CRSI Silver Medal 2013 by Chemical Research Society of India, TWAS Chemistry Prize 2013 by The World Academy of Sciences, Trieste, Italy, MRSI Distinguished Lectureship Award, 2019-20, by Materials Research Society of India, Goyal Prize for Chemical Science, 2019, by Kurukshetra University, Kairali Lifetime Achievement Award,2023 by Government of Kerala.
He published numerous papers, holds a dozen patents, and half a dozen book contributions to his credit. His H index is 70 with a total citation of about 20000.
Furthermore, Professor Ajayaghosh emphasized the role of scientists in using simple molecules to produce innovative industrially relevant technologies, aligning with the UN sustainability goals.
