Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bengaluru

The Raman Research Institute (RRI) was founded in 1948 by the Indian physicist and Nobel Laureate, Sir C V Raman, to continue his studies and basic research after he retired from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. Sir C V Raman served as its director carrying on his personal research until his demise in 1970. It was funded personally by him and with donations from private sources.

History

In December 1934, the Government of Mysore gifted a plot of land in Bengaluru to Professor Raman for the creation of a research institute. In the same year, the Indian Academy of Sciences was founded by Prof. Raman. Some years following the creation of the Raman Research Institute in 1948, Prof. Raman made a gift of various movable and immovable properties to the Academy for the use and benefit of the Raman Research Institute. After the Professor's demise in November 1970, the Academy created a public charitable trust: the Raman Research Institute Trust. The lands, buildings, deposits, securities, bank deposits, money, laboratories, instruments, and all other movable and immovable properties held by the Academy for the Raman Research Institute were transferred to the RRI Trust. The foremost function of the RRI Trust was to maintain, conduct and sustain the Raman Research Institute.

Organization

The Raman Research Institute is now an autonomous research institute engaged in research in basic sciences. In 1972, the RRI was restructured to become an aided autonomous research institute receiving funds from the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India. A set of Regulations and Bye-Laws were framed for its administration and management. 

Today, the main areas of research at the Institute are:

• Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Light and Matter Physics
• Soft Condensed Matter
• Theoretical Physics

The research activities include work in Chemistry, Liquid Crystals, Physics in Biology, and Signal Processing, Imaging & Instrumentation.

Programmes

PhD Programme

The PhD programme conducted by RRI aims to empower its students with advanced technical abilities in basic science and in a specialization, so as to prepare them for a career in research. The programme commences with formal credited course work in advanced topics during the first year. RRI offers select PhD students, who qualify in the course work and a subsequent comprehensive examination, opportunities for supervised research within the areas of research conducted at the institute. Students at RRI are registered for their PhD degree with Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. RRI is also a participant in the Joint Astronomy Programme (JAP) with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.

Selection Procedure: Selection is based on written test and/or interview based on the performance in any of the following examinations:

• Joint Entrance Screening Test (JEST)
• CSIR-UGC NET for JRF (Physics)
• GRE (Physics)
• GATE (Physics/Mathematics)

Post-Doctoral Fellowships

Applications for Post-Doctoral Fellowships are always welcome and there are no closing dates. RRI offers are usually made in mid-February and mid-August. The processing time for a post-doctoral application is between four to six months. The candidate may be invited to visit the Institute and give a seminar and interact with the research faculty at the Institute, as part of the selection process. Areas of current research at the Raman Research Institute are:

• Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Light and Matter Physics
• Signal Processing, Imaging and Instrumentation
• Soft Condensed Matter
• Theoretical Physics

Summer Student Programme

Summer Student Programme gives a specific number of students the opportunity to visit the Institute during the summer months. Students interested in working at RRI as a part of that Summer Student Programme need to apply through the Indian Academy of Sciences Summer Fellowship Programme. Students within 1 or 2 years of the end of their undergraduate science or engineering degrees, or masters in science of engineering, and in particular those students with the intention of pursuing research as a career, are encouraged to apply. Students from Bengaluru colleges, who are keen to work on part-time basis for acquiring research experience at RRI, will also be considered.

Visiting Student Programme (VSP)

Visiting Student Programme (VSP) is aimed at offering research experience to highly motivated students who are presently pursuing their undergraduate or Masters Studies or who are in a gap year that is within a year of completion of these degrees. The purpose of the programme is to expose these students to the research of the Institute and motivate them to take up research as a career. Research Staff at RRI accept VSP students so that significant numbers of undergraduate and postgraduate students are given an experience of experimental, phenomenological and theoretical physics/astronomy and thereby gain motivation to enter into research careers. In particular, experimental laboratories at RRI provide students the opportunity to participate in activities that invent, design, develop, build, and commission complex systems that explore frontier areas in the physical sciences, together with learning theoretical tools necessary to understand the complex systems and their purposeful design for the science goals. Enrolment to the Visiting Student Programme is open throughout the year.

Source: Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bengaluru