Noted Physicist and Dean of Mohali’s Research and Development of Indian Institute of Science and Research (IISER), Professor Arvind, was on Tuesday appointed as the Vice Chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala for a term of three years.
The post of Vice Chancellor of the varsity had fallen vacant six months after Dr. BS Ghuman resigned. Subsequently, the state government had appointed senior bureaucrat Ravneet Kaur as its officiating Vice Chancellor.
Prof. Arvind is a well-known theoretical Quantum Physicist with a keen interest in Science Education, Science Communication and Developing Science Pedagogy in Punjabi. He did his M.Sc in Physics from IIT Kanpur and obtained his PhD in Theoretical Physics from the Department of Physics and Centre for Theoretical Studies, at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in 1997.
He then joined the Physics department of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar as a faculty member. From 2002 to 2004, he was a special faculty at the Physics Department of Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA. He joined the Physics department of Indian Institute of Technology Madras as a faculty member in 2005. In August 2007 he moved to IISER Mohali as one of the founding faculty members and helped in setting up the institute.
He has over 70 publications in international journals and has supervised around 7 PhD students and over 40 MS Theses.
According to a spokesperson of the chief minister’s office, 64 applications were received for the post and while 10 were found ineligible, as per UGC guidelines. 14 were shortlisted for interviews.
A four-member committee headed by Chief Secretary, Vini Mahajan, interviewed the shortlisted candidates and sent a panel of three names to the Chief Minister for selection.
Prof Arvind’s name was recommended for appointment by the Chief Minister to Governor Punjab, VP Badnore, who is also the Chancellor of the University.