Govindan Rangarajan

Rangarajan obtained his Integrated MSc (Hons.) degree from the Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani in 1985, and his PhD degree from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1990. He was a Staff Scientist in the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley in the US before joining the Indian Institute of Science as an Assistant Professor in 1992.

His research areas include nonlinear dynamics and chaos, time series analysis, and computational biology.[2] His work is applied in areas such as neuroscience, geophysics and accelerator physics.

As co-PI of the Indo-French Cyber University Project, he helped establish the first inter-continental satellite-based courses. These courses were taught live to Indian and French students in various subject areas. He also headed the National Mathematics Initiative,[3] which ran instructional schools and workshops in cutting-edge areas at the interface between mathematics and other fields. He was instrumental in setting up and running the interdisciplinary PhD programme [4] in mathematical sciences. He also headed the Indo-US Virtual Institute for Mathematics and Statistical Sciences, which was jointly set up by the National Science Foundation, USA and the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum, India. He is currently the Director of the Indo-French Centre for Applied Mathematics (IFCAM),[5] the first Unités Mixtes Internationales of CNRS, France in India. This is a joint venture between the Department of Science and Technology (DST), India, and a consortium of French institutions. IFCAM supports joint research projects between India and France in the broad area of applied mathematics.

Rangarajan has also served as the Chair, Department of Mathematics and Convener, Digital Information Services Centre from 2002 to 2008. He was the Chair, International Relations Cell (now called the Office of International Relations) from 2008 to 2014. Most recently, he was the Chair of the Division of Interdisciplinary Research (comprising 10 departments and centres) from 2014-2020. He also headed IISc’s fundraising and alumni outreach efforts in his role as the Chair, Office of Development and Alumni Affairs from 2015-2020.

Rangarajan was awarded the Homi Bhabha Fellowship in 2001. He was also awarded the Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Academiques (Knight of the Order of Academic Palms) by the Government of France in 2006. This Order was instituted by Napoleon in 1808.[6] He has been elected Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences[7] and the National Academy of Sciences, India.[8] Rangarajan is an Honorary Professor of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, India He has been awarded the J.C. Bose National Fellowship for the period 2011-2021.[9] He is a recipient of the BITS Distinguished Alumnus Award.[10]

• Homepage of Govindan Rangarajan

• Indian Institute of Science
• Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani
• University of Maryland, College Park