School of Studies in Physics and Astrophysics
The
department of Physics was established in the year 1972 under the dynamic
leadership of Late Prof. Suresh Chandra, an eminent Materials
Scientist and founder head of the department; Late Prof. R. K. Thakur, a
renowned Astrophysicist; Late Dr. S. Guha, a renowned Plasma Physicist. The department was renamed as School of
Studies in Physics & Astrophysics in the year 2009 during International
year of Astronomy (IYA- 2009), by the Prof. S. K. Pandey, former Vice
Chancellor Pt. RSU, Raipur. Under his dynamic leadership our University has
achieved an accreditation of ‘A’ grade University by National Assessment and
Accretion Council (NAAC) in year 2016.
Since its inception, the department earned world-wide
reputation for carrying out research in front line areas of Physics namely
Materials Science and Astronomy & Astrophysics. In Material Science, the
Department covered fields such as Nano Materials, Photo Conducting Materials,
Luminescent Materials and Solid State Ionic Materials etc. and in Astronomy
& Astrophysics (A&A) the research fields have been Observational
Astronomy, Surface Photometry of Galaxies, Dynamics/Modelling of Galaxies,
Supernovae and Variable stars etc. Within 15 years of the inception of this
department, Madhya Pradesh Uchcha Shiksha Anudhan Aoyog recognized
this department as the Center of Excellence (1987).
The Department offers Post-graduate (M. Sc.), M. Phil
and Ph. D. programs in Physics as par with National/International level. M. Sc.
Course includes specialization in: Solid State Physics, Astronomy &
Astrophysics and Physics of Nano-Materials. The new specialization in Quantum Computing
is introduced from the session 2024-26.
The department has been
awarded DST support under FIST program for two levels i.e. for the duration:
2003 to 2008 with a grant of rupees 35 lac (completed) and for 2013 to 2018
with a grant of rupees 97 lac (completed). The second DST FIST program was
approved to initiate two-semester specialization course on Physics
of Nanomaterials for M.Sc. student. This specialization has been
commenced from the academic session 2016-2017. In 2023 DST has sanctioned a grant of Rs.
10 Crore under PURSE Scheme to the University. The CO-PI of this project Dr. D.
P. Bisen is from SoS in Physics and Astrophysics.
In recognition of the significant contributions
made by this department in the field of Astronomy & Astrophysics, the Inter
University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA),
Pune established its IUCAA Resource Center (IRC) in 1999 for the promotion of
teaching and research in A&A in this region. The IRC is running
successfully since then and now reframed as IUCAA Centre for Astronomy Research
& Development (ICARD).
The students passed out of this department in
the past hold prestigious positions Nationally/Internationally in various
sectors namely academic, research, defense, bureaucratic, banking, railway etc. Number
of Inter-Institutional research collaborations/ MOUs have been signed namely
with IUCAA, ARIES, IUAC, ONGC, BHU, DU, IITs, IIA, TIFR etc.