Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali (IISER Mohali) is an autonomous academic institution established in 2007 at Mohali, Punjab, India. One of the five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs), it was established by the Ministry of Human Resources and Development, Government of India, New Delhi, to research in frontier areas of science and to provide science education at the undergraduate and postgraduate level. The institute believes in the philosophy of integration of science streams (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology) in order to create scientists and hence offers various interdisciplinary courses during all its 5 year integrated Master of Science program, as well as in its doctoral programs.
The foundation stone of IISER Mohali was laid on 27 September 2006 by the Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh. The Computing Facility of IISER Mohali was inaugurated on 3 September 2007 by Thirumalachari Ramasami (Secretary, Department of Science and Technology).[2] The Earth-breaking ceremony for IISER boundary wall was held on 29 December 2008 at the proposed campus site in Knowledge City, Sector 81, S.A.S. Nagar. The ceremony was performed by Narayanasami Sathyamurthy, the director of the institute. C.N.R. Rao inaugurated the Chemistry Research Laboratory on 8 April 2009. The Central Analytical Facility of IISER Mohali has been inaugurated in March 2010.
Campus
IISER Mohali is presently functioning from both- a transit campus in Chandigarh as well as from it full fledged campus in sector 81, SAS nagar, Mohali. A part of the Institute is still located in the Academic Block of the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration (MGSIPA), Sector 26, Chandigarh. IISER Mohali's fully residential campus will ultimately be located in Mohali.[citation needed]
New Campus
The campus at Sector 81 is coming up well. The hostels have been completely shifted to the new campus at Sector 81. The hostels are two eight storey buildings of around 250 single rooms. One academic block and one lecture hall complex is expected to be completed by October 2012. The classes and labs for first and second year students are operational at the new campus. The new campus has also got faculty housing and in some months we could hope for that apartment to come up.
Academic programs
Integrated Master's level (B.S.-M.S.): Admission to this program is after 10+2 years of school training and is currently done in co-ordination with the other IISERs through a Joint Admission Programme. The qualifying criteria are Kishore Vigyan Protsahan Yojana, IIT-JEE and the performance in the 10+2 school-leaving examinations.[citation needed] you can visit this page for more information on courses being offered in IISER mohali.
Doctoral Program (Ph.D.): Admission to the doctoral program is after a Master's degree in science. Besides the students of the Integrated Master's program, Postgraduate students with a Master's degree in science from other Universities/Institutes will also be admitted to the doctoral program. The program will involve course work, a qualifying examination, a state-of-the-art seminar, thesis work, open seminar and a thesis examination, leading to the award of a PhD degree. The quantum of course work will vary depending on the background of the student. Besides individual research, students will be involved in several professional activities such as seminars, workshops, presentations and review meetings. All doctoral students will assist faculty members in teaching during the course of the doctoral program.[citation needed]
Facilities
The institute has many state-of-the-art equipments for research in various fields of Science. The current facilities include:-
Nuclear magnetic resonance Spectrometer (NMR)-The institute currently houses two high-field FTNMR spectrometers of frequency: 400 MHz and 600 MHz, in a specially designed magnet hall.600 MHz spectrometer[citation needed]
Cell Culture Facility- The institute has state-of-the-art animal cell culture facility and research is going on in breast cancer and immunology.
Atomic Force microscope- The atomic force microscope gives an Z-axis resolution of 3 angstroms. It can be also be used for near-field optical imaging using an optic fiber. The assembly also has a high sensitivity fluorescence microscope which uses several high power lasers. The setup is completely isolated from vibrations using specially designed beds.
Atomic force microscope with Raman IR spectrometer to its right
Raman Infra red spectroscope- The Raman IR spectroscope utilizes multiple high power lasers of different wavelengths.
Computing Facility- The Computing Facility at IISER Mohali is a Linux-based set of computers. Public domain software is available for education and research. The facility has been planned with a three-fold usage in mind, namely: to impart computer skills to IISER Mohali's students, to provide network and internet facilities to the IISER Mohali community, and to provide computation power to carry out scientific research.
Student activities
The institute has an official SRC (Students Representative Committee), which is annually elected by democratic procedures. The SRC has and continues to play a key role in resolving issues, especially those concerning students, albeit there are occasional setbacks.
Facilities of Sports are immense in the new campus, which already has a Volleyball court, a Basketball court, a Football field, tables for Table Tennis, and a Gymnasium.
The institute hosts several seminars and colloquia, most of which are open to and attended by students. There are various clubs initiated by students for exploring beyond books, including 'Astronomy Club', 'Bio Discussion Forum', 'Curie Club' (chemistry), 'Phi@I' (physics), 'Mathematics Club' to name a few. The activities of these clubs range from screening documentaries, to inviting speakers (scientists mostly), to conducting seminars and discussing projects, with the common aim of embracing their respective subjects and understanding them better. The Astronomy Club members had even built telescopes which were used in sky-watching sessions they had organized, including the transit of Venus, a very significant day for astronomers.
Aside from the established clubs, 'informal' discussions related to science can always be heard in the campus.[citation needed]
Academic activities aside, the student community of IISER Mohali has been very active. Basketball, Football, Cricket, Table Tennis, Volley Ball, Drama, Debate, Dance are amongst the most popular recreational activities here. There are various clubs that help organize events to assist these activities. An Drama Club has staged various meaningful acts during cultural events of the Institute. The Debating Society has won laurels by representing IISER M at numerous inter-institute debating events. The Quizzing Club, better known as IMQC (IISER Mohali Quizzing Club) has represented the institute in Open Quizzing events and events organized by various reputed colleges. Along with Punjab Engineering College, IMQC has worked actively to make Chandigarh the second Quizzing Hub of Northern India, next only to Delhi. A group of IISER students has also taken a noble, selfless initiative to teach the children of laborers who are building the institute. Their team is named 'YATN' (Youth's Attempt To Nurture) and it has been actively performing actions to reach out to the under-privileged section of our society. [citation needed]
