My Ph.D. supervisor, Dr. Sourav Pal has been appointed as the next Director of National Chemical Laboratory, Pune. On 1 December, 2010 he assumed duties that this new post brings. This was a day that we, his students, and I am sure his peers as well as colleagues knew was in the coming. It is a moment of pride not only for him but even for those of us who have had the oppourtunity to work with him.
Dr. Pal is well reknowned in the area of theoretical and computational chemistry. Amongst the many honours that he has won are the prestigious INSA and CSIR Young Scientist awards in 1987 and 1989 respectively, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in 2000 and J. C. Bose National Fellowship of DST in 2008.
Unlike many research groups, students in Dr. Pal's lab are involved both in development and applications of computational programs. Unlike many scientists he hasn't been afraid from branching out into territories which were not his core subject to begin with but have now become his strong points.
What I liked about Sir as a guide is that he is not a heavy duty hands-on boss. He gives his students a lot of freedom to carry on research in their individualistic ways. At the same time he continues to remain aware of their progress, provide that nudge on those much needed occasions and contribute to their work through valuable suggestions. Dr. Pal once told us that in his view good students need space to excel. A diligent student will really strive and thrive in the absence of a strict daily morning to evening monitoring system. It is with the hope that he is able to help nurture at least one such student that he gives everyone so much independence.
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You can find learn more about the new Director through the following links:
http://www.ncl-india.org/nclnews/news.jsp?mid=15#
http://www.ncl.res.in/tcs/estg/spalhomepage.html
http://www.ncl-india.org/aboutncl/showfilein.jsp?mid=2&sid=66&ssid=83
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sourav_Pal
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