Former VCJU, Prof Dhar is New Director, AcSIR

JAMMU, January 14: Prof. Manoj K. Dhar, an internationally renowned Biotechnologist, has been appointed as Director, Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), on the recommendations of the search cum selection committee by the Prime Minister, as the President of CSIR.

AcSIR declared as Institution of National Importance by an Act of the Parliament, was established in 2010 with an aim of furtherance of advancement of learning and research in the fields of Science and Technology. Prof. Dhar is currently Professor of Biotechnology, and Chief Coordinator, Institute of Human Genetics, University of Jammu. He served as 13^thVice Chancellor of University of Jammu and also held the charge of Vice Chancellor, Cluster University of Jammu for some time.

He is the founder Head of Department of Biotechnology in University of Jammu, which was elevated to School of Biotechnology, of which he served as the Director. He has rich Postdoctoral research experience in Biotechnology acquired at Kansas State University, USA, Penn State University, USA, Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Germany, etc.

Prof. Dhar was awarded many prestigious National and International awards and fellowships. He is the fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad, the oldest Science Academy of the country and fellow of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

He is the recipient of  Prof. Hira Lal Chakravarty Award of Indian Science Congress Association, Prof. Y. S. Murty Gold Medal by Indian Botanical Society, BOYSCAST Fellowship of the DST, Young Scientist Award Medal by Indian National Science Academy (INSA), etc. Presently, he is aMember of the Technology Development Board, a statutory body of Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India.

He has been a member of several National level committees in Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Department of Science and Technology (DST), SERB, GOI, etc. He is the Chairman and Director of a Section 8 Company namely “University of Jammu Special Purpose Vehicle Foundation”, which was established during his tenure as Vice Chancellor, University of Jammu.  He is on the governing board of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jammu.

Prof. Dhar’s research interests include Genomics, Molecular Cytogenetics, Metabolomics and Bioinformatics. Dr. Dhar is renowned for his pioneering work on genomics of plants, microbes and humans. Besides, he has worked on Rare Genetic disorders in humans and is also holding the position of Chief Coordinator, Institute of Human Genetics, University of Jammu.

He has been Principal Investigator of many research projects; worth about 18 crores. He has published more than 170 research papers in Journals of International repute. He has produced 24 Ph.Ds so far and 10 M. Phil students.

During his tenure as Vice Chancellor, University of Jammu, he has taken several initiatives for bringing in excellence in teaching and research and also creating an ecosystem of innovation, entrepreneurship and skill development in the University. He has been instrumental getting 100 crore grant under RUSA for the University. Bringing laurels to the University, recently, he has been able to bag a grant of Rs. 9.3 crores under BUILDER scheme of the Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India.

This proposal was initiated by him during the tenure of Vice Chancellor, for conducting cutting edge research in the Life Science Departments of the University. He has also initiated the Departments of Journalism and Media Studies and Philosophy, meeting the long pending demands of this region. He gave the concept of developing a Research Cluster in the University which shall have seven centres of excellence and was instrumental in setting up a Research fund for meeting the research needs of the faculty members. His consistent efforts have helped in building the brand image of the University at the National and International levels.

Needless to mention, AcSIR is the largest Academic Institution for doctoral research in India with more than 6100 students currently registered for PhD. Presently, AcSIR is ranked 2nd by “Scimago Institutions Ranking” (2022), 11th by “Nature index” (2021-22) and 18th “NIRF (2022) in the Research Category, among the academic institutions in India.


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