Panjab University (PU) today hosted twin seminar programme  “Frontiers in Physical Sciences” under the auspices of PU and Chandigarh Region Innovation and Knowledge Cluster (CRIKC) institutions.

Leading Indian Scientists Prof. A.K. Sood from Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc), Bangalore, and Prof. A.K. Ganguli, Director, Institute of Nano Science & Technology, Mohali, who have recently became Fellow of Royal Society, London and Fellow of Royal Society in Chemistry, respectively delivered lectures at the Seminar. Large number of senior teachers, Faculty and students attended the program.

On the occasion, PU Alumnus Prof. Sood, who completed M.Sc (Hons. School) Physics in 1972, was very nostalgic about the period spent in the campus. In his talk, Prof. Sood spoke about his work on soft matter such as discovery of rheochaos, namely of spatio-temporal chaotic dynamics under shear flow and anisotropic grain growth under stress and flocking transition in active granular matter. His talk was well-equipped with interesting examples of Physics behind the materials of daily use such as toothpaste tube, soap-gel dispenser, which were well received by the audience, the students, in particular.

Prof. Ganguli, Director INST Mohali, talked about controlled growth of nanostructures and their design. He discussed the applications of nanomaterials and current advances made in hydrogen storage and water purification processes. He stressed on interdisciplinary research involving Chemistry, Physics and Materials engineering.

In his presidential remarks, PU Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof. Arun Kumar Grover recalled the past glory and traditions of teaching such as the Senior Professors taking the undergraduate classes and encouraging the students to do innovative experiments. He also recalled ethos of learning Physics and practicing Physics pursued in the Physics Department.

Former PU Vice-Chancellors Prof. R.P. Bambah and Prof. K.N. Pathak also graced the occasion and spoke about the scientific culture nurtured in the university over the decades.