Dr. C.N.R. Rao is an eminent scientist and an international authority on solid state chemistry. The country’s highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, was recently conferred upon him. He is also holding the position of head of the scientific advisory council to the Prime minister of India. His main area of study involves transition of metal oxides and his research led to the establishment of the relationship between structural chemistry and materials properties.
He has recently been working on projects to help leverage nanoscience for practical applications with particular focus on health care. Some of his work on nanomaterials include that on chemical synthesis and various properties and phenomena of grapheme, as well as carbon nano tubes, inorganic nanotubes, nanowires and nanocrystals.
He has founded the Jawahar Lal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCSAR) which accounts for on eof the largest group of scientists involved in nano-science in India. It is among the few research institutes to specialise in areas such as biology through nano-science. The institute is also working on a host of critical areas such as cancer, malaria, epilepsy, and HIV. Dr. Rao may thus be considered to be the pioneer of nano-science in India.
