IUCAA director Somak Raychaudhury appointed as V-C of Ashoka University

Professor Somak Raychaudhury, eminent Indian astrophysicist and current director of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), has been appointed vice-chancellor of Ashoka University, stated a press release on Thursday

Professor Somak Raychaudhury, eminent Indian astrophysicist and current director of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), has been appointed vice-chancellor of Ashoka University, stated a press release on Thursday. His date of joining will be announced shortly.

Professor Somak Raychaudhury (HT PFOTO)

Professor Raychaudhury holds a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Churchill College, University of Cambridge and undergraduate degrees in Physics from Trinity College at University of Oxford and Presidency College at University of Calcutta. He was earlier the Head of Department of Physics and Dean of Sciences at Presidency University. He also held various positions at the University of Birmingham, UK; the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Lowell House at Harvard University; and the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge.

Professor Raychaudhury said, “It is an honour to take over as vice-chancellor of Ashoka University which is today recognised nationally and internationally for its pioneering approach towards academic excellence, research and innovation and wide impact.”

He pioneered the study of galaxy superclusters as the Universe’s largest structures, and has worked on exotic stars such as black holes in nearby galaxies. He has developed innovative machine-learning algorithms for mining large astronomical datasets, and recently co-chaired the committee to compile the Vision document for the next decade of Astronomy research for the Government of India.