From the Desk of the Head of the Department:

Ours is a premier basic science Department in this university, and has a remarkable history of about 50 years in its interaction with and contribution to the society. This has been largely through our active contacts and collaboration with colleges Universities and scientific institutions in the state and in India, and also abroad.  In last 15-20 years our scientific interaction has also percolated down to schools and up to national and international research laboratories. This has become possible due to our allround academic activities and programmes.

Our M. Sc. M. Phil., and Ph. D. students, both past and present, are our ambassadors to the society at large. In the last four decades this Department has provided successful teachers and professors to a large number of schools and science colleges in Gujarat. Our PhDs. are Professors, Directors and HoDs in colleges/Universities/ institutions even outside Gujarat state and our country. A few of our brilliant students are serving as scientists in prestigious national and foreign laboratories / institutes / organizations etc.  Some of our students have also joined Space Applications Centre ISRO, and also industries and are using their basic knowledge for different applications.

Apart from this we have contributed to the education of Physics through our active involvement in various academic bodies, like Boards of study, Faculty of Science and other committees in this and in other Universities for specific academic purposes. Another mode of our involvement at the state and the national level has been through our activities in various professional organizations. The Organizations are Indian Physics Association (Vallabh Vidyanagar Chapter), Indian Association for Physics Teachers, Gujarat Science Academy etc. Our faculty members serve as honorary members of the committees in UGC, NAAC, etc and also experts in various selection committees.

One of the distinguishing features of the Department is that it has all the time remained, since its inception, a leading centre of research in the field of Condensed matter Physics. Large many numbers of Projects have been sanctioned to the Department by almost all the relevant major funding agencies of India, such as UGC, CSIR, DST, ISRO, DNES, DAE-BRNS, DRDO, IPCL, GUJCOST etc. Many of the faculty members and researchers of the Department have visited foreign countries receiving awards under Commonwealth Academic Staff Fellowships/scholarship, DAAD, Fulbright, Humböldt, INSA-Royal Society London one-time Award, and other exchange programmes of UGC, MHRD, etc. The countries visited on academic assignments include U.S.A., U.K., Canada, USSR, Russia, Italy, Iran, Austria, South Korea, Japan, Germany, Cuba, Spain, Sweden, Poland, Belgium, Holland, France etc

An important annual activity being done in our Department for the past 20 years is the celebration of “National Science Day” on and around February 28. This day is observed throughout the country to commemorate the discovery of Raman Effect, by Prof. C. V. Raman who got the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930. The Science Day programmes consist of poster/chart exhibition, popular lectures etc. on Physics/Science, for the benefit of students, teachers, and general public (in collaboration with the Community Science Centre - SPU).