From the Desk of the Head
Department of Physics, Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar is one of the premier basic science departments of this university in the state of Gujarat. It has a remarkable history of more than 60 years in its academic services in the field of physics within the state, nation and abroad. It was possible due to the excellent and dedicated hard work put up by the former faculty members of this Department and the University. The contributions and the achievements of the Department towards the human resource development in the field of Physics can be gauged from the spread of its alumni academic and scientific services throughout India and abroad. It is not an exaggeration to state that the Department was the pioneer in the field of crystal growth studies in India.
Today, though the pioneering work on crystal growth and characterization has continued, many new fields such as nano-science, thin films, theoretical and experimental condensed matter physics, atomic and molecular physics (theory), Holographic studies of biomaterials, Optical Instrumentation, Advance Optical Imaging, Structural studies of biological molecules using XRD, hadron physics (theory) etc., have been pursued and have made remarkable contributions in all these fields. The average h-index of 20 per faculty and total citations of more than 12,000 reflect the research activities of the present faculty members of the Department. The excellent academic atmosphere of this Department has attracted students from all parts of Gujarat seeking admission to M. Sc. and PhD programs of the Department. Our PhD holders are serving as Professors at various Universities and Colleges. Some of our past students have served and are serving as scientists in prestigious national and foreign laboratories/institutes / organisations, including industries. A good number of students clearing NET/SLET/GSLET/GATE/JEST/GPSC etc. examinations are increasing year after year.
The distinguishing feature of the department is that it has been a leading centre of research in the field of Condensed Matter Physics which has earned national and international recognition. Large number of major research projects funded by almost all the national funding agencies, such as UGC, CSIR, DST, DAE-BRNS, DRDO, IPCL, ISRO, GUJCOST, SERB(DST), ICMR and all the 3 Phases of DRS/SAP, DSA-I and COSIST program have been successfully completed by the department and is engaged with many ongoing major research projects funded by government agencies. The department is recognized by the Department of Science and Technology through FIST (level-I extended). Currently, the Department is having excellent infrastructure facilities such as Bruker single crystal X-ray diffractometer, Rikagu X-ray Powder diffractometer, Perkin Elmer Spectrofluorometer, various crystal growth facilities, AGNI high temperature furnace, Hind-high vacuum coating unit, Lakeshore Hall measurement system with low temperature facility, Horiba Raman spectrometer, FPLC, Malvern particle size analyzer, TGA, DSC, Vibrating Sample magnetometer, Bridgman-Czochoralski crystal growth set-up, Holmarc SILAR coating unit, high-end Xeon processor-based workstations etc. Procurement of High Performance Computer Cluster is under process. We have well equipped MSc (general and specialized) labs to impart an effective practical training to the students.
More than 280 PhD students have successfully completed their doctorate degrees, and more than 500 M.Phil Degrees in Physics have been awarded. Many of the faculty members and researchers of the department have visited abroad under different schemes such as Commonwealth Academic Staff Fellowship/scholarship, DAAD, Fulbright, Humboldt, INSA, Royal Society (UK) and other exchange programmes of UGC, MHRD, etc. The countries visited on academic assignments include USA, UK, Canada, USSR, Russia, France, Italy, Iran, Austria, South Korea, Japan, Germany, Cuba, Spain, Sweden, Poland, Belgium, Holland, China, Singapore, Puerto Rico, Ethiopia and so on.
The student’s welfare, extra- and co- curricular activities are being looked after and nurtured by the Physical Society (a cultural society of the students and managed by the students) of the department. With the high research potential, proven teaching abilities and dedications of the faculty members of the department, today, the department is one of the centers of attraction for students from all over the state and outside the state to pursue their postgraduate studies in Physics. To accommodate and to respect the interest and enthusiasm shown by the parents and students, we have increased our intake by 66 (grant-in-aid) + 50 (higher fees) seats for the MSc programme.
The Department is committed to imparting high-quality training at the post-graduation level and beyond, up to doctorate studies leading to a Ph.D. We work with the motto “Excellence Matters”.
Prof. M. P. DESHPANDE
Head, Department of Physics