Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics

The Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics is an institution of basic research and training in physical and biophysical sciences located in Bidhannagar, Kolkata, India. The institute is named after the famous Indian physicist Meghnad Saha.HistoryThe Palit Research Laboratory used to be a laboratory under the Department of Physics in the University of Calcutta. Meghnad Saha became the Palit Professor of Physics at the University of Calcutta in 1938. Realizing the ensuing importance of nuclear physics, he reorganized the curriculum to include nuclear physics and commissioned some necessary instruments. Soon the necessity of a small-scale cyclotron was felt. Thanks to the help of Jawaharlal Nehru and patronage of J.R.D.Tata, the foundation stone of the Institute of Nuclear Physics was laid at Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road, Calcutta in 1949. The building was inaugurated in 1950 by Irène Joliot-Curie. The institute shifted to its new building in Bidhannagar in the late 1980s.AdministrationSINP is an autonomous research institute under the administrative control of the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India.The institute is governed by a governing council headed by the chairman of the atomic energy commission of India, in accordance with a tripartite agreement signed by the Government of India, Government of West Bengal and the University of Calcutta in August 1992. The institute is known as a centre for conducting research for doctoral degrees and providing facilities for teaching and research in physical and biological sciences. The chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, India (and Secretary, DAE, government of India) chairs the governing council with members comprising three scientists nominated by the DAE, two representatives of the DAE, two nominees of CU, one nominee of Govt. of West Bengal and the Director of the Institute.