Institute of Physics (IOP), Bhubaneswar

Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar is an autonomous research institution within the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India. The Institute was established in 1972 by the Government of Odisha and continues to receive financial assistance from DAE and the Government of Odisha.

About IOP

The Institute was officially established in 1972 by the Government of Odisha and registered in 1972 as a registered society under Societies Registration Act 1860. The Institute started functioning under the directorship of Prof. T. Pradhan on 4^th September 1974 in two rented rooms of the Utkal University Guest House. After a few months, the Institute moved to a rented house in Sahid Nagar, Bhubaneswar, where its academic activities got started in January 1975 with two faculties besides the then Director, Prof. T. Pradhan. From 1974 to 1981, the Institute functioned in rented buildings and moved to its present campus in 1981. On 25^th March 1985, the Institute was taken over by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).

The management of affairs of the Institute is vested in a Governing Council consisting of an eminent Scientist nominated as its Chairman, the Director of the Institute and members nominated by DAE and the Government of Odisha. The Registrar of the Institute functions as its Secretary. The Institute receives a major part of its financial support from the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and a token of support from the Government of Odisha. The Institute also receives funds from other government agencies (like CSIR and UGC) to finance specific research projects.

Research

• High Energy Theory
• Condensed Matter Theory
• Nuclear Physics Theory
• Experimental Condensed Matter Physics
• Experimental High Energy Physics

Academics

Pre-Doctoral Programme

The pre-doctoral programme is aimed at imparting a broad-based education in advanced physics and research methodology. It is also planned that it will help a student not only in his/her doctoral research, but also enable him/her to become a good physics teacher irrespective of whether or not he/she takes up doctoral research. Students are selected for admission to the pre-doctoral programme on the basis of performance in both the written Joint Entrance Screening Test (JEST)  and oral test. The course runs from August to June every year leading to a Diploma in Advanced Physics awarded by the Institute. On completion of the pre-doctoral programme the students are eligible to join for research under the supervision of faculty members of the Institute leading to the Ph.D. degree awarded by Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI) of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).

Doctoral Programme

The Institute offers a doctoral programme leading to a Ph.D. degree awarded by the Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI). Students who have an M.Sc. degree in physics (or are appearing for the final exam) from an eligible university/institute and are above a cut-off (decided each year) in JEST/CSIR-NET/GATE are called for a test and interview for the final selection. The students need to successfully complete a one-year course work to begin their doctoral research under the supervision of a faculty member of the Institute. Research activities in the Institute are broadly divided into the following areas:

• High Energy Physics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Nuclear Physics

Both theoretical and experimental research is carried out in each of the above areas. Research scholars are paid a fellowship and a contingency grant. Scholars are encouraged and supported to participate in relevant and useful academic meetings in India and abroad.

Short-Term Programme

In order to encourage teachers/lecturers/readers of colleges and universities, including the Institute alumni to carry out research work, the Institute supports a short-term visitor’s programme during summer and other vacation periods.

India-Based Neutrino Observatory (INO) Project

To carry out research in the emerging field of neutrino physics, the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) collaboration is making sincere attempts to build a world-class underground laboratory at Pottipuram in Bodi West hills of Theni District of Tamil Nadu. Once completed, it will be the largest basic science project in India. The proposed laboratory will house a 50 kiloton magnetized iron calorimeter (ICAL) detector to detect the atmospheric neutrinos and antineutrinos separately over a wide range of energies and path lengths. The prime focus of this experiment is to explore the earth's matter effect by observing the energy and zenith angle dependence of the atmospheric neutrinos in the multi-GeV range. This study will be quite useful to address some of the outstanding issues in neutrino oscillation physics and to provide a rigorous test of the three flavor neutrino oscillation framework in the presence of the earth's matter effect.

Institute of Physics (IOP) is actively involved in the mega-science India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) project of our country. IOP is playing a leading role in the physics and detector simulation studies related to the Iron Calorimeter (ICAL) detector at the INO facility. Several INO Ph.D. students are being trained at IOP.

Physics Open Discussion (POD)

The Physics Open Discussion (POD) is a program aimed at the school students (up to class XII) to help them discover the true spirit of physics of “creative thinking” and to develop a nature of curiosity. By providing an opportunity for open and informal discussions between the school students and research scientists at the Institute of Physics, students are exposed to exciting areas in the field of physics. The students are free to discuss any doubt they may have, irrespective of whether it is in their course or not. The students are invited to the Institute on the 2^nd Saturday of every month for the discussions. The discussion session will be held in the Main Lecture Hall from 4 pm to 6 pm.

Source: Institute of Physics (IOP), Bhubaneswar