Dr. Nandakumar Kalarikkal is a Professor at the School of Pure and Applied Physics at Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU), Kottayam, Kerala. He serves as a member of the University Syndicate (a statutory body of MGU), the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC), the University Research Committee (URC), and the University Centre for International Cooperation (UCIC). His areas of research interest are nanostructured materials and applications; water, food and health security; circular economy; climate change; laser-matter interactions and computational nanoscience, and nanotechnology. He has organized several international seminars and workshops at MGU and delivered lectures at national and international conferences. He is the recipient of a number of national and international research awards and grants and has established state-of-the-art research facilities at MGU. Dr. Kalarikkal has supervised 30 master’s thesis and 25 doctoral dissertations. He holds six patents, and he has authored more than 30 books. He has produced more than 400 peer-reviewed publications with an H-index of 43 and 7,000 citations. He received a Master of Science degree in Industrial Physics and a PhD in Semiconductor Physics from Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, Kerala.
Home Institution: Mahatma Gandhi University is a state public university in Kottayam, Kerala. Established in 1983, the university offers a range of programs at the postgraduate, MPhil and PhD levels. In 2020, MGU wan the Chancellor’s Award for Best University in Kerala, and The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), the highest body of assessment and accreditation for higher education in India, granted MGU an A grade. In 2022, the National Institution Ranking Framework (NIRF) by the Indian Ministry of Education ranked MGU at the 31st position for the “university” category, and 52nd for the “overall” category.