Bose Institute, Kolkata

About Bose Institute, Kolkata

The Bose Institute Library, a national pride, was founded by Sir Jagadis Chandra Bose in the year 1917. It is a special science reference Library, primarily meant for the use of its research staff i.e. faculty members and research scholars and staff of the Institute. It is also frequently used by the faculty members and research scholars of other Institutes and Universities located in Kolkata.and West Bengal. A new wing of the Library has been opened at "Acharya J.C. Bose Centenary Campus" at Kankurgachi, Kolkata in the year 1983. The Library, besides having a huge collection of books on physical and biological science offers library services through its various Divisions.

The institute has evolved over the years into a multi-disciplinary research organization with stress on fundamental research in its pursuit of advancement of knowledge in Science and technology and at the same time developing highly competent and able scientific manpower for the country. The institute has on its staff highly qualified and experienced scientists working in the field of Biological, biochemical, Chemical and Physical sciences placed in long established departments of Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Microbiology, Biochemistry, and Biophysics, and the research sections on plant Molecular & Cellular Genetics, Animal Physiology, Immunotechnology and Environmental science. Besides, there are service centres such as Regional Sophisticated Instrumentation Centre (RSIC), Central Instrumentation Facility, DIC, Library, Workshop etc. The wide ranging and comprehensive base of available scientific infrastructure also comprises of the Acharya J. C. Bose High Altitude Research Centre at Darjeeling and experimental field stations at Falta and Madhyamgram in West Bengal catering to the need and requirements of scientists in their researches. Bose Institute has thus, very effectively and successfully achieved the major objectives for which it was established and continues to grow in its scientific excellence contending with the best in biochemical, biophysical and physical sciences.

Bose Institute is one of the few multi-disciplinary institutions in the country that has succeeded in developing a vast intellectual resource in areas ranging from astrophysics, radiation physics, quantum mechanics to the frontline areas of contemporary biology such as bioinformatics & computational biology, structure and functional dynamics of biomolecules, drug modeling, molecular genetics of microbes, development of transgenic plants etc. Based on the enduring development of scientific expertise for 85 yrs, the institute has scripted a programme of research for 10th five year plant that will allow it to retain the competitive edge in the 21st Century. Moreover, the steady high rate of peer reviewed publications from the institute and individual achievements of scientists in their respective area of specialization is a testimony of the excellent overall performance and thus warrants continuation of the research activities of the Institute.

As regards the IT and Communication facilities, Bose Institute has an excellent LAN system in place which allows uninterrupted means of transfer of large date pools from one laboratory to another as well as between research institutions. The establishment of DIC has made it possible for the scientists to have convenient access to a wide range of data. The DIC has become the main source of information related to bioinformatics. The centre works as the backbone of the research and development activities in various fields like genetic engineering, biocrystallography, biocomputing, molecular modeling etc. The main areas of research using this facility are genome analysis, molecular modeling, plant genomics and proteomics, protein folding and threading, and biomolecular structure and recognition. Several steps have been recently initiated to further improve accessibility and connectivity to internet services as well as computerization of accounts and management information at the institute. In addition efforts are underway to develop a digital library to improve access to scientific literature search and exchange of data. The high quality of basic research in different areas at Bose Institute has attracted considerable extramural funding from both national and international agencies (app. Rs. 2.5 crores per year).

The scientific programmes at Bose Institute attract considerable extramural funding from outside agencies, which has witnessed a dramatic increase during the past few years. The overhead charge received from extra-mural projects averaged about Rs. 10.00 lakhs per year. Now a mechanism has been developed to generate overhead charge from those schemes also where such allocation is not earmarked as such. In addition, efforts are being made to invite and attract more time-bound contractual R & d projects from the industry to enhance internal revenue. The current drive to explore additional resources of income for the institute are expected to yield at least 20% higher revenue generated from extra-mural and contractual research.

The Bose Institute has served the nation for the past 85 years through its pursuit of advancement of knowledge in science and technology and by developing highly competent and able scientific manpower for the country. The institute has its staff highly qualified and experienced scientists devoted to original and path breaking research in the field of Plant Sciences, Molecular Biology, Structural Biology, Biomedical and Biotechnology. Besides, it has contributed vanguard research in Radiophysics, Quantum mechanics, Astrophysics and condense matter physics. In recent years Bioinformatics, Genomics and Proteomics approaches have also been actively pursued. In addition, there are support and service centres like RSIC, DIC, Library, Workshop etc. The wide-ranging and comprehensive base of available scientific infrastructure at Bose Institute also comprises of the Acharya J. C. Bose High Altitude Research Centre at Darjeeling and experimental field stations at Falta and Madhyamgram. The facilities available in the institute for scientific research and its application are also being regularly used by scientists from several universities and research centres in the country.