IIT Madras launches Subra Suresh Lecture Series

The prestigious Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) has launched the Subra Suresh Distinguished Lecture Series to be addressed by Nobel Laureates started with Prof Didier Queloz on October 20.

The series will feature lectures by Nobel Laureates and globally-renowned speakers from various walks of life. They will also deliver a science talk which will be open to all members of the public.

Prof Didier Queloz was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for ‘spectacular discovery that kick-started the rise of exoplanet research.’

Also Read | IIT Mandi researchers develop simple, portable device to detect ischemic stroke

The topic of Prof Didier Queloz’s address to the public is ‘Exoplanets and the Search for Life in the Universe’, the institute said.

The Subra Suresh Distinguished Lecture series was launched in honour of one of its most illustrious alumni of IIT Madras - Prof Subra Suresh, a Distinguished Alumnus Awardee (1997) and currently President and a Distinguished University Professor at the prestigious Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Prof Subra Suresh is a former Director of the US National Science Foundation, a former Dean of Engineering and Vannevar Bush Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a former President of Carnegie Mellon University. He is the first IIT alumnus and India-born academic to be appointed to these leadership positions.

This new lecture series has been made possible by a generous gift from another illustrious alumnus of IIT Madras - Mr. Senapathy ‘Kris’ Gopalakrishnan, Chairman of Axilor Ventures, Bengaluru, and co-founder of Infosys, the institute said.

Also Read | IIT Guwahati research team develops new way to deliver chemo drugs to target only cancer cells

“We are delighted to launch the Subra Suresh lecture series supported by the generosity of Shri Kris Gopalakrishnan. This series will bring the best speakers from all over the world to India, with the motivation to bring a broad perspective of science to researchers and laypeople,” Prof Mahesh Panchagnula, Dean (Alumni and Corporate Relations), IIT-M, said.

As part of this three-day annual event, these distinguished speakers will also deliver a separate technical address at IIT Madras and hold discussions with professors and students from various research institutions in Chennai. A one-day workshop will also be organized in honour of the visiting academic as a forum for faculty members and students to get together.

The Subra Suresh Distinguished Lecture Series will be a three-day annual event. Day one will include the technical lecture followed by a public lecture on Day two. The final day would focus on interactions between the distinguished speaker and IIT Madras faculty, students and laboratory visits, the institute said.