Paradigmresume at 19:47, 19 March 2026

2026-03-19T19:47:22Z

New page

{{multiple issues|{{Resume-like|date=July 2025}}
{{Cleanup|reason=grammar issues|date=July 2025}}}}
{{Short description|Indian physicist (born 1951)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| birth_name = Ajay Kumar Sood
| name = Ajay Kumar Sood
| image = Ajay-Kumar-Sood-FRS.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Sood in 2015 (portrait from the [[Royal Society]])
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1951|06|26}}<ref name=whoswho>{{Who's Who | title=SOOD, Prof. Ajay Kumar| id = U284078| volume = 2016 | edition = online [[Oxford University Press]]|location=Oxford}}</ref>
| birth_place = [[Gwalior]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[India]]<ref name=whoswho/>
| death_date =
| death_place =
| office = 4th [[Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India]]
| term_start = April 2022
| term_end =
| predecessor = [[K. Vijayraghavan]]
| successor =
| influences =
| influenced =
| website = {{URL|physics.iisc.ernet.in/~asood}}
| awards = {{Plainlist|
* [[Padma Shri]]
* [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] (2015)<ref name=frs/>
* [[Materials Research Society|Materials Research Society (India)]] Medal}}
| education = [[Indian Institute of Science]]
| honorific_suffix = [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]]
}}

'''Ajay Kumar Sood''' (born 26 June 1951)<ref name=whoswho/> is an Indian physicist and researcher currently serving as the 4th [[Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India]].

He holds two United States and five Indian [[patent]]s,<ref name="IISC Profile" /><ref name="Bangalore Nano">{{cite web | url=http://www.bangalorenano.in/nano_2012/AJAY_SOOD.html
| title=Bangalore Nano | publisher=Bangalore Nano | year=2014 | access-date=18 October 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141104034525/http://www.bangalorenano.in/nano_2012/AJAY_SOOD.html
| archive-date=4 November 2014 }}</ref> and has contributed to research on [[graphene]] and [[nanotechnology]].<ref name="INSA" /><ref name="India Today">{{cite web |title=Heroes of the city's scientific success story | url=https://www.indiatoday.in/opinion/max-martin/story/heroes-of-the-citys-scientific-success-story-136950-2011-07-06
|website=India Today | date=7 July 2011 | access-date=18 October 2014}}</ref><ref name="Google Scholar">{{cite web | url=https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=hJ9np5kAAAAJ&hl=en
| title=Google Scholar | publisher=Google Scholar |year=2014 | access-date=18 October 2014}}</ref> He is a Distinguished Honorary Professor of Physics at the [[Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.physics.iisc.ernet.in/people-faculty.php|title=Department of Physics - Indian Institute of Science Bangalore|website=www.physics.iisc.ernet.in
}}</ref>

He was awarded the [[Padma Shri]] by the [[Government of India]] in 2013 for his contributions to science and technology.<ref name="Padma 2013">{{cite news | url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/list-of-padma-awardees/article4345496.ece
| title=Padma 2013 | newspaper=The Hindu | date=26 January 2013 | access-date=10 October 2014}}</ref> He was elected a [[List of Fellows of the Royal Society elected in 2015|Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS)]] in 2015.<ref name="frs" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://gonitsora.com/kamal-bawa-and-ajay-sood-elected-frs/|title=Kamal Bawa and Ajay Sood elected FRS - Gonit Sora|date=1 May 2015}}</ref>

Since 2019, he has served on the Physical Sciences jury for the [[Infosys Prize]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Infosys Prize - Jury 2020|url=http://www.infosys-science-foundation.com/prize/jury/jury-2020.asp|access-date= 10 December 2020|website=www.infosys-science-foundation.com
}}</ref> He is an associate editor of [[ACS Nano]].<ref>{{URL|https://pubs.acs.org/page/ancac3/editors.html}}
</ref>

==Biography==
{{quote box|align = right|width=21em|''The sound of music is also deep physics. Of course, you don't need to know that to appreciate music'' says Dr. Ajay K. Sood.<ref name="India Today Sood Effect">{{cite web | url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/science-and-technology/story/20110919-indian-scientists-at-forefront-of-research-ajay-sood-747599-2011-09-10 | title=India Today Sood Effect | website=India Today | date=10 September 2011 | access-date=2014-10-18}}</ref>}}
Ajay Kumar Sood was born on 26 June 1951,<ref name="INSA" /> in [[Gwalior]], India.<ref name=whoswho/><ref name="IISC Profile">{{cite web | url=http://www.physics.iisc.ernet.in/~asood/akscv.pdf
| title=IISC Profile | publisher=IISC |year=2014 | access-date=18 October 2014}}</ref> He obtained a [[Bachelor of Science|BSc]] (Hons) degree in physics in 1971 and a [[Master of Science|MSc]] (Hons) degree in 1972 from [[Punjab University, Chandigarh]].<ref name="INSA" />

In 1973, he joined the [[Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research]], [[Kalpakkam]], where he worked until 1988. During this period, he pursued doctoral research at the [[Indian Institute of Science]], obtaining a PhD in 1982. He subsequently carried out postdoctoral research at the [[Max Planck Institute for Physics|Max Planck Institute für Festkörperforschung]], Stuttgart, Germany, from 1983 to 1985.<ref name="IISC Profile" /><ref name="India Today Sood Effect" />

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) offered Sood the post of an associate professor at the institution in 1988,<ref name="INSA" /> which he accepted. In 1994, he was promoted as the professor of the Department of Physics at IISc.<ref name="INSA" /><ref name="Google Scholar" /><ref name="IISc home page">{{cite web | url=http://www.physics.iisc.ernet.in/~asood/ | title=IISc home page | publisher=IISc |year=2014 | access-date=18 October 2014}}</ref> Four years later, he rose to the position of the chairman of the Division of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, IISc, which he held until 2008.<ref name="INSA" /> Sood has also been holding the position of the honorary professor at the [[Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research]], [[Bangalore|Bengaluru]] since 1993.<ref name="IISC Profile" /><ref name="INSA" /><ref name="India Today" />

Sood lives in Bengaluru, [[Karnataka]] state, India, associating himself with the Indian Institute of Science and the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research.<ref name="IISC Profile" />

==Research and legacy==
Sood has done research on [[Condensed matter physics|hard condensed matter and soft condensed matter physics]], with special emphasis on [[Raman scattering]] and [[nanotechnology]].<ref name="INSA" />{{Dead link|date=July 2025}}<ref name="India Today Sood Effect" />

===Research on resonance Raman studies===
Sood, along with his team of scientists at the Indian Institute of Science, has done experiments on [[semiconductor]] [[superlattice]]s, [[fullerenes]], [[C60 fullerene|solid C60]], [[C70 fullerene|C70]]<ref name="C60 and C70">{{cite journal | url=https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=hJ9np5kAAAAJ&cstart=20&citation_for_view=hJ9np5kAAAAJ:4TOpqqG69KYC | title=C60 and C70 | journal=Physical Review B | publisher=Google Scholar |year=2014 | volume=53 | issue=13 | pages=8180–8183 | doi=10.1103/PhysRevB.53.8180 | access-date=18 October 2014 | last1=Sundar | first1=C. S. | last2=Sahu | first2=P. Ch | last3=Sastry | first3=V. S. | last4=Rao | first4=G. V. N. | last5=Sridharan | first5=V. | last6=Premila | first6=M. | last7=Bharathi | first7=A. | last8=Hariharan | first8=Y. | last9=Radhakrishnan | first9=T. S. | last10=Muthu | first10=D. V. S. | last11=Sood | first11=A. K. | pmid=9982302 | url-access=subscription }}</ref> and single walled [[carbon nanotube]]s and [[Phonons|optical phonons]].<ref name="INSA" /><ref name="Superlattice">{{cite journal | url=https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=hJ9np5kAAAAJ&citation_for_view=hJ9np5kAAAAJ:u-x6o8ySG0sC | title=Superlattice | journal=Physical Review Letters | date=13 May 1985 | volume=54 | issue=19 | pages=2111–2114 | publisher=Google Scholar | doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.54.2111 | access-date=18 October 2014 | last1=Sood | first1=A. K. | last2=Menéndez | first2=J. | last3=Cardona | first3=M. | last4=Ploog | first4=K. | pmid=10031232 | url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Nano Archive 2">{{cite web | url=http://www.nanoarchive.org/4386/ | title=Nano Archive 2 | publisher=Nano Archive | date=2 April 2009 | access-date=18 October 2014}}</ref> They were successful in exciting squeezed phonon states in KTa03 crystals using [[femtosecond]] laser pulses and employing impulsive simulated Raman scattering.<ref name="INSA" /><ref name="Femtosecond">{{Cite web |url=https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?view_op |title=Femtosecond |access-date=10 August 2016 |publisher=Femtosecond}}</ref> He has also shown that liquid flow in a singled walled carbon nanotube induces the voltage and current to flow along the floor direction of the tube.

===Other research efforts===
Sood has also experimented with soft condensed matter like [[micelle]] composed [[Viscoelasticity|viscoelastic]] gels.<ref name="INSA" /><ref name="Micelle">{{cite journal | url=https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=hJ9np5kAAAAJ&cstart=20&citation_for_view=hJ9np5kAAAAJ:MXK_kJrjxJIC | title=Micelle | journal=Physical Review Letters | publisher=Google Scholar |year=2006 | volume=96 | issue=10 | doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.108301 | access-date=18 October 2014 | last1=Ganapathy | first1=Rajesh | last2=Sood | first2=A. K. | article-number=108301 | pmid=16605795 | url-access=subscription }}</ref> He developed an ultrasensitive [[immunoassay]] by subjecting colloids to an electrical field, thus generating nonequilibrium phenomena.<ref name="INSA" /><ref name="India Today Sood Effect" /> He has developed a medical diagnostic kit.<ref name="India Today Sood Effect" />

Sood is now working on the modalities of enhancing the viscosity of a material by adding nanotubes without increasing its weight.<ref name="India Today Sood Effect" />

==Academic fellowships and positions==
Sood is a fellow of science academies and institutions such as the [[Indian Academy of Sciences]] (FASc)<ref name="INSA" /> (1991), the [[Indian National Science Academy]] (FNA) (1996), [[The World Academy of Sciences]] (FTWAS)<ref name="INSA" /> (2002) and the [[National Academy of Sciences, India]] (FNASc)<ref name="INSA" /> (1995)<ref name="Bangalore Nano" /><ref name="INSA">{{Cite web |url=http://www.insaindia.res.in/detail/N96-1207 |title=INSA |year=2014 |publisher=INSA |access-date=18 October 2014}}</ref> and holds the Bhatnagar Chair of the [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]].<ref name="Bangalore Nano" /> He is the incumbent secretary general of [[The World Academy of Sciences]]<ref name="TWAS">{{cite web | url=http://twas.org/council | title=TWAS | publisher=TWAS |year=2015 | access-date=23 January 2015}}</ref> and a former president of the Indian Academy of Sciences from 2010 to 2012<ref name="Bangalore Nano" /> and the vice-president of the Indian National Science Academy from 2008 to 2010. He also served as a member of the Asia-Pacific Academy of Materials<ref name="APAM">{{cite web | url=http://www.niic.nsc.ru/apam/ | title=APAM | publisher=APAM |year=2014 | access-date=18 October 2014}}</ref> in 2008.<ref name="IISC Profile" />

Sood was an executive editor of Solid State Communications.<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 September 2020 |title=Solid State Communications Editorial Board |url=http://www.journals.elsevier.com/solid-state-communications/editorial-board/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918174613/http://www.journals.elsevier.com/solid-state-communications/editorial-board/ |archive-date=18 September 2020 |access-date=2 July 2024 |website=www.journals.elsevier.com}}</ref> He is also an editorial board member of the journals, [[Scientific Reports]], Particle<ref name="Particle">{{cite web | url=http://www.materialsviews.com/particle-particle-systems-characterization/ | title=Particle | publisher=Particle |year=2014 | access-date=18 October 2014}}</ref> and [[EPL (journal)|EPL]] (Europhysics Letters).<ref name="EPL">{{cite web | url=http://www.epletters.net/physics-journal/editorial-board/ | title=EPL | publisher=EPL | year=2014 | access-date=18 October 2014 | archive-date=25 October 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025052443/http://www.epletters.net/physics-journal/editorial-board/ }}</ref>

Sood has served on the scientific advisory committee to the [[prime minister of India]] from 2009 to 2014,<ref name="India Today Sood Effect" /> and is the chairman of the National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi.<ref name="IISC Profile" />

==Awards and recognitions==
He was awarded [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]], in 1990, by the Government of India.<ref name="IISC Profile" /><ref name="Bangalore Nano" /><ref name="INSA" /> In 2013, the Government of India followed it up with the fourth highest civilian award, [[Padma Shri]].<ref name="Padma 2013" />

The [[Third World Academy of Sciences]] (TWAS) recognised Sood's services by conferring on him the [[TWAS Prize]] in Physics, in 2000.<ref name="Bangalore Nano" /><ref name="INSA" /> The same year, he received four more awards viz. G. D. Birla Science Award,<ref name="INSA" /> [[Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry]] (FICCI) Award,<ref name="Bangalore Nano" /><ref name="INSA" /> [[Materials Research Society]] (India) Medal and Millennium Gold Medal of [[Indian Science Congress]].<ref name="Bangalore Nano" /><ref name="INSA" /> Two years later, in 2002, he received the [[Homi Jehangir Bhabha]] Medal of [[Indian National Science Academy]].<ref name="Bangalore Nano" /><ref name="INSA" /> The next year, in 2003, he was selected for the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Alumni Award for Excellence in Research for Science. Three more awards came his way the same year, viz.
[[M. N. Saha]] Birth Centenary Award of the [[Indian Science Congress]],<ref name="Bangalore Nano" /><ref name="INSA" /> [[Sir C. V. Raman]] Award of the [[University Grants Commission (India)|University Grants Commission]]<ref name="Bangalore Nano" /><ref name="INSA" /> and the Goyal Prize in Physics.<ref name="IISC Profile" /><ref name="Bangalore Nano" /><ref name="INSA" /> Sood was elected a [[List of Fellows of the Royal Society elected in 2015|Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2015]].<ref name="frs">{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117101521/https://royalsociety.org/people/ajay-sood-12321/|archive-date=17 November 2015|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/ajay-sood-12321/|publisher=[[Royal Society]]|location=London|title=Professor Ajay Sood FRS}}</ref>
==See also==
{{Div col}}
* [[Graphene]]
* [[Soft matter]]
* [[Raman scattering]]
* [[Nanotechnology]]
* [[Indian Institute of Science]]
* [[Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research]]
{{div col end}}
{{portal|India}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | title=Graphene: Synthesis, Properties, and Phenomena | publisher=Wiley-VCH | author=[[C. N. R. Rao]] and Ajay K. Sood | year=2013 | page=438 | isbn=978-3-527-33258-8}}
* {{cite book | title=Nano- and Microtechnology: Materials, Processes, Packaging, and Systems (Proceedings of Spie) | publisher=Society of Photo Optical | author=Dinesh K. Sood (Editor), Ajay P. Malshe (Editor), Ryutaro Maeda (Editor) | year=2002 | page=488 | isbn=978-0-8194-4731-9}}

==External links==
* {{cite web | url=http://www.theindianpanorama.com/2013/04/08/president-confers-padma-awards/ | title=Padma Awards List | publisher=Indian Panorama |year=2014 | access-date=12 October 2014}}
* {{cite web | url=https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=hJ9np5kAAAAJ&hl=en | title=List of Articles on Google Scholar | publisher=Google Scholar |year=2014 | access-date=18 October 2014}}
* {{cite web | url=http://www-personal.umich.edu/~merlin/people/ajay_sood.html | title=University of Michigan Profile | publisher=University of Michigan | year=2014 | access-date=18 October 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151024192719/http://www-personal.umich.edu/~merlin/people/ajay_sood.html | archive-date=24 October 2015 }}
* {{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cqsX9srEe4 | title=Ajay K Sood of IISC Speaking at 'Announcement of Bangalore India Nano Event'-1 Sep 2014 video | publisher=CituyBiz TV | date=1 September 2014 | access-date=18 October 2014}}
* {{cite web | url=http://www.iiserkol.ac.in/component/sobipro/?pid=54&sid=234:Ajay-K-Sood&Itemid=538 | title=Profile on Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata | publisher=Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata | year=2014 | access-date=18 October 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018163834/http://www.iiserkol.ac.in/component/sobipro/?pid=54&sid=234:Ajay-K-Sood&Itemid=538 | archive-date=18 October 2014 }}
* {{Cite web |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/photo/profile-of-top-25-scientists-in-india-366262-2011-09-11 |title=Profile of Top 25 scientists in India |date=11 September 2011 |website=India Today |language=en-US |access-date=17 January 2018}}

{{FRS 2015}}
{{SSBPST recipients in Physical Science}}
{{2000s Padma Shri Award Recipients in Science & Engineering}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sood, Ajay K.}}
[[Category:1951 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering]]
[[Category:People from Gwalior]]
[[Category:Scientists from Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian physicists]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology]]
[[Category:Indian nanotechnologists]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Indian Institute of Science]]
[[Category:TWAS laureates]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian inventors]]
[[Category:Indian fellows of the Royal Society]]

Ajay K. Sood - Revision history

Paradigmresume at 19:47, 19 March 2026