DelmarTroiano at 20:10, 28 October 2025

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{{Short description|Indian astrophysicist (born 1950)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2015}}
{{Infobox scientist
|name = Ajit Kembhavi
|image = Ajit Kembhavi profile small.jpg
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1950|8|16|df=y}}
|birth_place = [[Hubli, Karnataka]], India
|field = [[Physics]], [[astronomy]], [[computer science]]
|work_institution = [[Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics]]
|alma_mater = [[Tata Institute of Fundamental Research]]
|doctoral_advisor = [[Jayant Narlikar]]
|doctoral_students =
|known_for =
|prizes =
|footnotes =
}}

'''Ajit Kembhavi''' (born 16 August 1950) is an Indian [[astrophysicist]]. He is presently a professor emeritus at the [[Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics]], (IUCAA) at [[Pune]], India,<ref>[http://www.iucaa.in:8080/iucaa/jsp/N-People.jsp List of people working at IUCAA (2011)]</ref> of which he was also a founder member. He also serves as a vice president of the [[International Astronomical Union]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=International Astronomical Union {{!}} IAU|url=https://www.iau.org/administration/membership/individual/5472/|access-date=2021-11-18|website=www.iau.org|archive-date=29 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629141654/https://www.iau.org/administration/membership/individual/5472/|url-status=dead}}</ref> He is the [[Principal investigator|Principal Investigator]] of Pune Knowledge Cluster along with Professor L. S. Shashidhara.

==Early life and career==
Ajit Kembhavi was born in 1950 in [[Hubli]] in [[Karnataka]] and spent a major part of his childhood there. During his time spent at Hubli, Kembhavi was a neighbour to [[Gangubai Hangal]], the well-known [[Indian classical]] musician. This helped Ajit acquire a keen taste in Indian classical music.

After his schooling and junior college education in Hubli, he moved to Mumbai to finish his BSc and MSc in physics from the Ruia college, affiliated to [[University of Mumbai|Bombay University]]. Later, he joined the [[Tata Institute of Fundamental Research]] ([[TIFR]]) for his PhD in physics with the renowned Indian astrophysicist and cosmologist [[Jayant Narlikar]] as his thesis supervisor.

Later, he moved to England to work as a postdoctoral fellow under Lord [[Martin Rees]] at the [[Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge]]. After this, he returned as a research fellow to his alma mater TIFR. In 1988, when [[IUCAA]] was formed, he joined as assistant professor, and later became the Dean of Visitor Programmes in 1997, a position he held for twelve years until 2009. He took up the directorship of IUCAA in 2009<ref>{{Cite web|date=2009-06-06|title=Ajit Kembhavi is new director of IUCAA|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/ajit-kembhavi-is-new-director-of-iucaa/|access-date=2021-11-18|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref> and remained the director until 2014<ref>{{Cite web|date=September 1, 2015|title=Raychaudhury is IUCAA's new director |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/raychaudhury-is-iucaas-new-director/articleshow/48752689.cms|access-date=2021-11-18|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref> before being succeeded by [[Somak Raychaudhury]].

He was elected vice president of the IAU's [[Office of Astronomy for Development]] and also serves on the Space Commission of the [[Department of Space]], India.<ref>{{Cite web|title=International Astronomical Union|url=https://www.iau.org/administration/executive_bodies/executive_committee/|access-date=2021-11-18|website=www.iau.org|archive-date=2 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302030136/https://iau.org/administration/executive_bodies/executive_committee/|url-status=dead}}</ref> He is the Principal Investigator of Pune Knowledge Cluster along with Professor L. S. Shashidhara.

==Contributions to Indian astronomy==
Kembhavi has played a very significant role in the development of astronomy as a research area in India. As a Dean of Visitor Programmes in IUCAA, he was responsible for the growth and sustenance of several programs held in IUCAA and across India, for promotion of astronomical research. As a director of IUCAA, he played a lead role in cementing India's participation in several international projects including the [[Southern African Large Telescope]] (SALT), [[Thirty Meter Telescope]] (TMT), and the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory [[LIGO]]).

He also conceived and executed the INFONET project<ref>{{Cite journal |bibcode = 2010ASPC..433..251K|title = The UGC-INFONET Program|journal = Library and Information Services in Astronomy VI: 21st Century Astronomy Librarianship|volume = 433|pages = 251|last1 = Kembhavi|first1 = A.|year = 2010}}</ref> under the [[University Grants Commission (India)]], which brought the benefits of information and communication technology to all universities in India including enabling electronic access to thousands of journals.

A notable contribution by Ajit Kembhavi is in setting up of the Virtual Observatory's India chapter, a project funded by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. The [[Virtual Observatory]] project enables standardization of methods of access and descriptions of astronomical data sets enabling ease of access to open astronomical data sets. He also served as the chairman of the [[International Virtual Observatory Alliance]] (IVOA) which oversees Virtual Observatory activities internationally.

Kembhavi is also a well-known science popularizer and has given several public talks and presentations<ref>{{Citation|title=Careers in Astronomy - by Ajit Kembhavi [7th Aug, 2015]| date=12 August 2015 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZglj8e_FD8|language=en|access-date=2021-11-18}}</ref> for promoting astronomy among the masses. He has also written a Marathi book 'Nabhaat Hasre Taare'<ref>{{Cite web|title=नभात हसरे तारे-Nabhat Hasare Tare by Dr. Ajit Kembhavi, Dr. Jayant Narlikar, Mangala Narlikar - Rajhans Prakashan - BookGanga.com|url=https://www.bookganga.com/eBooks/Books/Details/5282448813561298437|access-date=2021-11-18|website=www.bookganga.com}}</ref> co-authored by Jayant and Mangala Narlikar.

==Areas of research==

Kembhavi's areas of expertise largely include gravitation theory, [[extragalactic astronomy]] and astronomical database management. His contributions include:
*[[Gravity]]: Elucidating nature of [[cosmological singularities]] under [[conformal transformations]] (done as a part of his PhD thesis)
*[[Quasars]]: Estimation of quasars to the X-ray background.
*[[X-Ray Binaries]]: Study of the tidal capture formation of [[globular cluster]] X-ray binaries, and their subsequent evolution millisecond and other pulsars
*[[Pulsars]]: Pulsar magnetic field decay from a comparison between observed data and simulations
*[[Galaxies]]: Quantitative study of galaxy morphology, scaling relations etc.
*Warm Absorbers: Comprehensive high resolution X-ray spectral study of warm absorbers in Seyfert galaxies observed with ESA's X-ray observatory [[XMM-Newton]], theoretical modelling using photo-ionisation code CLOUDY,<ref>[http://www.nublado.org/ CLOUDY software homepage]</ref> understanding the effect of ionizing continuum shape on the properties of warm absorbers, and stability curve analysis of the warm absorbers.

==Personal life==
Ajit Kembhavi is married to Asha Kembhavi, a bio-technologist. They have a son Annirudh Kembhavi, who works at the Allen Institute of Artificial Intelligence.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://allenai.org/team/anik/ |title=Annirudh Kembhavi's homepage at AIAI |access-date=21 December 2017 |archive-date=22 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222104821/http://allenai.org/team/anik/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Honours, awards and memberships==
{{div col|colwidth=35em}}
* Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.nasi.org.in/fellows.asp?RsFilter=K | title=The National Academy of Sciences, India - Fellows | access-date=21 December 2017 | archive-date=15 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315081652/http://nasi.org.in/fellows.asp?RsFilter=K | url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.ias.ac.in/listing/fellows/K |title = Fellowship | Indian Academy of Sciences}}</ref>
* Former president of the Astronomical Society of India ()<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.astron-soc.in/executive_council.php |title=The Executive Council of the Astronomical Society of India |access-date=21 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171220150001/http://www.astron-soc.in/executive_council.php |archive-date=20 December 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* A Vice President of the International Astronomy Union (2016–present)<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.iau.org/administration/membership/individual/5472/ | title=International Astronomical Union | IAU | access-date=21 December 2017 | archive-date=29 June 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629141654/https://www.iau.org/administration/membership/individual/5472/ | url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Former president of the Indian Association of General Relativity and Gravitation<ref>Check 'Office Bearers' under the 'Organization' menu for this site: https://www.imsc.res.in/~iagrg/</ref>
* Recipient of the UGC Hari Om Vats award for academic interaction with Society (2004)<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.ugc.ac.in/page/Honours-and-Awards.aspx#Ashram | title=University Grants commission ::Honours & Awards}}</ref>
* Raja Ramana Fellowship (2017)
* Former chairman of the governing board of the Consortium for Educational Communication (CEC), New Delhi
* Member of the governing council and court of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
* Member of the Space Commission of India<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vssc.gov.in/VSSC_V4/index.php/11-public-home/430-space-commission |title=Welcome to VIKRAM SARABHAI SPACE CENTRE - Space Commission |website=www.vssc.gov.in |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608153156/http://www.vssc.gov.in/VSSC_V4/index.php/11-public-home/430-space-commission |archive-date=2017-06-08}} </ref>
* Chairman of the governing council of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore
{{div col end}}

==Books==
* ''Highlights in Gravitation and Cosmology. ''Eds. B.R. Iyer, A. Kembhavi, J.V. Narlikar & C.V. Vishveshwara, 1988. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
* ''Non Standard Cosmology'' (Revised Edition). J.V. Narlikar & A.K. Kembhavi, 1988. In Galaxies & Cosmology, Eds. V.M. Canuto & B.G. Elmegreen. Gorden & Breach.
* ''Gravitation and Cosmology. ''Eds. S. Mukherjee, A.R. Prasanna & A.K. Kembhavi, 1992. Wiley Eastern.

* Starbursts : Triggers, Nature and Evolution. (Proc. of Les Houches School), 1998. ''Eds. B. Guiderdoni & A.K. Kembhavi. Springer.''
* Quasars and [[Active galactic nucleus|Active Galactic Nuclei]] - An Introduction. ''A.K. Kembhavi & J.V. Narlikar. 1999. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.''
* The Universe - Visions and Perspectives. ''Eds. N. Dadhich & A.K. Kembhavi, 2000. Kluwer.''
* Nabhat Hasare Taare: A book on Astrophysics of stars in Marathi. ''A.K. Kembhavi, J. V. Narlikar & Mangala Narlikar. Rajhans Prakashan 2008.'' A Gujarati translation of this book has been published.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.pkc.org.in/ The Pune Knowledge Cluster]
*{{commons inline}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kembhavi, Ajit}}
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:Indian astrophysicists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian physicists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Tata Institute of Fundamental Research alumni]]
[[Category:Indian theoretical physicists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian astronomers]]
[[Category:Scientists from Karnataka]]
[[Category:People from Hubli]]

Ajit Kembhavi - Revision history

DelmarTroiano at 20:10, 28 October 2025