AMARENDRA NATH ROY at 16:25, 19 April 2026

2026-04-19T16:25:21Z

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{{Short description|Indian physicist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Ajit Kumar Mohanty
| office1 = Director of the<br>
[[Bhabha Atomic Research Centre]]
| term_start1 = 12 March 2019
| term_end1 = 15 September 2023
| successor1 = Vivek Bhasin
| predecessor1 = [[Kamlesh Nilkanth Vyas]]
| office = [[Secretary to the Government of India]], [[Department of Atomic Energy|Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)]] and Chairman of the [[Atomic Energy Commission of India]]
| term_start = 3 May 2023
| term_end =
| predecessor = [[Kamlesh Nilkanth Vyas]]
| successor =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1959|10|11}}
| birth_place = [[Odisha]], [[India]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Mumbai]]
| awards =
| image = Ajit Kumar Mohanty.jpg
}}

'''Ajit Kumar Mohanty''' (born 11 October 1959) is an [[India]]n [[Nuclear physics|nuclear physicist]] currently serving as [[Secretary to the Government of India]], [[Department of Atomic Energy|Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)]] and Chairman of the [[Atomic Energy Commission of India]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dr. Ajit Kumar Mohanty, Chairman, AEC & Secretary DAE {{!}} Department Of Atomic Energy {{!}} India |url=https://dae.gov.in/dr-ajit-kumar-mohanty-chairman-aec-secretary-dae/#:~:text=AEC%20&%20Secretary%20DAE-,Dr.,Wednesday,%20May%203,%202023. |access-date=2024-09-25 |language=en}}</ref> Previously, he served as the Director of the [[Bhabha Atomic Research Centre]] (BARC) from March 2019 till September 2023.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=2023-05-01 |title=Odia physicist Ajit Kumar Mohanty new chairman of Atomic Energy Commission |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/odia-physicist-new-chairman-of-atomic-energy-commission/articleshow/99887540.cms |access-date=2024-09-25 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref>

He has made contributions to several areas of nuclear physics covering collision energy from the sub-Coulomb barrier to the relativistic regime using the Pelletron accelerator at [[Tata Institute of Fundamental Research]] (TIFR), [[PHENIX]], and [[Compact Muon Solenoid|CMS]] experiments at [[Brookhaven National Laboratory]] (BNL), [[United States|USA]] and [[CERN]], Geneva.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Shri Vivek Bhasin, Director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre |url=https://www.barc.gov.in/leaders/index.html |access-date=2025-09-06 |website=www.barc.gov.in}}</ref>

He held several honorary positions at various organizations. He served the Indian Physics Association (IPA) as General Secretary and later as its president. He had been the Spokesperson for India-[[Compact Muon Solenoid|CMS]] collaboration, Director, [[Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics]], and Director, Physics Group, [[Bhabha Atomic Research Centre|BARC]]. He has twice been the [[CERN]] Scientific Associate, first during 2002-2004 and again during 2010–2011.<ref name=":2" />

== Education and career ==
He completed his undergraduate studies in 1979, earning a degree with Honours in Physics from MPC College of [[Baripada]]. He pursued his postgraduate studies at [[Ravenshaw University|Ravenshaw College, Cuttack]] in 1981. He joined the Nuclear Physics Division at the [[Bhabha Atomic Research Centre]] (BARC) in 1983. He later obtained his doctorate from [[University of Mumbai|Mumbai University]].<ref name=":0" /> As of September 2024, he has h-index of 227 and have more than 243,000 citations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A K Mohanty |url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=W5IHf-4AAAAJ&hl=en |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=scholar.google.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=AK Mohanty - AD Scientific Index 2025 |url=https://www.adscientificindex.com/scientist/ak-mohanty/4974621 |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=www.adscientificindex.com}}</ref>

== Awards ==
He received the Young Physicist Award from the [[Indian Physical Society]] in 1988, the [[Indian National Science Academy]] Young Scientist Award in 1991, and the Homi Bhabha Science and Technology Award from the [[Department of Atomic Energy]] in 2001. In 2021, he was conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Literature (D.Litt.) Honoris Causa by [[Utkal University]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Meet The Secretary {{!}} Department Of Atomic Energy {{!}} India |url=https://dae.gov.in/meet-the-secretary/ |access-date=2024-09-25 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=www.ETEnergyworld.com |title=Nuclear power to play greater role in India's energy mix: AEC chairman Ajit Mohanty - ET EnergyWorld |url=https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/power/nuclear-power-to-play-greater-role-in-indias-energy-mix-aec-chairman-ajit-mohanty/113442124 |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=ETEnergyworld.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Service |first=Express News |date=2023-04-30 |title=Odia physicist Ajit Mohanty appointed as atomic energy secretary |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2023/Apr/30/odia-physicist-ajit-mohanty-appointed-as-atomic-energy-secretary-2570839.html |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=The New Indian Express |language=en}}</ref> He is a fellow of [[National Academy of Sciences, India|National Academy of Sciences]] and Indian National Academy of Engineering of India.

== References ==

{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohanty, Ajit Kumar}}
[[Category:Indian physicists]]
[[Category:Indian nuclear physicists]]
[[Category:1959 births]]
[[Category:People from Odisha]]
[[Category:University of Mumbai alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Ajit Kumar Mohanty - Revision history

AMARENDRA NATH ROY at 16:25, 19 April 2026