NISER (National Institute of Science Education and Research)

NISER is one of India’s premier science-education institutes, and the only major one run directly by the Department of Atomic Energy. It traces its scientific lineage back to Homi Bhabha, architect of India’s nuclear programme.

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Science & Technology · SciTech0082

NISER

India’s Science Institute Under the Atomic Energy Department

Aug 2006

PM Manmohan Singh announces the proposal to set up NISER.

2007

NISER is established, under the Department of Atomic Energy.

7 Feb 2016

PM Modi formally inaugurates its permanent 300-acre Jatni campus.

9 Jul 2026

15th Graduation Ceremony: VP attends, 260 degrees conferred.

“Hundreds of Homi Bhabhas”

At the 2026 ceremony, the Vice President told graduates: “today I can see hundreds of Homi Bhabhas sitting in front of me.”

📑 Contents

1Must Know
2Good to Know
3Test Yourself
4Great to Know
5Current Affairs

Must Know

NISER, the National Institute of Science Education and Research, was established in 2007, in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced the proposal to set it up, in August 2006.
NISER functions as an autonomous institute under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), which reports directly to the Prime Minister.
It is academically affiliated with the Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Mumbai.
The IISERs, by contrast, are funded by the Ministry of Education. NISER is the only major science-education institute funded and run directly by the DAE.
The institute moved to its permanent, 300-acre campus at Jatni, near Bhubaneswar, in July 2015.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally inaugurated the Jatni campus, on 7 February 2016.
NISER offers Integrated M.Sc., Integrated M.Sc.-Ph.D., M.Sc., and Ph.D. programmes, across the natural and mathematical sciences.

Good to Know

NISER’s academic programme first began in 2007, at the Institute of Physics campus, before its own campus was ready.
Its research areas connect closely with DAE’s own priorities. These include nuclear and physical sciences, materials science, and theoretical physics, alongside biology, chemistry, and mathematics.
NISER is one of several institutions that trace their scientific lineage back to Homi Bhabha, architect of India’s nuclear programme.

Test Yourself

Great to Know

NISER’s Director, Prof. Hirendra Nath Ghosh, and its Board of Governors Chairman, Prof. Ajit Kumar Mohanty, lead the institute. As DAE Secretary, Mohanty also oversees SciTech0084 — India’s International Science Olympiad programme, run through HBCSE.
At NISER’s 15th Graduation Ceremony, the Vice President recalled learning of Homi Bhabha’s 1966 death from his own father. He called it “a major setback” for India’s atomic research, at the time.

Current Affairs

NISER held its 15th Graduation Ceremony on 9 July 2026, in Bhubaneswar. Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan attended as Chief Guest. (Source: PIB, Vice President’s Secretariat, 9 Jul 2026)
Degrees were conferred on 260 students, across the Integrated M.Sc., Integrated M.Sc.-Ph.D., M.Sc., and Ph.D. programmes. (Source: PIB, Department of Atomic Energy, 9 Jul 2026)
The Vice President said, “today I can see hundreds of Homi Bhabhas sitting in front of me,” paying tribute to Bhabha’s legacy. (Source: PIB, Vice President’s Secretariat, 9 Jul 2026)
Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, who also addressed the ceremony, said graduates were receiving “the baton of the mission handed to us by Late Homi Bhabha.” (Source: PIB, Department of Atomic Energy, 9 Jul 2026)
Odisha’s Governor, Hari Babu Kambhampati, its Chief Minister, Mohan Charan Majhi, and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also attended the ceremony. (Source: PIB, Department of Atomic Energy, 9 Jul 2026)