IACS at 150: What Is Real and What Is Promised

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After 150 years, India’s oldest science institution seeks a new image

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# After 150 years, India’s oldest science institution seeks a new image

The Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science has often been overlooked, but new investments and an expanded campus may be a turning point for its chemists

by [Vaishnavi Chandrashekhar](/staffDirectory/DynamicList.html?authorName=Vaishnavi+Chandrashekhar)

10 min read

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 A man wearing glasses, casual pants, and a long-sleeved, open-collared shirt stands on a green lawn circled by bushes and trees and a large building in the background.

Kalobaran Maiti stands on the campus of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science in October 2026. Maiti, who has served as director since 2025, is known for his work on quantum materials and was awarded India’s highest science prize, in the field of physical sciences, in 2010. Credit: Ranita Roy

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## Key Insights

* India’s oldest scientific institution, the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) was founded in 1876 during British occupation with the express purpose of uplifting Indian scientists. * C. V. Raman discovered the Raman effect while he was at IACS and became the first person in India and Asia to win a Nobel Prize in science. * On its 150th anniversary in July, IACS opened an incubation center and announced plans for a new campus to expand its influence on contemporary Indian research.

**Mumbai**—One evening in 1907, a young man was on his way home from work as a government accountant in colonial Calcutta when he spotted a large placard on a colonnaded neoclassical building. He jumped off the tram, ran up the steps, and knocked on the door.

The building housed the [Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science](https://www.iacs.res.in/) (IACS), which was established with donations in 1876 as the country’s first homegrown institution to promote scientific knowledge and research. The first part of that objective was met by offering regular public lectures. But IACS’s lab lay quiet, waiting for a scientist to bring it to life.

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After 150 years, India’s oldest science institution seeks a new image

The Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science has often been overlooked, but new investments and an expanded campus may be a turning point for its chemists

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