Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday inaugurated the Central Instrumentation Centre at Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) through video conferencing from Chennai.
Speaking at the inauguration, Vice-Chancellor of the MKU Kalyani Mathivanan said the centre, established at a cost of Rs.4 crore, from University Grants Commission funds, would function as a nodal point for teaching, research activities and extension programmes in nanotechnology and bioscience.
“Research activities of scholars in the MKU and other institutions in Madurai will be facilitated at the centre,” she added.
The centre had an auditorium, which would also function as a preview theatre, two common instrumentation rooms to house scientific equipment worth Rs.9 crore, two smart classrooms, a library, a computer laboratory, a conference hall and an office room.
The centre would foster and coordinate research activities in nano-materials, nano-drug delivery, nano-sensors, bio-sensors and nano-particle-based drug diagnostics and therapeutics, Ms.Kalyani Mathivanan noted.
A postgraduate course in nano science will be launched in the MKU’s Schools of Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Biotechnology and Energy Sciences, she said.
The Chief Minister also launched the Green Campus initiative of the MKU, under which the administrative block has been powered by solar energy. A solar panel has been established, at a cost of Rs.1 crore allotted by the State government.
“The Green Campus initiative is the first of its kind among all universities in Tamil Nadu. The MKU is being developed as a clean, green and sustainable campus in tune with Chief Minister’s Vision 2023,” she said.
District Collector L. Subramanian, Registrar A. Muthumanickam and the chairpersons of the Schools of Physics, Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Biotechnology were present at the inauguration.
