Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission Srikumar Banerjee will inaugurate the Centre for Application of Radioisotopes and Radiation Technology at Mangalore University on Thursday, according to Vice-Chancellor of the university T.C. Shivashankara Murthy.
He told presspersons here on Wednesday that the centre had been established in collaboration with the Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences (BRNS) and the Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT) under the Department of Atomic Energy. The university had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with BRNS and BRIT in this regard.
The centre had gamma irradiator, laboratories of radioimmunoassay/immuno radiometryassay, radioiodination, carbon 14 and other radioisotope, hybridoma and cell culture, and radiation counting and instrumentation to conduct research, the Vice-Chancellor said.
He said the centre would offer certificate courses, and summer and vacation courses for selected undergraduate science students to inspire them to pursue higher studies in basic and applied sciences using radiations and radio technology. It would conduct tailor-made short term training programmes for scientists and engineers from industries and other research and development organisations. The centre would design and develop the syllabi on application of radioisotopes and radiation technology for graduate and postgraduate courses.
It would provide technical support and guidance for undergraduate and postgraduate students from biological sciences, medical, pharmaceutical and agricultural sciences in the field of radiation technology and applications of radioisotopes. The BRNS had provided Rs. 3 crore to establish the centre. The university had spent Rs. 60 lakh to set up laboratories, he said.
A press release issued by Registrar of the university K. Chinnappa Gowda said: “The centre is the first of its kind among the Indian universities, and it is going to function as a central facility.”
Dr. Banerjee would inaugurate the centre after attending the convocation of the university, the release said.
