KSCSTE wants new advanced Raman Spectroscopy centre

The state-owned Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) yesterday said it wants to set up a collaborative advanced research facility for co-ordinating interdisciplinary research in frontier areas of Raman Spectroscopy. Raman Spectroscopy, a measurement technique based on the discoveries of Sir C.V. Raman, was the subject of a day-long workshop organised by KSCSTE as a precursor to the celebrated biennial International Conference on Raman Spectroscopy (ICORS). ICORS begins in Bengaluru tomorrow and is being organised in India after three decades.

The KSCSTE saw ICORS as an opportunity to update scientists here on latest advancements in Raman Spectroscopy. KSCSTE hopes that this will pave the way for new research initiatives and international collaborations. Organised in partnership with Edu World Foundation, the workshop brought together some of the world's leading experts on Raman Spectroscopy, including Purdue University's Professor Anant K. Ramdas, who was a student of Sir C.V. Raman; Professor Shiv K. Sharma of Hawaii University who has been carrying out pioneering work in space technology and planetary exploration, and Professor Fernando Rull from the University of Valladolid in Spain. Rull is developing the Raman Instrument for the ExoMars 2018 Mission.

KSCSTE calls for new Raman Spectroscopy centre at ICORS 2012

Inaugurating the event, E.D. Jemmis, director of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, said Kerala must take advantage of its high literacy to pull ahead of other states in higher education and advanced research. "The younger generation should take the lead in striding ahead to the frontiers of research in areas such as Raman Spectroscopy," he said.

Raman Spectroscopy is applied in much of organic and inorganic studies. One of its biggest applications in the biomedical field is in proteomics to estimate the function, structure and kinetics of proteins. It is also used in medicine to study brain tissue, single cells and group of cells including cancer, kidney stones, the distribution of cystine crystals in the liver, DNA and blood. The technique is also used in art history and conservation, especially for pigment and binding material identification. It is employed for structural determination, multi-component qualitative and quantitative analysis. Quality control of carbon and diamonds is also carried out using Raman Spectroscopy.