The Department of Chemistry is organizing International Symposium on “Recent Advances in Self-assembled Materials and Supramolecular Chemistry” during March 19, 2022, to celebrate 60th birthday of Prof Manoj Kumar. The chemists have a role to play in every aspect of life; they design new molecular entities to facilitate the mankind in terms of better health (both diagnostics as well as new drugs) as well as better life style (novel materials and devices). During the one day symposium a number of renowned scientists, from abroad and from within the country shall deliver lectures on the contemporary areas of research besides poster presentations by the young researchers. The deliberations will highlight the recent advances in supramolecular chemistry and material chemistry. The Organizing Committee takes immense pleasure in inviting you and your colleagues to participate in the symposium.

After his M.Sc from Khalsa College, Amritsar, Manoj Kumar received his PhD from Department of Chemistry, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar with Prof Harjit Singh. Following a postdoctoral stay at Instituto de Quimica Medica, Spain, he joined Department of Chemistry, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar as faculty member in 1993. Currently, he is working as Professor at the Department of Chemistry, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. Prof. Manoj Kumar has made significant contributions in the area of organic/ physical-organic chemistry. His research interests include molecular recognition and imaging of small biologically significant molecules/ions, and development of novel catalytic/photocatalytic systems for carrying out various organic transformations under ‘green’ conditions. He has reported a number of molecular logic gates, molecular devices and molecular keypad locks having potential applications in the design and development of molecular electronic and photonic devices for information, processing, sensing and computation. He has published more than 210 research papers in international journals of repute and has supervised 16 students for their Ph.D. He has received several honors and awards including Bronze medal for his contributions in Chemical Sciences by CRSI, Bangalore in 2011. He is elected fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences (FASc). In 2021, he made it to the list of top 2% scientists worldwide in ranking published by Stanford University in collaboration with the publishing house Elsevier and SciTech strategies. He is also greatly interested in chemical education and is a regular participant in various programs for high school and undergraduate students.

1. Self-assembled materials
2. Chemical, biological sensors and their diagnostic applications
3. Supramolecular aspects in catalysis