Prof. Chandrabhas Narayana is a highly accomplished Raman and Brillouin Spectroscopist with expertise in x-ray diffraction using synchrotron radiation and high-pressure research. His work with Raman spectroscopy work is truly inter-disciplinary, spanning Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, and he is a leader who has taken Raman spectroscopy to a wide variety of applications ranging from basic sciences, inter-disciplinary research to translational work and is very well-recognized by the peers.

Prof. Chandrabhas Narayana has significantly contributed to the area of Condensed Matter Physics using Raman spectroscopy. One of his latest exploits has been in the area of Topological Insulators (TI). There has been a growing interest in TI. Prof. Chandrabhas Narayana's group has used Raman spectroscopy to elucidate new materials which are TI at relatively low strains (pressures). They have discovered several candidates for TI that show normal Insulator to Topological Insulator behavior with a little amount of strain. The significance of this contribution is that many techniques used for detecting TI fail when the samples are under high pressures inside a diamond anvil cell, but his group has demonstrated that Raman spectroscopic technique can be used to discover new Topological Insulators by introducing strain in otherwise insulating samples. Recently, IOP publishers gave one of his early papers in this field the "Best Cited Author Award" during the year 2016-2018.

In Chemistry his group has been contributing significantly to the synthesis of gold and silver nanomaterials. Tailoring the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) property of silver and gold nanoparticles for applications in the area of Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) is a highly researched topic. His group was the first to come up with the idea of creating a gold/silver junction in nanoparticles to produce a universal substrate for the detection of trace amounts of analytes. This work is highly cited and has led to many gold-silver sandwich structures by several groups. As a follow-up of this, the group has also produced a new sandwich-structured nanoparticle with a silver core, dielectric (SiO2) layer on top decorated with gold nanoparticles on top, which gave another dimension to the research in this area. This was the first demonstration of SERS from gold nanoparticles equalling that of silver nanoparticles. His group is now well-known in the world for its work on SERS.

Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) have been highly researched materials due to their properties analogous to zeolites with the added advantage of tunability of pores as well as catalytical activity. His group has been synthesizing the MOFs and finding microscopic origins of the observed properties using Raman spectroscopy, which has led to a better understanding of the MOFs and their synthesis. His group's work has guided many of the material chemists to take this route to understand the various exotic properties. Currently, Raman spectroscopy has become an important tool in any research on MOFs. Their structural predictions made with Raman spectroscopy and molecular dynamic simulations were verified crystallographically and have been acknowledged in the literature. Recently, his work carried out in collaboration with a German group led by Dr. K. Jayaram (currently a faculty at IIT Jammu) demonstrated the Graphene MOF composite as an exceptional Li-ion battery electrode application (in Advanced Functional Materials 2019) where Raman spectroscopy has uncovered a deep understanding of the property. This work attracted the attention of peers and is recognized as the most downloaded paper by publishers.

Besides, Prof. Chandrabhas Narayana has been using Raman spectroscopy and SERS to problems in the area of Biology. There are three salient features of his work in this area. The first one is that his group along with colleagues in Biology have found Raman spectroscopy as an alternative technique to x-ray crystallography along with MD simulations to probe the structure/function properties of proteins, especially in the understanding of the drug-protein interactions leading to drug design and development. This was widely appreciated and covered on the phys.org website in 2014. The second innovation has been to use SERS for non-PCR-based detection of pathogen nucleotides (it was demonstrated for the detection of RNA virus namely, HIV) and he has a patent for this in the US, Europe, and South Africa. This is a very important discovery and it is very useful for any DNA or RNA detection without PCR amplification, hence eliminating the cost and the errors in the detection. As a third dimension to the applications in biology, his recent work on using Raman spectroscopy for understanding the strength and elasticity of the lens capsule upon the addition of trypan blue during cataract surgery has been appreciated by cataract surgeons and eye doctors. The doctor involved in this work has received many awards for the understanding to avoid failures in cataract surgery.

Development of Techniques

During his independent career at JNCASR, he made his own Raman Spectrometer, having specifications comparable to the best one available commercially costing only 1/4^th, and all of his papers were published using this custom-built Raman spectrometer. He holds US and Indian Patents for this. He developed a remote Raman spectrometer for Laboratory for Electro-optics Systems (LEOS), ISRO for finding defects in huge SiC mirrors (2 to 3 m diameters) for telescopes in the sky, and this learning could help in possible Mars Mission in the future. Recently, he miniaturized the Raman spectrometer, and jointly with the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Thiruvananthapuram in an IMPRINT project developed a pesticide detection tool using this spectrometer, which was selected as the top 4 IMPRINT projects by the ministry of human resource and development (MHRD).

He is a specialist in multi-megabar (Mbar) high-pressure physics and has achieved static pressures in the excess of 3.5 Mbars (3.5 million atmospheres), achieved so far by only around 10 research groups. To achieve such pressures routinely, he developed the techniques like focused ion beam drilling for 10 to 15 m holes in super hard materials like rhenium and loading samples in these tiny holes under scanning electron microscopy for diamond anvil cells. These pressures are generally required to study planetary materials or elemental systems. He has worked on the "metallization of hydrogen", a holy grail in the area of high-pressure physics showing that hydrogen remains a molecular solid even up to pressures of 3.42 Mbars well above the pressures of metallization predicted by theory. This was the first experiment on hydrogen above 3 Mbars in the world. Recent work by the geophysical laboratory of the Carnegie Institute of Washington confirmed this result and extended this limit to 3.6 Mbars. These results prompted experimental and theoretical groups to look at elemental metals like Na, Al, along with hydrogen to understand the theory of dense matter. Recently, along with IMPMC (CNRS geophysics laboratory), Paris he showed FCC to HCP to BCC phase transitions in Aluminium at pressures over 3.8 Mbars gaining significant insight into the dense matter physics.

His group is the only group in India actively pursuing Brillouin spectroscopy. Though Brillouin spectroscopy is used to study the acoustic properties of solids, his group used it creatively to elucidate various novel properties of solids, for example, manganites, known for colossal magnetoresistance (CMR). His group was the first to show ferromagnetic magnons present in the anti-ferromagnetic Nd_0.5Ca_0.5MnO₃ and suggest the presence of droplets of ferromagnetic islands in the sea of anti-ferromagnetic environment. This was the first experimental evidence for electronic phase segregation, which is fundamental to the CMR property and the origin of various exotic properties. It was a demonstration of Brillouin spectroscopy to be an excellent complementary tool for Neutron diffraction studies, with the advantage of working with tiny amounts of sample. Recently, he has demonstrated the presence of the second sound in Double-Walled Carbon Nanotubes starting from room temperature. A quest for second sound in materials has recently led to the demonstration of Graphite showing second sound much below room temperatures.

Experience as a team leader

One of the greatest qualities of Prof. Chandrabhas Narayana is he has drive and ability to take all people along and make a positive impact on the institution.

As Director, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology

In the past 2 years and 7 months, Prof. Chandrabhas Narayana solved several problems of the faculty, staff, and students and developed administrative procedures to solve satisfactorily all the pending complaints with the Department of Biotechnology (DBT). The construction of the 2^nd campus which was completed only 55 % by the time Prof. Chandrabhas Narayana took over as the director is now completed and the campus has started to function in the new campus within 1 and a half years after his joining RGCB. The construction of the Super-speciality animal house facility is to be completed by 2025, and the First BSL-3 facility in Kerala and Tamil Nadu State is completed. He was able to impress both the RGCB Society headed by the Minister of Science and Technology and the Governing Body headed by the Secretary, Department of Biotechnology to clear the SFC for the 2^nd phase of the new campus of Rs. 450 crores. RGCB has been included in INSACOG, thanks to the wonderful work RGCB has done during the Covid-19 pandemic by doing testing and sequencing which was fully set up during his tenure. He has initiated interaction with Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute of Medical Science and Technology for signing an MoU for working closely on Heart Failure, very important research for India. Similarly, is developing a DBT cluster for plant genome study for both medicinal as well as important crop varieties jointly with industry, universities, and institutions in Kerala.

Group

Prof. Chandrabhas Narayana leads the light scattering laboratory (LSL at JNCASR, and has guided over 20 students for their Ph.D. (4 of them also did MS as part of the Int. Ph.D.). Besides, he has guided many MSc students for their projects both in collaboration with Universities as well as part of the Summer Research Fellowship Program. Over 6 alumni of LSL are now Faculty members at IISER, IITs, and other reputed institutions.

Bringing New Organizational Structures

JNCASR has a strong group in Materials Science, now organized into the School of Advanced Materials (SAMat) with many Units, it is one of the top Materials Science groups in the country. He co-developed the organizational structure of SAMat along with Prof. C.N.R. Rao. As the Chairman of the Chemistry and Physics of Materials Unit (CPMU), Prof. Chandrabhas Narayana initiated an international review by a committee of experts that had 3 experts from abroad (USA and UK) and one from India to evaluate the Materials program of JNCASR. The committee appreciated individual excellence but expressed the need to work as a collective group to make a mark in the world. Prof. Chandrabhas Narayana is the founding Coordinator, of the SAMat and chalked out the program of synergistic yearlong activity. With Profs. Subi J. George and C.N.R. Rao, published a Book on Advances in Chemistry and Physics of Materials, bringing together all the faculty of the SAMat to contribute a chapter each. Learning from this, JNCASR is now embarking on the formation of the School of Biological Sciences.

Enabling International Facilities for all

India has been starved of Synchrotron activities for decades. The synchrotron is a very important cutting-edge tool for modern research in Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science, and Biology. Prof. Chandrabhas Narayana has led the Synchrotron program with Prof. Milan K. Sanyal enabling access for Indian researchers belonging to Physics, Chemistry, and Biology to PETRA III, KEK, and ELETTRA. India@DESY program brings India and Germany together to use PETRA III, a 42^th generation synchrotron, for the Indian community. It has been very successful that the 2^nd phase was recently approved based on the DPR prepared by Prof. Chandrabhas Narayana as PI and Prof. Milan K Sanyal as the Co-PI. This gives access to all the beamlines at PETRA III to any Indian scientist in Academia or National Laboratories. Besides, they have also developed a Beamline at Photon Factory, KEK, Tsukuba Japan for the Indian Scientists to do over 4 different experiments. The 2nd phase of this project is coming to an end now, but Japan has been very appreciative of this beamline as it has produced some of the best results coming from Photon Factory, KEK, Tsukuba, Japan. Besides, Prof. Chandrabhas Narayana is on the Scientific Advisory Committee of ELETTRA, an Italian synchrotron, and has been one of the persons responsible to help in the development of the High-pressure (XPRESS) beamline for India at ELETTRA. Many Indian researchers have published high-impact publications on their work using these facilities in recent times.

Setting up a Startup as part of Translational Research

Recently, Prof. Chandrabhas Narayana was involved in the facilitation of the setting up of the startup company "Breathe" on the JNCASR campus. He was involved in formulating the procedures for the Incubation of the company in JNCASR, drafting and getting legal vetting of the Memorandum of Understanding, and setting up the guidelines for future startup companies at JNCASR.

Administration

Being one of the earliest faculty members of JNCASR, Prof. Chandrabhas Narayana has contributed to setting up many facets of the administration and infrastructure at JNCASR. As the Chairman of the purchase committee, he simplified procedures to procure equipment and materials, including construction without diluting the general financial rules (GFR). He was involved in recommending, monitoring, and developing the Purchase software for JNCASR. Recently, he helped/guided the administration in going paperless along with Accounts, he is involved in the integration of the activities in Purchase, Accounts, and Administration through software for seamless functioning.

As a Vigilance officer for 4 years early in his career, he emphasized the need for a paperless office, which is being now achieved under his guidance. As a Vigilance Officer, he along with other public sector CVOs made the Vigilance Study Circle, Bangalore Chapter a very vibrant body and subsequently became the Vice President of this during his Vigilance officer tenure.

Outreach

As the first Dean, Fellowship, and Extension Programmes, he initiated the program Post-Graduate Diploma in Science Education for School Teachers. This was possible due to his training in Education during his B.Sc.Ed and M.Sc.Ed. During his tenure, many high school teachers got an opportunity to work in research laboratories. He made the extension activities, seamless, and many outreach programs were started where school children get an opportunity to interact with eminent scientists. He continues to be active in reaching out to this extension program even today. His lectures to the students in the age group of 14 to 18 have been very much appreciated by both students and teachers.

Building Infrastructure at JNCASR

Prof. Chandrabhas Narayana during his early years took a keen interest in the sports facilities for the students, as he has represented the school, college, and IISc in Football, Basketball, and Volleyball. The visit of the committee of NAAC to accredit JNCASR appreciated the sports facilities developed and requested for increasing the same. He is the faculty in charge of sports in JNCASR and has embarked on building a super specialty Indoor stadium in JNCASR which should be ready in a year or two. He was responsible to bring the BSNL telephone exchange to the campus in 2000 when JNCASR was very much in the wilderness with no developments around. His recent contribution is leading the team in building the state-of-the-art 500-seater Auditorium, which is now an asset appreciated by many visitors to JNCASR.