One hundred and fifty years ago, when India was still under colonial rule and scientific infrastructure was scarce, a visionary physician imagined an institution where Indians could pursue science through original research. That dream became the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, or IACS, founded in Kolkata on July 29, 1876. Today, as IACS celebrates its 150th anniversary, it stands not merely as India's oldest scientific research institution but as a living monument to some of the greatest minds the country has produced.
The roll call of scientific legends associated with IACS reads like a hall of fame of Indian science. Among them are Prof CV Raman, Nobel Laureate and discoverer of the Raman Effect; Jagadish Chandra Bose, pioneer of radio and plant sciences; Meghnad Saha, creator of the Saha ionisation equation and architect of modern scientific institutions in India; and Satyendra Nath Bose, whose collaboration with Albert Einstein gave the world Bose Einstein statistics and the concept of Bosons. These are names that helped place India firmly on the global scientific map.
At the heart of this remarkable story stands Dr Mahendra Lal Sircar, the institution's founder. Long before India spoke of innovation ecosystems, scientific temper or technology missions, Sircar recognised that a nation could not progress without scientific capacity. He established IACS entirely from earnings from his medical practice and dedicated it to the cultivation of science through original research. He believed science education should be available to Indians and supported education for women at a time when such ideas were far from mainstream. His vision was decades ahead of its time.
Prof Kalobaran Maiti, Director IACS says "I am honoured to be associated with the oldest research Institute in India, IACS which was established to promote fundamental research among the Indian natives in the frontier areas of basic sciences going beyond the boundaries of traditional practices and prejudices."
No story about IACS can begin anywhere other than with Prof Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman.
Dr Shekhar C Mande, President of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), New Delhi, recalls how Raman's association with IACS began in an almost accidental manner. "Among the most celebrated scientists associated with the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science was Prof CV Raman, whose pioneering work transformed modern physics. Shortly after joining the Accountant General's Office in Calcutta in 1907, Raman noticed a strange looking board bearing the name Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science. For nearly a decade, Raman followed a remarkable routine. He spent the early mornings and evenings at the IACS laboratory while discharging his responsibilities as a government officer during the day. This extraordinary dedication continued until 1917, when he resigned from the Finance Department to accept the Professorship of Physics at the University of Calcutta."
It is a story that continues to inspire generations of scientists. While holding a government job, Raman pursued science not because he was paid to do so but because of an insatiable curiosity about nature. That curiosity eventually led to one of the most important scientific discoveries of the twentieth century.
Working at IACS, Raman explored the scattering of light and sought to understand why the sea appeared blue. Those investigations culminated in the discovery of the Raman Effect in 1928, demonstrating that light interacting with matter can emerge with altered wavelengths carrying unique information about the substance being studied. The discovery won Raman the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930, making him India's first and still only Nobel Prize winner for scientific work conducted entirely in India by an Indian.
Yet there is an irony that should provoke reflection in India's scientific community.
The science of Raman Effect was discovered in India, but it's most transformative technological exploitation happened elsewhere. Today Raman spectroscopy has become a powerful analytical tool across industries worldwide. One of its most visible applications is in airport security. Swabs taken from baggage or surfaces are analysed using Raman signatures and Raman spectroscopy techniques to identify traces of explosives and hazardous substances. The discovery born in a modest Kolkata laboratory evolved into a global technology widely deployed across the developed world.
This raises an uncomfortable question. Why did India create the science but fail to become the dominant force in translating it into technology?
Recently Union Science and Technology Minister Dr Jitendra Singh described IACS as "a living symbol of India's scientific awakening before Independence and its scientific rise after Independence." He said the institution had carried forward "an unbroken legacy of scientific excellence, innovation and nation building across generations." He noted that the journey of IACS reflects India's scientific evolution from colonial era intellectual resurgence to the innovation ecosystem driving Viksit Bharat 2047.
The Minister also inaugurated an indigenous solar cell fabrication facility and an incubation centre, emphasising the importance of translating scientific discoveries into entrepreneurship, innovation and societal impact.
Those initiatives are important. Yet the Nobel Prize question remains.
Raman achieved his Nobel winning work using equipment that would appear astonishingly simple by today's standards. He worked in an era without the sophisticated instruments, supercomputers, billion dollar laboratories and enormous research budgets available today. His greatest tool was originality of thought.
Modern India now spends thousands of crores on scientific research, supports major missions in space, nuclear science, biotechnology, artificial intelligence and quantum technologies, and possesses expanding scientific infrastructure. Yet a Nobel Prize in science continues to elude the country.
The lesson from Raman's life may be that world class science is not created merely through large funding allocations or impressive infrastructure. It emerges when exceptional minds are encouraged to ask unconventional questions and pursue original ideas.
India undoubtedly needs strong laboratories, advanced instruments and sustained investment. But it also needs original thinkers, innovators and risk takers willing to challenge established assumptions. If India wishes to win more Nobel Prizes and realise the vision of becoming a developed nation by 2047, fostering creativity and scientific originality may be just as important as building new facilities.
That is perhaps the larger significance of IACS at 150.
This is not merely a heritage institution preserving memories of past glory. It is the place where India's scientific imagination found its voice. It nurtured visionaries who changed the course of physics, astronomy and modern science. It demonstrated that world class discoveries could emerge from Indian laboratories.
As the nation celebrates a century and a half of IACS, history alone will not be enough. A grand institution with a grand legacy must now live up to its heritage by helping create the next generation of Raman, Bose and Saha.
India's oldest science institute cultivated some of the finest brains the country has ever produced. The challenge before IACS and indeed before Indian science itself is whether it can reignite that spark and help power the journey towards a truly developed India by 2047 powered by indigenous developments and innovation.
