Dr Kalaiselvi N becomes 1st Woman to lead CSIR - India’s Largest Research Organization

Dr Kalaiselvi N become CSIR Director:Breaking the glass ceiling, Dr Kalaiselvi N has become the 1st Woman Director-General of CSIR. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is India’s largest research organization and is run as the consortium of 38 state-run research institutes across the country. Dr Kalaiselvi will replace and succeed Shekhar Mande, who was superannuated in April. She will take over CSIR from Mr Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology who was accorded special additional charge of CSIR in April. This is the first time in its history of 80 years that CSIR has appointed a woman Director-General.

Dr N Kalaiselvi has been appointed as the DG, CSIR & Secretary, DSIR.

Hearty congratulations to Dr Kalaiselvi from the CSIR Family.@PMOIndia@DrJitendraSingh@PIB_India@DDNewslivepic.twitter.com/oHIZr9uoMG

— CSIR (@CSIR_IND) August 6, 2022

This is not the first time that Dr Kalaiselvi is in news for breaking the glass ceiling. Prior to taking over as CSIR’s 1st Woman Director, she had also first woman director of the CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute at Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu. In her role as the Director-General of CSIR, she will lead the network of 38 laboratories and nearly 4,500 scientists for a period of two years.

Research Work

Dr Kalaiselvi is known for her work on lithium-ion batteries. During her tenure at CSIR-CECRI, she focused on electrochemical power systems and development of electrode materials. Her current research project involves development of “practically viable Sodium-ion/Lithium-sulfur batteries and Supercapacitors”. She has also participated in implementation of multiple projects around e-mobility in India since 2015.

Academic Laurels

Dr Kalaiselvi belongs to Ambasamudhram, a small city-town based in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district. During her childhood, she attended Tamil-medium school, which many consider to be a hindrance in their progress in the scientific domains; she found it to be a positive contributing factor. Her schooling in Tamil Medium helped her lay a strong foundation of sciences while enabling her to quicky grasp complex scientific concepts.

On academic front, Dr Kalaiselvi completed her PhD in Chemistry and was working as a professor before joining CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CSIR-CECRI). During her tenure from 1999 to 2019, she has won multiple laurels, fellowships including bagging the‘Young Scientist Seminar Award’ of CECRI thrice.She was also awarded an Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Visiting fellowship in 1999. She has published over 125 research papers and holds six patents.