Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao BR, (born 30 June 1934), is an Indian

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

who has worked mainly in

solid-state Solid state, or solid matter, is one of the four fundamental states of matter. Solid state may also refer to: Electronics * Solid-state electronics, circuits built of solid materials * Solid state ionics, study of ionic conductors and their use ...

and structural chemistry. He has honorary doctorates from 84 universities from around the world and has authored around 1,774 research publications and 54 books. He is described as a scientist who had won all possible awards in his field except the Nobel Prize. A precocious child, Rao completed BSc from

Mysore University The University of Mysore is a public state university in Mysore, Karnataka, India. The university was founded during the reign of Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, the Maharaja of Mysore. The university is recognised by the University Grants Commission ...

at age seventeen, and MSc from Banaras Hindu University at age nineteen. He earned a PhD from Purdue University at the age of twenty-four. He was the youngest lecturer when he joined the

Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, in the Indian state of Karnataka. The institute wa ...

in 1959. After a transfer to

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur) Hindi: भारतीय प्रौद्योगिकी संस्थान कानपुर) is a public institute of technology located in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was ...

, he returned to IISc, eventually becoming its Director from 1984 to 1994. He was chair of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India from 1985 to 1989 and from 2005 to 2014. He founded and works in

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research The Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) is a multidisciplinary research institute located at Jakkur, Bangalore, India. It was established by the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India, to ...

and International Centre for Materials Science. Rao received most important scientific awards and honours including the

Marlow Medal The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Royal Institu ...

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, Applied science, applied or Fundamenta ...

Hughes Medal The Hughes Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of London "in recognition of an original discovery in the physical sciences, particularly electricity and magnetism or their applications". Named after David E. Hughes, the medal is awarded with ...

India Science Award India Science Award is one of the highest and the most prestigious national recognition by the Government of India for outstanding contribution to science. The primary and essential criterion for the award is demonstrated and widely accepted exce ...

Dan David Prize The Dan David Prize is a major international award that recognizes and supports outstanding contributions to the study of history and other disciplines that shed light on the human past. It awards nine prizes of $300,000 each year to outstanding ...

Royal Medal The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal and The King's Medal (depending on the gender of the monarch at the time of the award), is a silver-gilt medal, of which three are awarded each year by the Royal Society, two for "the most important ...

, Von Hippel Award, and

ENI award The Eni Award is a prize awarded by the Italian oil and gas company Eni with the aim of encouraging better use of energy sources and increased environmental research. The strict award guidelines and the notable names on the selection committee (in ...

. He also received

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

and

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service" ...

from the Government of India. On 16 November 2013, the Government of India selected him for

Bharat Ratna The Bharat Ratna (; ''Jewel of India'') is the highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred in recognition of "exceptional service/performance of the highest orde ...

, the highest civilian award in India, making him the third scientist after

C.V. Raman Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (; 7 November 188821 November 1970) was an Indian physicist known for his work in the field of light scattering. Using a spectrograph that he developed, he and his student K. S. Krishnan discovered that when ...

and

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (; 15 October 193127 July 2015) was an Indian aerospace scientist and statesman who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. He was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and studied phy ...

to receive the award. He received the award on 4 February 2014 from President

Pranab Mukherjee Dr. Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 193531 August 2020) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 13th president of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the India ...

at the

Rashtrapati Bhavan The Rashtrapati Bhavan (, rāsh-truh-puh-ti bha-vun; ; originally Viceroy's House and later Government House) is the official residence of the President of India at the western end of Rajpath, Raisina Hill, New Delhi, India. Rashtrapati Bh ...

Early life and education

C.N.R. Rao was born in a

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

Deshastha Madhva Brahmin Deshastha Brahmin is a Hindu Brahmin subcaste mainly from the Indian state of Maharashtra and northern area of the state of Karnataka. Other than these states, according to authors K. S. Singh, Gregory Naik and Pran Nath Chopra, Deshastha Bra ...

family in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

to Hanumantha Nagesa Rao and Nagamma Nagesa Rao. His father was an Inspector of Schools. He was an only child, and his learned parents made an academic environment. He was well versed in

Hindu literature Hindu texts are manuscripts and voluminous historical literature which are related to any of the diverse traditions within Hinduism. A few of these texts are shared across these traditions and they are broadly considered Hindu scriptures. These ...

from his mother and in English from his father at an early age. He did not attend elementary school but was home-tutored by his mother, who was particularly skilled in arithmetic and Hindu literature. He entered middle school in 1940, at age six. Although he was the youngest in his class, he used to tutor his classmates in mathematics and English. He passed the lower secondary examination (class VII) in the first class in 1944. He was ten years old, and his father rewarded him with four

annas Annas (also Ananus or Ananias;Goodman, Martin, "Rome & Jerusalem", Penguin Books, p.12 (2007) , ; grc-x-koine, Ἅννας, ; 23/22 BC – death date unknown, probably around AD 40) was appointed by the Roman legate Quirinius as the first High ...

(twenty-five paisa). He attended Acharya Patashala high school in

Basavanagudi Basavanagudi is a residential and commercial locality in the Indian city of Bangalore. It is located in South Bangalore, along the borders of Jayanagar. The name "Basavanagudi" refers to the Bull Temple, which contains a monolith statue of the ...

, which made a lasting influence on his interest in chemistry. His father enrolled him to a

-medium course to encourage his mother tongue, but at home used English for all conversation. He completed secondary school leaving certificate in first class in 1947. He studied BSc at

Central College, Bangalore Central College Bengaluru (1858) is one of the oldest colleges in India. This college was originally affiliated to University of Mysore in Mysore State. Rev. John Garrett was the first principal of the Central High School, which was afterwards re ...

. Here he developed his communication skills in English and also learnt

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

. He obtained his bachelor's degree from

in 1951, in first class, and only at the age of seventeen. He initially thought of joining

(IISc) for a diploma or a postgraduate degree in

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

, but a teacher persuaded him to attend

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU) IAST: kāśī hindū viśvavidyālaya IPA: /kaːʃiː hɪnd̪uː ʋɪʃwəʋid̪jaːləj/), is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916 ...

. He obtained a master's in chemistry from BHU two years later. In 1953 he was granted a scholarship for PhD in

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur) is a public institute of technology established by the Government of India in Kharagpur, West Bengal, India. Established in 1951, the institute is the first of the IITs to be established ...

. But four foreign universities,

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the mo ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

, Columbia and

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

also offered him financial support. He chose Purdue. His first research paper was published in the ''Agra University Journal of Research'' in 1954. He completed PhD in 1958, only after two years and nine months, at the age of twenty-four.

Career

After completion of his graduate studies, Rao returned to Bangalore in 1959 to take up a lecturing position, joining IISc and embarking on an independent research program. The facility at the time was so meagre that he described it, saying, "You would get string and sealing wax and that's about it." In 1963 he accepted a permanent position in the Department of Chemistry at the

. He was elected Fellow of the

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general meet ...

in 1964. He returned to IISc in 1976 to establish a solid state and structural chemistry unit. and became director of the IISc from 1984 to 1994. At various points in his career Rao has taken appointments as a visiting professor at Purdue University, the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

. He was the Jawaharlal Nehru Professor at the University of Cambridge and Professorial Fellow at the

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

during 1983–1984. Rao has been working as the National Research Professor holding the positions

Linus Pauling Linus Carl Pauling (; February 28, 1901August 19, 1994) was an American chemist, biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, author, and educator. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific top ...

Research Professor and Honorary President of

, which he founded in 1989. He had served as chair of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Indian Prime Minister for two terms, from 1985 to 1989 and from 2005 to 2014. He is also the director of the International Centre for Materials Science (ICMS), which he founded in 2010, and serves on the board of the

Science Initiative Group The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...

Scientific contribution

Rao is one of the world's foremost solid state and

materials Material is a substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical and chemical properties, or on their geologic ...

chemists. He has contributed to the development of the field over five decades. His work on

transition metal oxide An oxide () is a chemical compound that contains at least one oxygen atom and one other element in its chemical formula. "Oxide" itself is the dianion of oxygen, an O2– (molecular) ion. with oxygen in the oxidation state of −2. Most of the E ...

s has led to basic understanding of novel phenomena and the relationship between materials properties and the structural chemistry of these materials. Rao was one of the earliest to synthesise two-dimensional oxide materials such as La₂CuO₄. He was one of the first to synthesise 123 cuprates, the first liquid nitrogen-temperature superconductor in 1987. He was also the first to synthesis Y junction carbon nanotubes in the mid-1990s. His work has led to a systematic study of compositionally controlled metal-insulator transitions. Such studies have had a profound impact in application fields such as colossal magneto resistance and high temperature

superconductivity Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in certain materials where electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic flux fields are expelled from the material. Any material exhibiting these properties is a superconductor. Unlike ...

. Oxide

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical resistivity and conductivity, electrical conductivity value falling between that of a electrical conductor, conductor, such as copper, and an insulator (electricity), insulator, such as glas ...

s have unusual promise. He has made immense contributions to nanomaterials over the last two decades, besides his work on hybrid materials. He shares co-authorship of more than 1750 research papers and has co-authored or edited more than 54 books.

Awards and recognition

Fellowships and memberships of academic societies

*Fellow of the

(FASc, 1965) *Fellow of the

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi for Indian scientists in all branches of science and technology. In August 2019, Dr. Chandrima Shaha was appointed as the president of Indian National Science Academ ...

(FNA, 1974) *

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

(FRS, 1982) *Founding Fellow of

The World Academy of Sciences The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) is a merit-based science academy established for developing countries, uniting 1,000 scientists in some 70 countries. Its principal aim is to promote scientific capacity and excellence for sustainable devel ...

(FTWAS, 1983) *Honorary Fellow of the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Ro ...

(Hon. FRSC, 1989) *Foreign

Member of the Academia Europaea Membership of the Academia Europaea (MAE) is an award conferred by the Academia Europaea to individuals that have demonstrated "sustained academic excellence". Membership is by invitation only by existing MAE only and judged during a peer review se ...

(MAE, 1997) *Honorary Fellow of the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physica ...

(Hon.FInstP, 2007) *Member of many of the world's scientific associations, including the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

French Academy French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, Japanese Academy,

Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Serbica, sr-Cyr, Српска академија наука и уметности, САНУ, Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti, SANU) is a national academy and the ...

and

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of ...

Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences The Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (Czech: ''Československá akademie věd'', Slovak: ''Česko-slovenská akadémia vied'') was established in 1953 to be the scientific center for Czechoslovakia. It was succeeded by the Czech Academy of Science ...

Serbian Academy of Sciences The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Serbica, sr-Cyr, Српска академија наука и уметности, САНУ, Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti, SANU) is a national academy and the ...

, Slovenian Academy of Sciences,

Brazilian Academy of Sciences The Brazilian Academy of Sciences ( pt, italic=yes, Academia Brasileira de Ciências or ''ABC'') is the national academy of Brazil. It is headquartered in the city of Rio de Janeiro and was founded on May 3, 1916. Publications It publishes a lar ...

Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences The Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences (Spanish: ''Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales'') is an academic institution and learned society that was founded in Madrid in 1847. It is dedicated to the study and research of mathemat ...

, National Academy of Sciences of Korea,

African Academy of Sciences The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) is a non-aligned, non-political, not-for-profit, pan-African learned society formed in 1985. The AAS elects fellows ( FAAS) and affiliates. The AAS also awards the Obasanjo Prize for Scientific Discovery and ...

, and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

. He is also a member of the Pontifical Academy.

Honorary doctorates

From several universities, including Bordeaux, Caen, Colorado, Khartoum, Liverpool, Northwestern, Novosibirsk, Oxford, Purdue, Stellenbosch, Universite Joseph Fourier, Wales, Wroclaw, Notre Dame, Uppsala,

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

, Anna, AP, Banaras, Bengal Engineering, Bangalore, Burdwan, Bundelkhand, Delhi, Hyderabad, IGNOU,

IIT Bombay The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay or IITB) is a public research university and technical institute in Powai, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is considered as one of the best engineering universities in India and is top ranked ...

, Kharagpur, Delhi, Patna, JNTU, Kalyani, Karnataka, Kolkata, Kuvempu, Lucknow, Mangalore, Manipur, Mysore, Osmania, Punjab, Roorkee, Sikkim Manipal, SRM, Tumkur, Sri Venkateswara, Vidyasagar,

Amity University, Gurgaon Amity University, Gurugram, also known as Amity University, Haryana, is a private university located in the Pachgaon cluster of villages, near Manesar, Gurugram district, Haryana, India. The university was established in 2010 by the Amity Educ ...

Visveswaraya Technological University Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), previously spelled Visveswaraiah Technological University, is a collegiate university, collegiate Public university, public State university (India), state university in Belagavi district, Belagavi, ...

and The Assam Royal Global University, Guwahati 2022.

Major scientific awards

* 1967:

by the

Faraday Society The Faraday Society was a British society for the study of physical chemistry, founded in 1903 and named in honour of Michael Faraday. In 1980, it merged with several similar organisations, including the Chemical Society, the Royal Institute of Chem ...

of England * 1968:

in Chemical Science * 2000: Centenary Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry, London * 2000:

by the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

* 2004:

* 2005:

from Tel Aviv University shared with George Whitesides and

Robert Langer Robert Samuel Langer Jr. FREng (born August 29, 1948) is an American chemical engineer, scientist, entrepreneur, inventor and one of the twelve Institute Professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was formerly the Germeshau ...

. * 2008: Abdus Salam Medal by

(TWAS) * 2009:

by the Royal Society * 2010: August-Wilhelm-von-Hofmann Medal by the

German Chemical Society The German Chemical Society (German: ', GDCh) is a learned society and professional association founded in 1949 to represent the interests of German chemists in local, national and international contexts. GDCh "brings together people working in che ...

* 2017: The Von Hippel Award by the Materials Research Society * 2021: International

2020 for research in renewable energy sources and energy storage, also called the Energy Frontier award

Scientific awards

* 1961: DSc from Mysore University. * 1973: Yedanapalli Medal and Prize * 1975: C. V. Raman Award in Physical Science by the

University Grants Commission of India University Grants Commission (UGC) is a statutory body set up by the Department of Higher Education (India), Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development (India), Ministry of Education, Government of India in accordan ...

* 1980: S. N. Bose Medal by the

* 1981:

(London) Medal * 1981: Founding member of the

World Cultural Council The World Cultural Council is an international organization whose goals are to promote cultural values, goodwill and philanthropy among individuals. The organization founded in 1981 and based in Mexico, has held a yearly award ceremony since 198 ...

* 1989: Hevrovsky Gold Medal of the

* 1990: Meghnath Saha Medal of the Indian National Science Academy * 1996: Einstein Gold Medal of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

* 2004:

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

from

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

. * 2004: Somiya Award of the International Union of Materials Research. * 2008: Nikkei Asia Prize for Science, Technology and Innovation, by

Nihon Keizai Shimbun ''The Nikkei'', also known as , is the flagship publication of Nikkei, Inc. (based in Tokyo) and the world's largest financial newspaper, with a daily circulation exceeding 1.73 million copies. The Nikkei 225, a stock market index for the Tok ...

, Inc., Japan. * 2008: Khwarizmi International Award 2008 for Innovation along with Ajayan Vinu * 2011: Ernesto Illy Trieste Science Prize for materials research * 2013: 2012 Award for International Scientific Cooperation from the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republ ...

* 2013: Elected honorary foreign member of

* 2013: Distinguished Academician Award from

IIT Patna Indian Institute of Technology Patna (abbreviated IIT Patna or IITP) is a public technical university located at Bihta near Patna, Bihar. It is recognized as an Institute of National Importance by the Government of India. It is one of the new ...

* 2018: Platinum Medal from Indian Association of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology * 2019: The first Sheikh Saud International Prize for Materials Research from the Center for Advanced Materials of the United Arab Emirates * Foreign fellow of

Bangladesh Academy of Sciences Bangladesh Academy of Sciences is an academic forum for Bangladeshi scientists and technologists. Established in 1973, it aims to fulfill the role of promoting research and development of sciences in Bangladesh. History After the partition of ...

Indian governmental honours

in 1974 *

in 1985 *

Karnataka Ratna The Karnataka Ratna is the highest civilian honour of the State of Karnataka, India. It is awarded in recognition of a person's extraordinary contribution in any field. It was instituted in the year 1992 by Chief Minister S Bangarappa by the Go ...

by the Karnataka State Government in 2000 *

in 2014

Foreign honours

* Great Cross of the National Order of Scientific Merit from the President of Brazil in 2002 *

Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

(Knight of the Legion of Honour, France) in 2005 *

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (russian: Орден Дружбы, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds a ...

by the President of Russia in 2009 *

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...

(Gold and Silver Star) of Japan in 2015

Legacy

* Rao with his wife established the CNR Rao Education Foundation using the Dan David Prize money. The foundation is based in Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research and offers Best Science Teacher Award to pre-university and high school science teachers. *Rao established the International Centre for Materials Science (ICMS) which offers the C N R Rao Prize Lecture in Advanced Materials since 2010. *

instituted the TWAS-C.N.R. Rao Award for Scientific Research since 2006 for scientists in the least developed countries. *The

Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy The Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy, also known as SASTRA, is a private and deemed university in the town of Thirumalaisamudram, Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India. SASTRA is ranked by global ranking agencies such a ...

has created the

SASTRA-CNR Rao Award SASTRA-CNR Rao Award is an award instituted by SASTRA University, a private and deemed university in the town of Thirumalaisamudram, Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, to honor excellence in chemistry and material science, the two areas in which C ...

for Chemistry and Material Science in 2014.

Personal life

Rao is married to Indumati Rao in 1960. They have two children, Sanjay and Suchitra. Sanjay works as a science populariser in schools around Bangalore. Suchitra is married to

Krishna N. Ganesh Dr. Krishnarajanagar Nagappa Ganesh is an Indian Bio-Organic chemist and served as the (founding) director of Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Tirupati (IISER Tirupati) since 2017 till 2023. He is also the founding Director of I ...

, the Director of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) at Pune, Maharashtra. Rao is

technophobic Technophobia (from Greek τέχνη ''technē'', "art, skill, craft" and φόβος ''phobos'', "fear"), also known as technofear, is the fear or dislike of advanced technology or complex devices, especially computers. Although there are numerou ...

and he never checks his email by himself. He also said that he uses the mobile phone only to talk to his wife.

Controversies

In 1987, Rao and his team published a series of four papers, of which three were in the ''Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences'' (''Chemical Science''), ''

Pramana ''Pramana'' (Sanskrit: प्रमाण, ) literally means " proof" and "means of knowledge".Current Science ''Current Science'' is an English-language peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It was established in 1932 and is published by the Current Science Association along with the Indian Academy of Sciences. According to the ''Journal C ...

'', all published by the Indian Academy of Sciences. A report was submitted to the Society for Scientific Values that the three papers had no mention of the dates of receipt, which were normally explicitly mentioned in those journals. Upon inquiry, it was found that the paper manuscripts were actually received after the date of publication, indicating that they were backdated. The society declared the case as "Use of Wrong Means to Claim Priority." Rao has been subject of allegations on

plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...

. Rao and Saluru Baba Krupanidhi at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, with their students Basant Chitara and L. S. Panchakarla, published a paper "Infrared photodetectors based on reduced graphene oxide and graphene nanoribbons" in the journal ''

Advanced Materials ''Advanced Materials'' is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering materials science. It includes communications, reviews, and feature articles on topics in chemistry, physics, nanotechnology, ceramics, metallurgy, and biomaterials. Acco ...

'' in 2011. After publication the journal editors found sentences copied verbatim in the introduction and methodology from a paper published in ''

Applied Physics Letters ''Applied Physics Letters'' is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that is published by the American Institute of Physics. Its focus is rapid publication and dissemination of new experimental and theoretical papers regarding application ...

'' in 2010. According to ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

'' report, it was Basant Chitara, a PhD student at IISc, who wrote the text. An apology was issued by the authors later in the same journal. Rao said that he did read the manuscript and that it was an oversight on his part as he focused mainly on the results and discussion. Scientists such as Rahul Siddharthan (

Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai The Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc) (sometimes also referred to as ''Matscience'') is a research centre located in Chennai, India.R. Jagannathan, ''The Institute of Mathematical Sciences'', Resonance (January 1999) vol. 4, no. 1, pp. ...

), Y.B. Srinivas (

Institute of Wood Science and Technology Institute of Wood Science and Technology (IWST) is a Research institute situated in Bangalore in Karnataka. It works under the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India ...

), and D.P. Sengupta (former professor at IISC), agreed that the plagiarised portion has no bearing on the findings, yet Siddharthan opined that the reactions made by Rao and Krupanidhi were overboard. Rao and Krupanidhi publicly blamed Chitara, and denied the publication as not plagiarism. Rao had commented, "This should not be really considered as plagiarism, but an instance of copying of a few sentences in the text." He even extended the blame to Krupanidhi asserting that he had no role in it as it was written by Krupanidhi without his knowledge. His claims were not justified by the fact that he was the senior scientist and corresponding author in that publication. More allegations of instances of plagiarism in articles co-authored Rao have been reported. Written with S. Venkataprasad Bhat and Krupanidhi, Rao's paper in 2010 about the effect of nanoparticles on solar cells in ''

Applied Physics Express ''Applied Physics Express'' or ''APEX'' is a scientific journal publishing letters, with usually no more than three pages per (concise) article. The main purpose is to rapidly publish original, timely, and novel research papers in applied physics. ...

'' contains texts that are very similar to those of a paper by Matheu ''et al.'' from ''Applied Physics Letters'' in 2008, which it did not even cite. Rao had stated, referring to the 2011 incident, that " fI have ever stolen an idea or a result (in) my entire life, (then) hang me." But Rao's article contains similar study to and duplicated figures with that of Matheu ''et al.'' An article in the ''

Journal of Luminescence The ''Journal of Luminescence'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Elsevier. The editor-in-chief is Xueyuan Chen. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal has a 2021 impact factor of 4.171, ranking it 26th ...

'' in 2011, written with Chitara, Nidhi Lal and Krupanidhi, contains 20 unattributed lines which appear to be copied from articles by Itskos ''et al.'' in ''

Nanotechnology Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal o ...

'' (June 2009 issue) and Heliotis ''et al.'' in ''Advanced Materials'' (January 2006 issue)''.'' Another article in ''Nanotechnology'', written also with Chitara and Krupanidhi, uses six lines from the 1995 article by Huang ''et al''. in ''Applied Physics Letters.'' Rao was given a Bharat Ratna by the Government of India in spite of the controversy and was active as a Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR). In December 2013, brother and sister Tanaya Thakur, a law student, and Aditya Thakur, a class XII student, filed a

public interest litigation The chief instrument through which judicial activism has flourished in India is public interest litigation (PIL) or social action litigation (SAL). ''Public interest litigation'' (PIL) refers to litigation undertaken to secure public interest and de ...

Allahabad High Court Allahabad High Court, also known as High Court of Judicature at Allahabad is the high court based in Prayagraj that has jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was established on 17 March 1866, making it one of the oldest high ...

, Lucknow Bench, to challenge Rao's Bharat Ratna. They asserted that "a scientist with proven cases of plagiarism shall not be presented the highest civilian award." But the court ruled them out as "filing pleas for publicity." There was another plea to revoke the award in 2015, but the

Central Information Commission The Central Information Commission is a statutory body, set up under the Right to Information Act in 2005 under the Government of India to act upon complaints from those individuals who have not been able to submit information requests to a Cent ...

dismissed the petition. On 17 November 2013, at a press conference following the announcement of his Bharat Ratna, he called the Indian politicians "idiots" which caused a national outrage. He said, "Why the hell have these idiots oliticiansgiven so little to us despite what we have done? For the money that the government has given us we cientistshave done much more." In his defence Rao insisted that he merely talked about the "idiotic" way the politicians ignore investments for research funding in science.

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