Cipla Foundation-IISER Pune Centre for Chemistry Education and Research on the IISER Pune campus has been inaugurated today by Dr. Yusuf K. Hamied, Non-Executive Chairman, Cipla Ltd. He was accompanied by Mrs. Farida Hamied and Ms. Rumana Hamied, the Managing Trustee of Cipla Foundation. The Centre, housing chemistry research labs along with an in-class demo facility provides space for outreach activities involving teacher and student training and will serve as a platform for developing industry-academia interactions.

Following a tour of the Centre, Prof H. N. Gopi (Chair, Department of Chemistry) presented an overview of activities of the Chemistry Department to the gathering. The Centre was then formally inaugurated by Dr. Yusuf Hamied with the unveiling of the plaque and plantation of a sapling in front of the building.

In his introductory remarks, Director of IISER Pune, Prof. Jayant B. Udgaonkar said “It is quite remarkable that a pharmaceutical company took the initiative in collaborating with IISER Pune to set up this Centre for undergraduate education”. He thanked Cipla Foundation, Dr. Hamied and family for this generous funding. He acknowledged the contribution of Prof. K. N. Ganesh, former Director of IISER Pune, in this initiative and appreciated the efforts made by the team of engineers and IISER faculty members in getting the building functional at the earliest.

Prof. Udgaonkar’s speech was followed by the felicitation ceremony of Dr. Y. K. Hamied, Mrs. Farida Hamied and Ms. Rumana Hamied.

Dr. A.A. Natu who has been closely involved with the collaboration with Cipla since the inception, narrated the genesis of this fruitful partnership with Cipla Foundation. He recounted how this project proposal was received with a positive response by Dr. Y. K. Hamied just within a couple of days of submission. Thus, an idea that germinated in late 2015, is now realized with the Centre ready and functional.

Addressing the gathering, Dr. Y. K. Hamied said, “It was the culmination of a desire that we all had at Cipla to partner with IISER”. He also added “The real measure of success is if we can all collectively contribute to social and moral welfare of our society.” He expressed a keen interest to collaborate with IISER Pune in the sector of research and drug development.

The event concluded with a vote of thanks by Prof. H. N. Gopi to the Cipla Foundation, Dr. Hamied and family and everyone related to this project which will be contributing to chemistry education and outreach.