Dr N. Kalaiselvi Appointed as the First Woman Director General of CSIR

Dr. N. Kalaiselvi, a lithium-ion battery scientist, broke another career barrier when she was named Director General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on Sunday for a two-year term. She formerly served as the CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute's (CSIR-CECRI) first female scientific head from 2019 until present.

She specializes in electrochemical power systems and, in particular, the creation of electrode materials. She is well known for her work in the area of lithium-ion batteries. She is working on creating "practically viable Sodium-ion/Lithium-sulphur batteries and Supercapacitors" at present.

Dr. Kalaiselvi has participated in numerous meetings and projects for the introduction of e-mobility in India since 2015, when she turned her focus to electric mobility.

She played a significant role in and oversaw the efforts of CSIR-CECRI in the compilation of the Technical Report on National Mission for Electric Mobility (NMEM), which was a project that the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) started. She also made contributions to the Mobility Mission Concept Note.

A significant victory for women in science, the senior scientist's appointment as head of the CSIR, a grouping of 38 research institutes across the nation, is more than just a feather in her crown.

She replaces structural and computational biologist Shekhar Mande, who retired in April and has 25 years of experience in the field. Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology, was named interim Director General upon Mande's retirement until Dr. Kalaiselvi was chosen.

She will serve as Secretary of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), a department of the Ministry of Science and Technology, in addition to her duties as Director General of CSIR.

Research and Development Efforts

She comes from the little town of Ambasamudram in the Tirunelveli region of Tamil Nadu, where she attended a Tamil-medium school.

Dr. Kalaiselvi began her professional career as an entry-level scientist at the CSIR before receiving the award of International Scientist of the Year in 2007.

She is working on "modified electrode materials for high energy," "tailor-made electrodes for aqueous and non-aqueous lithium batteries," "creating polymer-based electrolytes," and "working with ionic liquid-based electrodes and electrolytes," according to the CSIR-CECRI website.

Dr. Kalaiselvi has been involved in numerous research projects, but she has also held the position of nodal scientist for Multifunctional Electrodes and Electrolytes for Futuristic Technologies (MULTIFUN), a CSIR-sponsored project under the 12th five-year plan with CSIR-CECRI acting as the nodal lab.

From 2012 to 2017, six additional CSIR institutes worked together on the Rs 68.54 crore MULTIFUN project. The sectoral monitoring committee gave the project, which was under Dr. Kalaiselvi's direction, a "Excellent" rating.

Her Laurels

Over 125 research papers have been published by Dr. Kalaiselvi, who also has six patents. Under her guidance, eight research researchers have received PhDs, and six more are currently enrolled in doctoral programs.

She has won multiple awards, fellowships, and awards between 1999 and 2019, including three CECRI "Young Scientist Seminar Awards." According to the CSIR-CECRI website, she was also given an Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Visiting fellowship in 1999.

She was awarded the Korea Brain Pool Fellowship in 2003, and in 2011 she was chosen to participate in the INSA-NRF Scientist Exchange Program and visit the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI).

She was awarded the Materials Research Society Medal in 2015, and in 2019 she was given the C.V. Raman Mahila Vijnana Puraskara.