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Ramanujan Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics

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Research type
  
Public

Director
  
Dr. G.P. Youvaraj

Location
  
Chennai, India

Field of research
  
Mathematics

Address
  
Chepauk

Ramanujan Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics

Established
  
1927 as Department of Mathematics, University of Madras1967 as RIASM

Ramanujan Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics (RIASM) is the Department of Mathematics of University of Madras. This name was adopted in 1967.

Contents

History

The University of Madras was incorporated in 1857 and the Department of Mathematics was an integral part of the university from its beginning. The department developed from its early years to become a centre of research in mathematics with the appointment of R. Vaidyanathaswamy as a Reader in Mathematics in 1927.

The seeds of the Ramanujan Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics were sown when the "Ramanujan Institute of Mathematics" was established by Alagappa Chettiar on 26 January 1950 as a memorial to the mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. It was governed by the Asoka Charitable Trust, Karaikudi, and was located at Krishna Vilas, Vepery, Chennai. The Ramanujan Institute of Mathematics was inaugurated by A. Lakshmanaswamy Mudaliar, Vice Chancellor of University of Madras, with T. Vijayaraghavan, a student of G.H. Hardy, as Director of the Institute. The institute faced a financial crisis when, in 1956, Asoka Charitable Trust expressed its inability to run the institute. However, due to an initiative taken by Jawaharlal Nehru, the management of the institute came to be vested with the University of Madras and the institute was taken over by the university in May 1957.

During the short period of existence, the institute had a string of prominent mathematicians as visitors, including S.S. Pillai, noted number theorist, V. Ganapathy Iyer, analyst and Norbert Wiener. After the demise of T. Vijayaraghavan in 1955, C.T. Rajagopal took over as the Director of the Institute.

From 1957 to 1966, the Department of Mathematics and the Ramanujan Institute of Mathematics functioned as independent bodies under the University of Madras.

In 1967 the University Grants Commission (India) proposed to make the Department of Mathematics of the University of Madras into one of its Centres of Advanced Study. In the same year these two institutions were amalgamated to form a UGC Centre for Advanced Study in Mathematics and named the center as the "Ramanujan Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics" (RIASM).

C.T. Rajagopal was appointed the first Director of the Ramanujan Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics, and when he retired in 1969, the reins were taken over by T.S. Bhanumurthy.

Ramanujan Museum

Utilising a grant of Rs. 1 lakh received as UGC Special Assistance for Equipment and with the help of the Vikram A. Sarabhai Community Science Centre, Ahmedabad a Mathematical Laboratory was established in the institute. About 65 mathematical models were acquired under the scheme. These models were exhibited

  • for the participants of several Refresher Courses conducted through the Academic Staff College of the University of Madras,
  • at the Silver Jubiliee conference of the Association of Mathematics Teachers of India held at Madras during January 10–13, 1991,
  • in the Science Exhibition held at National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli during July 10–14, 1991, and
  • are being lent to be exhibited in several schools in and around Chennai.

    • Later the institute received an amount of Rs. 2 lakh from the National Board for Higher Mathematics, Rs. 1 lakh from the The Hindu newspaper and Rs. 9 lakh from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Government of India, and a matching grant of Rs. 9 lakh from the University of Madras. The amount was used to establish the Ramanujan Museum in the premises of the Ramanujan Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics. A grant of rupees one crore was later sanctioned by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, towards the establishment of Ramanujan Museum and Research Centre.

    Courses offered

  • M.Sc. (Mathematics) Full-time
  • M.Phil. (Mathematics) Full-time
  • Ph.D (Mathematics) Full-time and Part-time
  • Postdoctoral researcher (Mathematics) Full-time

    • Admission

    The admission should be made purely on merit basis:

  • 50% of marks shall be from the qualifying examination.
  • The entrance test which will be conducted by the RIASM shall carry a maximum of 50 marks as detailed below:
  • The candidate should secure at least 25 marks out of 50 marks in the entrance test (Written and Oral).
  • The candidate should take the examination only in Mathematics.
  • The candidate with fellowship from the UGC, CSIR etc. / Project Fellow appointed in the major research project from funding agency / and teachers working in affiliated colleges shall be exempted from appearing for entrance test

    • References

    Ramanujan Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA