VC's Profile

Prof. Gurmeet Singh takes over as Vice-Chancellor, Pondicherry University

Prof. Gurmeet Singh, a renowned academic administrator and an internationally reputed expert in the field of corrosion science and smart materials, has taken over as the Vice-Chancellor, Pondicherry University.  Prof. Singh began his academic career as Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in the Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi, in 1976, rising to become a Professor about twenty years ago.  All through, his career has been distinguished by the successful manner in which he has contributed to the administration University of Delhi and other public institutions while maintaining a very high level of research output in terms of quality as well as quantity. He has held the positions of Proctor (2005-2010), Head of the Department(2014-17), Member of the Executive Council (2005-2010), and numerous other administrative positions in University of Delhi besides serving as OSD (Principal), Deshbandhu College (1997-1999).  He had been on high-level committees of the UGC, DBT, CSIR, and several other public institutions.   These assignments have included positions of great sensitivity and responsibility typified by his appointment as Special Observer for the West Bengal state Assembly Elections by the Election Commission of India.

During 2011-2012, Prof. Singh served as a Chair Professor at Lunghwa University, Taipei, where he was specially invited to start collaborative research.  He was a visiting scientist to Hungary and Japan and has been on academic assignments to Germany, Italy, Australia, Singapore, Korea, Thailand and Kenya. He is also currently a Visiting Professor at Japan Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (JAIST), Ishikawa, Japan.

An inspiring teacher and mentor of research, Prof. Singh has guided 14 MPhil and 50 Ph.D. scholars, several of the resulting contributions have received accolades and best paper awards at international/national conferences.   At the time of moving to Pondicherry University, Prof. Singh was personally supervising 9 major R&D projects worth over Rs 7.5 crores.  With about 150 research papers of which a majority are in high-impact international journals, Prof. Gurmeet Singh is also among the most cited of the scientists in his field.
An oft-decorated academician, Prof. Singh has received, among other honors, the Meritorious Contribution Award, the Annapurna Award, Membership of The Royal Society of Chemistry, London, and Fellowship of SAEST and  The Electrochemical Society of India.