The National Chemical Laboratory Research Foundation (NCL RF), a non-profit organization was established in August 1990 with a mission to promote excellence in science and technology and build an environment in which everyone in NCL strives to improve their scientific, technical, and R&D support skills and reach higher goals in research and development activity. It aims at bringing creative research, knowledgebase and innovative technologies into clear focus what NCL considers important for the furtherance of the goals in science and technology.

The primary aim of the foundation is to motivate and recognize the high level of team and individual efforts of scientists, engineers, technologists, research students and support staff at NCL for their contributions in “Advancement of knowledge and in applying chemical science for good of the people” by way of scientific research and innovations.

 

v     Introduction

v     Deed of Declaration of the Trust

v     Board of Trustees

v     Objectives of the Foundation

v     NCL Research Foundation Awards

v     NCL Research Foundation Lectures

v     Method of Scrutiny and Selection

v     Current Trustees

v     Donors to NCL Research Foundation

v     Annual Awards (2001 ... 2006)

NCL RF Brochure (May 2005)

Introduction

 

A corpus fund made up of contributions from the organizations interested in NCL's progress and welfare has been created and it was decided that the earnings from the fund would be used to arrange a Foundation Day Lecture by an eminent person in a field of human endeavour, give away awards to promote excellence in science, promote applied research leading to commercialisation of technology, promote new initiatives in the support system, to recognize unusual merit in individuals from the scientific and supporting staff and an award to promote the safety culture in the laboratory. There are also other initiatives like providing special coaching and financial assistance to needy children to promote educational opportunities among them, and arranging memorial lectures.

The NCL Research Foundation has been registered as a public trust and is managed by a Board of Trustees. This Trust has been granted an exemption under the U/S 80G of the Income tax act 1961 to enable it to receive donations made to the NCL Research Foundation.

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Deed of Declaration of the Trust

 

The National Chemical Laboratory Research Foundation was incorporated under a Trust deed made on August 24, 1990 between Dr. R. A. Mashelkar as the settlor and the Chairman, and Prof. C.N.R. Rao, Dr. S. Ganguly. Prof. M. M. Sharma, Dr. P. Ratnasamy, Prof. J. Barnabas, Mr. Ravi Belhe, Mr. R. Gopalkrishnan and Mr. V. M. Joshi as the members. Its primary aim is to motivate the team efforts of scientists, engineers and technologists for scientific research and innovations and it was incorporated on the basis of suggestions made by the Research Council of NCL at its meeting on June 21, 1988. The aims and the objectives of the Trust are enumerated separately in this booklet. The Trust deed makes elaborate provisions for proper custody and utilization of the funds which are received from the contributors and for instituting various awards, holding lecture series, awarding fellowships, rewards to the scientists, particularly from NCL.

The trust deed makes other routine provisions for minimum and maximum number of trustees, powers of the Chairman, and the members of the Board of Trustees, the conduct of business of the Trust, conducting the meeting of the Board of Trustees, appointment of the secretarial and administrative staff.

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Board of Trustees

 

Under the Deed of Declaration of trust it was decided that the Board of Trustees would consist of members as given below and such other persons as may be appointed from time to time.

1.                Director, NCL - Ex-officio member & Chairman

2.                Chairman, Research Council, NCL - Ex-Officio member

3.                Director, MUDCT - Ex-Officio member

4. & 5.         Two senior most divisional Heads, NCL - Ex-Officio members

6.                Controller of Administration or AO, NCL - Ex-Officio member.

7.                Senior Finance & Accounts officer or F&AO, NCL - Ex-Officio member

8.                One research Council member

9.                One representative from industry

 

The Director, NCL will always be the Ex-Officio Trustee and the Chairman of the Trust. He/She shall preside over all meetings of the Trustees. In his/her absence, the person whom the Trustees present at the meeting elect as Chairman of the said meeting by a vote of majority shall act as the Chairman of the said meeting.

The Ex-Officio members listed at Sr. No. 2 to 7 will always be Trustees of the Trust by virtue of their post and the person holding the respective post will continue as Trustee of this Trust till he relinquishes the post or another member is nominated in his place by his organization/department.

As regards the trustees other than ex-officio members, the tenure shall not exceed more than three years. However, the Board of Trustees shall have the power to extend the tenure of such trustees, if they think to do so.

 

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Objectives of the Foundation

 

·      To give awards to the teams of NCL scientists, engineers and technologists for scientific innovations or development of commercial technologies of international class. The work must represent a high level of team effort.

·      To give awards, institute fellowships or scholarships, stipends, remuneration and/or other similar payments to NCL scientists and research scholars to facilitate their undertaking a high level of scientific and technological research in the area of interest to NCL.

·      To establish and support professions, fellowships, lectureships, scholarships and prizes.

·      To award scholarships and fellowships and grants to NCL scientists and research scholars by way of loan and otherwise and on such terms and conditions, as the trustees may think fit for the purpose of undertaking, prosecuting and encouraging research work in Chemistry, Chemical technology, Chemical engineering, Biological sciences and other branches of sciences of interest to NCL.

·      To encourage and support participation by NCL scientists and research scholars in the conferences and seminars abroad for activities relating to the research areas of interest to NCL.

·      To print, publish and exhibit or subsidies the publication of any pamphlets, or posters relating to the research done by NCL scientists and research scholars.

·      To provide for, educate and train NCL staff or other institutes in India or abroad to enable them to manage research and other infrastructural groups effectively.

·      To devise incentive schemes, or reward systems for the supporting staff belonging to administration, finance, purchase, marketing and other related sections, so that they can effectively contribute towards the attainment of laboratory's R&D goals.

·      To promote, develop and improve scientific exchange of knowledge as well as technical cooperation between research institutions having objects similar to that of the foundation.

·      To do all acts, matters and things as are incidental or conducive to the attainment of the above aims and objects or any one or more of them.

·      To takeover or amalgamate with other charitable society or trust with similar objects.

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NCL Research Foundation Awards

Based on the recommendation of a committee of senior scientists of NCL, the following activities were identified as the ones in which awards should be instituted.

·         NCL Foundation Day Lecture

·         Awards to promote excellence in science

·         Awards to promote applied research leading to commercialisation of technology

·         Awards to promote new initiatives by the support system

·         Awards to recognize exceptional merit of individuals both from the scientific stream and the support system

·         Award for the Best Support Group of the year

·         Keerthi Sangoram Memorial Endowment Award for the Research Students

·         International Patent Award

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Award for the Outstanding Scientific Work

This award is given for outstanding scientific research pursuit undertaken in NCL on the basis of the evidence of unusual creativity and originality in science. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 20,000/- and a citation.

Award for the Best Technology Commercialised During the Year

This award is given for a technology from NCL, which is actually commercialised and is in operation for a period of at least six continuous months. The team effort cutting across disciplines / divisions / units is given a special weightage. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 30,000/- to be distributed amongst the team members. Each team member also gets a certificate.

Award for the Highest External Earnings from the Industry

Realizing that it has become extremely essential to enhance the external cash flow, especially in terms of earnings from industry, an award has been instituted to promote this endeavour. The target on external cash flow earnings for an individual division is set at the beginning of every year. The divisions which cross these targets and whose external cash flow from industry is at least 50% of the target only are considered for these awards. Only the external cash earnings from industry are considered for selecting the division with the highest earnings as per above criterion. The award is in the form of a rotating shield. If the minimum target is not achieved by any division, the award is not given.

Award for New Initiatives Taken by the R&D Support System

With the realization that Scientific or technological targets can be met only when the R&D support system fully participates in the realization of the goals of the laboratory and creates an environment in which efficiency can prevail, an award for R&D support system has been planned. The R&D Support system includes Administration/ Finance/ stores & Purchase/ Engineering Services/ DTS/ PPD/ Library, etc. The areas covered may include financial/ materials/ marketing/ administrative management, and so on.

There must be new initiatives taken to introduce new systems with a view to increasing efficiency, which will lead to quantifiable benefits to the laboratory. For this purpose, proposals are invited from all the concerned groups at the beginning of the year. The new initiatives should have been successfully implemented over a period of one year. These are evaluated in terms of quantifiable results and their direct benefit to the laboratory.

It is emphasized that the work which forms a part of the normal duty in NCL is not considered for this award. The system suggested must bring in a distinct improvement in efficiency without additional inputs by way of manpower or compensations. The cash award is of Rs. 20,000/- in this category. Additionally certificates are given to the team members.

Awards to recognize Unusual Merit of Individuals

Six awards are given in this category for outstanding work done by individual members of the staff. Three of them are for scientific staff and three for the staff of the support system. The divisional heads and unit leaders make nominations based on the merit of the case, giving full details of the merit. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 2,500/- and merit certificate.

Award for the Best Support Group of the year

The Best service group of the year award is given to the support functions of NCL. The Award is based on the feedback received through the opinion poll of the research scientists. The criterion for the award is the excellence and quality of service rendered by the service group. The award consists of a Trophy to the winners of the Best support service group.

Keerthi Sangoram Memorial Endowment Award for Research Students

Four awards are given in this category for the Best Research Scholar each in the following areas: (1) Physical / Material (2) Chemical (3) Biological and (4) Engineering Science. The research guides/ Divisional Heads make nomination based on the merit of the case, giving full account of the work done by the research scholars. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 2,500/- and a certificate of merit.

International Patent Award

This award is given to the inventors of the International Patents. The award recognizes the inventors for their achievement in getting an International Patent. The award bestows a Silver medallion to each of the inventors of the International Patent.

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NCL Research Foundation Lectures

 

The NCL RF organizes four lectures every year: one on the occasion of NCL Foundation Day on 3^rd January and the other three in the memory of its Directors.

NCL Foundation Day Lecture: An eminent person is invited to deliver the NCL Foundation Day Lecture. The selected is paid an honorarium of Rs. 10,000/- and also other expenses connected with his travel etc. The NCL Foundation Day Lecture is published in the form of a booklet and is distributed widely in the scientific community.

During the sixth meeting of the Board of Trustees, held on 30 December, 1994, it was decided to institute two ' NCL Research Foundation Memorial Lectures' from 1994-95, in memory of Prof. J. W. McBain who was the first Director of NCL, Prof. K. Venkataraman, who became the First Indian Director of NCL in 1957.

The Prof. McBain Memorial Lecture is essentially a lecture on some Frontier area of 'Science' and Prof. Venkataraman Memorial Lecture in 'Technology'. The first Prof. McBain Memorial Lecture was delivered by Prof. C.N.R. Rao and the first Prof. Venkataraman Lecture by Dr. A. V. Rama Rao. Since 2003 on Technology day (May, 11) Professor BD Tilak memorial lecture is started. The first lecture was delivered by Prof. M. S. Swaminathan, FRS

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Method of Scrutiny and Selection

 

All the awards are given on the basis of scrutiny and evaluation by committees (some of these are at a national level) appointed by the Board of Trustees.  Details of the exact formats for submission of proposals, etc have been drawn up by a committee appointed by the Director, NCL.

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Current Trustees

 

Position	Present Board	By Virtue of
Chairman	Dr. S. Sivaram	Director, NCL
Member	Prof. M. M. Sharma	Chairman, NCL Research Council
Member	Prof. J. B. Joshi	Director, MUICT
Member	Mrs. S. F. Vakil	Representative of Donor Industry
Member	Mr. Desh Bandhu Gupta	Representative of Donor Industry
Member	Dr. B. D. Kulkarni	Deputy Director, NCL
Secretary	Mr. M. S. Vidyanathan	CoA, NCL
Treasurer	Mr. S. Chandrahas	SFAO, NCL
Jt. Secretary	Mr. G. Prabhakaran

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Donors to NCL Research Foundation

 

·             Adarsh Chemicals Charitable Foundation, Surat

·             Alkyl Amines Chemicals Ltd, Mumbai

·             Associated Cement Companies Ltd, Mumbai

·             Avra Laboratories Pvt. Ltd, Hyderabad

·             Cipla Ltd, Mumbai

·             Colour Chem Ltd, Mumbai

·             Dr. Beck & Co. (India) Ltd, Pune

·             Dr. R. G. Sangoram, Bangalore

·             Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd, Hyderabad

·             Elenac GmbH, (Basell Polyolefin), Germany

·             Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Pune

·             GAIL (India) Ltd, New Delhi

·             Glaxo India Ltd, Mumbai

·             Goodlass Nerolac Paints, Mumbai

·             Gujarat Insecticides Ltd, Ankleshwar

·             Gujarat Petro Synthesis Ltd, Mumbai

·             Herdillia Chemicals Ltd, Mumbai

·             Hindustan Ciba-Giegy Ltd, Mumbai

·             Hindustan Lever Ltd, Mumbai

·             Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd, Rasayani

·             Indian Organic Chemicals Ltd, Mumbai

·             Indian Petrochemical Corporation Ltd, Vadodara

·             Industrial Credit & Investment Corporation Ltd, Mumbai

·             Infosys Technologies Ltd, Bangalore

·             Kinetic Engineering Ltd, Pune

·             Lupin Group, Mumbai

·             Maneckji & Shirinbai Neterwala Foundation, Mumbai

·             Marico Industries Ltd, Mumbai

·             MU Department of Chemical Technology, Mumbai

·             Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, New Delhi

·             Polychem Ltd, Mumbai

·             Reliance Industries Ltd, Mumbai

·             SarasiJam Technologies, New Delhi

·             Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Mumbai

·             Spic Science Foundation, Chennai

·             Synthetics and Chemicals Ltd, New Delhi

·             The Dow Chemicals Ltd, Midland, USA

·             Thermax Ltd, Pune

·             Vam Organic Chemicals Ltd, New Delhi

·             TVS Motors Company Ltd, Chennai

 

·             Annual Awards (2007)

·             Annual Awards (2006)

·             Annual Awards (2005)

 

·             Annual Awards (2004)

 

·             Annual Awards (2003)

 

·             Annual Awards (2002)

 

·            Annual Awards (2001)

 

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