Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India:
Shiv Nadar University Delhi-NCR, India’s leading multidisciplinary and research-focused university, recognized as an ‘Institution of Eminence’ by the Government of India, has appointed a well-known cell biologist and epigeneticist, Dr. Sanjeev Galande, as Dean of the School of Natural Sciences. Dr. Galande joins the University from the Indian Institute of Science Education & Research (IISER)-Pune, where he served as Professor of Biology, and Dean of Research & Development.
Dr. Rupamanjari Ghosh, Vice-Chancellor of Shiv Nadar University Delhi-NCR, said, “The School of Natural Sciences is today widely known as one of India’s top science schools. Dr. Galande is a great fit to lead and build upon its success, as we continue to elevate the University’s position to the world stage as an ‘Institution of Eminence’. He demonstrated an impressive vision as Dean, and brings rich experience from another great, research-focused institution, IISER Pune, spanning multiple disciplines. His transparent and collaborative leadership will be a tremendous benefit for the University community, and we are delighted to welcome him to Shiv Nadar University.”
Dr. Sanjeev Galande, Dean, School of Natural Sciences, Shiv Nadar University, Delhi-NCR, said, “I am delighted to be part of a University that aspires to be among the leading research-based, multidisciplinary universities of global stature and impact. I am looking forward to working with an accomplished group of deans and young faculty who share our vision and are striving to push the frontiers of knowledge through innovative research in a multidisciplinary environment.”
Dr. Galande brings with him over two decades of experience as a scientist and academic. At IISER-Pune, he led the Centre of Excellence in Epigenetics (CoEE) and assembled a team of scientists to study the evolution of epigenetic mechanisms using multiple model systems. The CoEE focuses on epigenetic modifications underlying a variety of biologically important phenomena and their role in gene expression, regeneration, cancer, behavior, ageing, and evolution. Dr. Galande is credited for having established a multidisciplinary program engaged at the interface of biochemistry, molecular biology, bioinformatics, cell biology, proteomics, and genomics.
He has previously served the National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS) in Pune, as a senior scientist, where he was part of a group that elucidated how cellular signaling pathways eventually exert their effect at the level of chromatin to orchestrate cell-type-specific patterns of gene expression. He earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Indian Institute of Science in 1996. As a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the USA from 1996-2001, he studied the role of MAR-binding proteins in tumorigenesis. Dr. Galande was the recipient of the International Senior Research Fellowship, Wellcome Trust, UK, 2005-10, DBT National Bioscience Award 2006, DST Swarnajayanti Fellowship 2007, the coveted CSIR Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize 2010, GD Birla Award for Scientific Excellence 2015, and the SERB JC Bose Fellowship 2019. He has been a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences since 2010, of the Indian National Science Academy since 2012, and of the National Academy of Sciences since 2017. He was an honorary associate faculty at the University of Sydney, Australia, and a visiting faculty at the University of Turku, Finland.
Shiv Nadar University (www.snu.edu.in) is a student-centric, multidisciplinary, and research-focused university offering a wide range of academic programs at the Undergraduate, Master’s, and Doctoral levels. The University was set up in 2011 by the Shiv Nadar Foundation, a philanthropic foundation established by Mr. Shiv Nadar, founder of HCL. The University is in the quest to become a globally acclaimed center for learning and innovation in the fields of Engineering, Natural Sciences, Humanities & Social Sciences, and Management. The core of the University consists of a select, world-class faculty with doctoral and postdoctoral experiences from ranked universities all over the world.
Shiv Nadar University has been recognized as one of the ten private ‘Institutions of Eminence’ by the Government. In the NIRF (Government’s National Institutional Ranking Framework), the University has been the youngest institution in the ‘top 100’ Overall list, and its score has been rising steadily. In NIRF-2020, it ranked 56 in the ‘University’ category. Shiv Nadar University has been accredited with Grade ‘A’ by NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council), valid for a period of five years from 26 November 2019. It is also among a select group of green-field institutions in the country which were awarded the prestigious Atal Incubation Center grant by the NITI Aayog, Government of India, in the very first round in 2017.
About Shiv Nadar Foundation
Established in 1994, by Shiv Nadar, Founder, HCL – a US$ 10 billion leading global technology enterprise, the Foundation is committed to the creation of a more equitable, merit-based society by empowering individuals through transformational education, and to bridge the socio-economic divide. Over the last 27 years the Foundation has directly touched the lives of over 30,000 alumni and students through its marquee institutions in literacy, K12, and higher education. Today, the Foundation has a community of over 100,000 constituents, which includes not only globally dispersed alumni and students but also faculty members, corporate executives, and extended families.
The Foundation has invested ~$1bn in its six landmark institutions and initiatives across education and art. Currently, over 12,600 students and over 2,000 faculty members are part of the Foundation along with around 19,000 strong globally dispersed alumni community.
The Foundation’s students have gone to study at some of the best institutions globally including the Ivy League in the US and top universities in other countries including Australia, Singapore, China, and UK. Students are also working across major corporations, including Goldman Sachs, Honda, HP, Schindler, and several others both in India and across other geographies. Faculty across the Foundation institutions are drawn from the best Indian and international universities, with a strong focus on research and innovation.
The Shiv Nadar Foundation pursues the philosophy of ‘Creative Philanthropy’. It is a powerful model which envisages creation of institutions that are built to last and continue to impact future generations. It is an approach that allows sustained institutionalized philanthropy for long-term, high-impact, socio-economic transformation.
