Indian Association of Nuclear Chemists and Allied Scientists
(IANCAS)

The Indian Association of Nuclear Chemists and Allied Scientists (IANCAS) was founded in 1981 with an objective of popularizing nuclear sciences among the scientific community in the country. Under its mandate, IANCAS is continuously promoting the subject of nuclear and radiochemistry, and use of radioisotopes & radiation sources in education, research, agriculture, medicine and industry by organizing seminars, workshops and publishing periodical thematic bulletins. With its enthusiastic 1894 Life Members from all over the country and overseas (till December 2021) and 20 Corporate Members, IANCAS has become one of the popular platforms for popularizing the subject of nuclear and radiochemistry across the country.

Through its various outreach programs, IANCAS endeavours to motivate the researchers and scientists to achieve excellence in the field of nuclear and allied sciences. As a part of outreach programs, IANCAS conducts workshops on “Radiochemistry and Applications of Radioisotopes” at various universities, institutes, schools and colleges. These workshops play paramount role in motivating the young researchers and encourage them to accept the subject of radiochemistry and applications of radioisotopes. It is mater of proud and immense satisfaction to share that IANCAS has successfully conducted 100 th National Workshop at the Department of Chemistry, University of Kerala in December 2019. With the support from BRNS, a set of G.M. Counter / NaI(Tl) detector(s) are donated to the host institute of each National Workshops for their academic use. Similarly, IANCAS is also conducting one-day school Workshops to encourage and popularize the nuclear and radiochemistry subject amongst the young students. These workshops are conducted by the IANCAS main body and its four regional chapters (Southern Regional Chapter at Kalpakkam, Tarapur Chapter, Northern Regional Chapter at Amritsar, and Eastern Regional Chapter Bhubaneswar) covering the entire nation.

IANCAS brings out quarterly thematic bulletins on the topic of relevance to the nuclear science and technology with the financial support from BRNS. So far it has published 68 such bulletins which are distributed free to all its members and are freely available for download. The Association’s popular book on “Fundamentals of Nuclear and Radiochemistry” is widely sought amongst the academia, researchers and students of DAE, non-DAE units and Universities. All the publications of IANCAS including bulletins and books are available in free downloadable form.

To encourage scientists / researchers actively pursuing activities in this discipline, IANCAS has instituted several awards. Dr. M.V. Ramaniah Memorial Award is conferred annually to an outstanding scientist for their significant contributions and lifetime achievements in the field of nuclear and radiochemistry. The award, introduced in 1999, carries a medal, citation and Rs.25,000/- in cash. Dr. Tarun Datta Memorial Award is given annually to a young scientist (below 45 years of age) with minimum 5 years of research experience in the field of nuclear and radiochemistry and applications of radioisotopes. This award was instituted in 1997 and carries a medal, citation and Rs.15,000/- cash. IANCAS also gives Prof. H.J. Arnikar Best Thesis Award annually for the Ph.D. research in the nuclear and radiochemistry area. This award carries a medal, citation and Rs.10,000/- in cash. Apart from this, IANCAS has instituted Dr. K.S. Venkateswarlu Memorial Endowment Lecture which is biannually bestowed during NUCAR symposium to the scientists / academics in recognition of their contributions in the area of water chemistry & related field. In addition, IANCAS also gives cash awards and merit certificates to young researchers as Best Presentation Award for their work presented in biennial NUCAR symposium.

To achieve the excellent in its cause for popularizing the nuclear sciences through electronic media, IANCAS has its own website which is updated regularly. Information about the workshops and the guidelines is available in the site. All the publications of IANCAS including bulletins are made available in free downloadable form.