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Joys of Discovery in Modern Research 

Prof. B Ananthanarayan, IISc Bangalore gave a talk on Joys of Discovery in Modern Research on  29 February. 

Modern research is a complex activity that calls for extensive knowledge, training and teamwork. Prof. Ananthanarayan used anecdotes from history of science and came to the modern age and discussed recent important discoveries such as the discovery of the Higgs at the LHC and that of gravitational waves at the LIGO collaboration as examples. He  also discussed some examples from mathematics and computer science, some contributions of underrepresented scientists and also highlighted the nature of the calling of a professional researcher.  

 Prof. B Ananthanarayan was former chairman at the Centre for High Energy Physics and was MSIL Chair Professor of the Division of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science (2015-18) and has completed over 22 years of service. He completed his B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from IIT Madras and an M.S and Ph.D in physics from the University of Delaware, USA. He spent post-doctoral years at Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad; Universities of Lausanne and Bern, Switzerland and has wide collaborations in France, Germany, Romania, Switzerland and elsewhere, and was recently Pauli Centre Visitor at the University of Zurich for 2 months in 2015.  Prof. Ananthanarayan was awarded the Rustom Choksi Award for Excellence in Science in 2014 by IISc. His research is in a wide range of fields including effective field theories, beyond the standard model physics and physics at the proposed International Linear Collider. A keen researcher, teacher and popularizer of science, he  has also written widely for general audience and served as Associate Editor of Current Science Journal and as an editor with the European Physical Journal, A, published by Springer-Verlag from 2008-2017. He is on the board of editors of the Springer Brief Series in Physics, as well as on the European Physical Journal — Special Topics since 2019, published by Springer-Verlag