Dr Kalaiselvi N shatters glass ceiling, becomes 1st woman to head CSIR – India’s largest research organisation

Dr Kalaiselvi Nallathamby has been appointed the Director General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) — the first woman to lead India’s largest research organisation and the consortium of 38 research institutes across the country. Dr Kalaiselvi succeeds Shekhar Mande who was superannuated in April and she takes over from Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, who was given the additional charge of CSIR upon Mande’s retirement.

With this, Dr Kalaiselvi has shattered yet another glass ceiling in the 80-year-old research council. Prior to this, she became the first woman director of the CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute at Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu – the position she holds until she takes over as the DG of CSIR.

Who is Dr Kalaiselvi?

Hailing from Ambasamudhram – a small city in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district – Kalaiselvi attended a Tamil-medium school. While many might see it as an impediment, Kalaiselvi says that her schooling in Tamil medium and learning science in her mother tongue helped her in “quick grasping of science concepts and I built on that foundation when I joined college.”

Youngest among three siblings, 55-year-old Kalaiselvi has said that the progressive outlook of her parents of never discriminating between her and her brothers, and subsequently a strong support system after she got married greatly helped her in her professional pursuits. After her completing her PhD in Chemistry, Kalaiselvi was working as a professor for three years before joining CECRI in 1997. “I loved teaching. But, I was also aching for research. CECRI provided me with an opportunity to do both,” Kalaiselvi was quoted in a Times of India report. Kalaiselvi has been teaching in the CECRI’s B.Tech course in chemical and electrochemical engineering, which was introduced in 1988.

Starting her journey in the CSIR as an entry-level scientist, Kalaiselvi has risen through the ranks to become the Director General of CSIR. Her research in CECRI has been in the lithium batteries division all along. At a time when life without mobile phones and remote-controlled appliances is unimaginable, the relevance of lithium-ion batteries is paramount. However, a large part of the batteries is imported from other countries. At CECRI, Kalaiselvi is a part of the team that is working on creating indigenous battery technology to meet the surging demands. Her work focuses on the development of sodium-ion/lithium-sulphur batteries and super-capacitors that are commercially viable.

Besides batteries, Dr Kalaiselvi has been working on super-capacitors, waste-to-wealth electrodes, electrolytes for energy storage and electro-catalytic applications. She was instrumental in advancing the National Mission for Electric Mobility. In her research career spanning over a quarter century, Dr Kalaiselvi has authored more than 125 research papers and has six patents to her credit.

Other women who’ve shattered the glass ceiling in Central science and research institutes

While Dr Kalaiselvi’s achievement is a feat in itself, the contribution of the other women scientists who have helmed central scientific departments cannot be undermined.

As the Director of the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, Dr Priya Abraham made one of the most important medical breakthroughs of our times. She confirmed the first sample of Covid-19 in India and isolated the SARS-Cov-2 virus.

'Missile Woman' of India – Dr Tessy Thomas – is the Director-General of Aeronautical Systems and the former Project Director for Agni-IV missile in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Armed with a PhD in missile guidance, she is the first woman scientist to head a missile project in India

The pioneer of biotechnology research in India, Manju Sharma went on to become the first woman Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology back in 1996. Besides her stellar work in biotechnology, Dr Manju also played a significant role in establishing several institutions including the National Institute of Immunology, the National Institute of Plant Genome Research, the Biomass Research Centres at Lucknow and Madurai, the Plant Molecular Biology Unit in the University of Delhi and the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics.

The second woman Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology was Dr Renu Swarup from 2018 to 2021. In September 2021, she got the additional charge of Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST) — the first woman Secretary of the DST.