Geophysicist Ajai Manglik, a former Chief Scientist at the CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) in Hyderabad, has been selected for the Department of Atomic Energy’s prestigious Raja Ramanna Chair Fellowship, recognizing decades of research into the physics of the Earth’s interior and its practical applications for India’s energy and mineral programmes.
The fellowship, awarded by the DAE, is reserved for retired scientists, engineers and technologists who built a track record of high-quality research during their careers and wish to continue that work after retirement. Under the scheme, fellows are hosted either at a DAE unit, a national laboratory, or a university or institute of their choosing, allowing them to pursue research topics identified as priorities for the department. Selections are typically announced twice a year, with a tenure of three years subject to an age limit of 70.
A career built on imaging the Earth
Manglik joined NGRI in 1989 after earning his M.Tech in Applied Geophysics from the University of Roorkee (now IIT-Roorkee) and went on to complete a Ph.D. at Osmania University. Over more than three decades at the institute, he rose to Chief Scientist and also held a professorship at the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research, building a body of work spanning geophysical fluid dynamics, tectonophysics, magnetotellurics, groundwater-flow modelling and geophysical inversion — the mathematical techniques used to reconstruct subsurface structure from surface measurements.
Much of his early research focused on the thermo-mechanical modelling of the Indian continental lithosphere, examining how heat and mass move through the deep Earth to shape tectonic deformation over geological time. That foundation later fed into more applied work: identifying suitable sites for high-voltage direct current power-transmission electrodes for India’s national grid operators, imaging kimberlite pipes — geological formations sometimes associated with diamond deposits — for mineral exploration, and coordinating an airborne geophysics survey for uranium exploration on behalf of the Atomic Minerals Directorate.
He has also led CSIR’s “India Deep Earth Exploration Program,” a mega-project aimed at probing the country’s subsurface structure, and has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, including as an editor of the second edition of the Encyclopaedia of Solid Earth Geophysics.
Continuing a local tradition
Manglik’s selection continues a pattern of NGRI scientists being recognized under the DAE fellowship programme. Retired NGRI chief scientist R.K. Chadha, whose work centred on earthquake hazards near nuclear power plants, dams and coastal regions vulnerable to tsunamis, received the same fellowship in 2021.
The Raja Ramanna scheme itself traces back to 2000, when it was launched as the DAE-BRNS Senior Scientists Scheme before being renamed in 2005 in memory of Raja Ramanna, the physicist and former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission who played a central role in India’s nuclear programme. The award carries a monthly honorarium, structured so that it does not push a fellow’s total post-retirement income beyond their pre-retirement emoluments.
With uranium exploration and subsurface energy infrastructure remaining priorities for the DAE, Manglik’s continued involvement is expected to extend his geophysical modelling work into problems the department has identified as nationally significant, building on research that has spanned from theoretical models of continental deformation to on-the-ground mineral and energy surveys across India.
