Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS)

Established on July 29, 1876, by Dr. Mahendra Lal Sircar, IACS stands as the oldest institute in India dedicated to fundamental research in the forefront of basic sciences. Professor C. V. Raman conducted groundbreaking work at IACS from 1907 to 1933, leading to the discovery of the renowned Raman Effect, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930.

The activities of the Association at 210 Bowbazar Street, Calcutta, in its early years were sustained by generous public contributions. Conceived in the backdrop of the cultural and intellectual awakening of nineteenth-century Bengal, the institute was envisioned by its founder to be an institution that is "solely native and purely national." The original objective, which endures to this day, was to cultivate science in all its branches, advancing it through original research and applying it to the arts and comforts of life.

During the early phase, the list of Science lecturers at IACS included luminaries of the era such as Father Lafont, Jagadish Chandra Bose, Asutosh Mukherjee, Chunilal Bose, and Pramathanath Bose. Prominent figures like Pandit Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar and Kesab Chandra Sen served on the first Trustee Board of IACS, with Dr. Sircar himself as the first Honorary Secretary. Notable scholars and public figures like Gurudas Banerjee, Rajendralal Mitra, and Surendranath Banerjee were also patrons. Raja Peary Mohan Mukherjee became the first Indian President of IACS in 1912, followed by distinguished successors like Dr. Nilratan Sircar, Jnan Chandra Ghosh, and Satyendra Nath Bose.