Siva Umapathy

Umapathy, born on 10 June 1959 in Tanjavur in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, graduated in chemistry from the Kongunadu Arts and Science College of the University of Madras. He joined the PSG College of Technology from where he passed MSc in applied science in 1981.^[6] Subsequently, he moved to New Zealand for his doctoral studies and secured a PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Otago.^[7] Obtaining a research fellowship from Science and Engineering Research Board, he did his post-doctoral studies at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and the University of York. On his return to India, he joined the Indian Institute of Science where he served as Professor of the Department of Instrumentation and Applied Physics and the chair of the Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry. He headed the Laser Spectroscopy Group at the IISc where he hosts a number of doctoral and post-doctoral scholars.^[8] He has also served as a visiting faculty or fellow at various institutions such as the Kanagawa Academy of Science and Technology, University of Groningen, Institute of Molecular Science, University of Tokyo, Imperial College of Science and Technology and University of Nottingham.^[6] He also served as Director (September 2018 to August 2023) of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal (IISER).

Umapathy's research is centered on Laser spectroscopy and he has carried out extensive work on molecular dynamics using Raman spectroscopy.^[9] His group also utilizes other spectroscopic techniques like infra red and is involved in the examination of the molecular structure of cells and tissues.^[10] Using Raman spectroscopic techniques, he has developed a method to identify biomarkers in cells which is estimated to assist in early cancer detection.^[7] He has published several peer-reviewed articles;^[11] ResearchGate, an online repository of science articles, has listed 164 of them.^[12]