The School of Nuclear Studies & Application was established with a vision to emerge as a common platform facilitating collaboration between various departments of Jadavpur University working in the domain of nuclear engineering. The school takes advantage of Jadavpur University’s unique feature of having different faculties under the same umbrella and utilises this advantage to explore the interface between international policies related to the use of nuclear energy and technology.
The school aims to educate students in the area of nuclear engineering and develop relevant engineering capabilities at par with global standards for meeting the requirements of industry and society. The school also emphasises carrying out quality research in relevant fields with the objective of promoting innovative and collaborative activities for facing future challenges.
The school enjoys strong networking with the nuclear establishment of the country. The establishment of the school was supported by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Govt. of India, through active participation of scientists from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC) and the UGC-DAE Consortium for Scientific Research, Kolkata, in its academic activities. The faculty members (including the academic committee members) are involved in a number of sponsored research projects funded by the Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences (BRNS) and other funding agencies of the Govt. of India. The faculties also collaborate extensively with other leading institutes in India like IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras, as well as institutes outside India such as Northwestern University and University College London.
The focus of the school is not just the 3S of nuclear energy – safety, security, safeguards. It has an added dimension – simulation – and thus, the focus becomes 4S. The school focuses on these aspects by taking an application-oriented approach to nuclear engineering, as compared to rigid theoretical approaches, which distinguishes it from other nuclear engineering departments of the country.
The school offers a 2-year Postgraduate Degree programme in Nuclear Engineering. The programme is based on the BARC training school model in which the students are exposed to a mix of core courses and specialised courses in various fields of nuclear engineering. The students are also needed to carry out a research project, leading to a thesis, in their final year. The research projects are carried out on relevant problems in nuclear engineering in association with various DAE institutes. Students are also allowed to take internships in industries or research institutes of their choice. The alumni of this programme are well established in different industries as well as leading research institutes in India including Jadavpur University, IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur, IIT Delhi and IIT Kharagpur, and leading institutes abroad such as University College London, Argonne National Laboratory as well as the prestigious International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) programme.
The school also offers Ph.D. degrees wherein the research scholars work on different sponsored projects or with funded Ph.D. fellowships. 6 research scholars associated with the school have been awarded Ph.D. degrees and are currently pursuing post-doctoral research or working as faculty in various reputed institutes. Research areas include heat and mass transfer, fracture mechanics and reactor control.
