CV

Dr. Rita John > CV

Prof. Dr. Rita John

Senator, University of Madras, Tamil Nadu, India

Professor and Head, Department of Theoretical Physics

Chair Person, PG Physics for colleges affiliated to the University of Madras

Director, International Centre, University of Madras, Chennai, India

Co-Ordinator & Faculty, B.Sc. (Blended) program jointly with the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Visiting Professor on Fulbright Nehru Lecturer Fellowship at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas, USA (2014).

Member Women Harassment Redressal Committee, TANSCHE, Chennai

Chair/Convener/Member of Administrative, Academic, Selection, Research committees and various International and National Professional bodies.

Coordinator of the subcommittee ‘Education Modern Science and Technology’ of the State Education Policy (SEP)

Member of the Books / e-books recommendation committee for Madurai Kalaignar Memorial Library and Chennai Anna Centenary Library.

Member, Advisory committee, IQAC (Internal Quality Assurance Cell, University of Madras

Advisor, Women’s Hostels of all campuses, University of Madras

Member, Students Grievance and Redressal Cell, University of Madras

Governing Council Member, Ethiraj College as University Representative

Academic Council Member, D.G. Vaishnava College, Arumbakkam

Board of Studies Member, Presidency College, Chennai

Research

Dr. Rita John’s area of research is Theoretical/Computational Condensed Matter Physics. Her research outcomes are published in leading International Journals. She has been guiding Ph.D, M.Phil., M.Sc. and M.Tech. projects. Currently working as a Principal Investigator of the project ‘Technology Aided Participatory Teaching Learning Module in Physics’ in a state project of Rs. 5.4 Crores. Has a US consulate funded project to the tune of $30,000 (30 thousand US dollars).

Books authored

The book titled ‘Solid State Physics’ authored by Dr. Rita John and published by Tata McGraw Hill publisher is prescribed in the model syllabus by University Grands Commission (UGC), India for Physics students. She served as Domain Expert and Mentor for the Tamil Nadu 11 and 12 Physics Text books revised in 2018 and has also authored a few topics. She has edited and published 4 books on advanced topics in Physics. She has authored a book titled ‘Science uncovers the signature of God’ highlighting the scientific facts recorded in the Holy Bible. She also has published articles on ‘Science in Tamil Literature of Sangam Age’.

Invitation Abroad

She has received multiple invitations from countries such as USA, UK, Singapore, China, Japan, Australia, France and Korea as presenter, invited speaker and chair of the technical sessions related to Physics. She was the Indian host scientist for the India – Japan Bilateral Research Exploratory Research visits.

As a Trainer/Resource person

She is a trainer/resource person for the

  • Capacity Building Program for Women in Higher Education conducted by the University Grants Commission (UGC), Government of India.

  • Resource person for the ‘INSPIRE program’ of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India.

  • Mentoring workshops of United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF) and Evaluator for the Fulbright Senior Award and Junior Advanced Research Award for two foreign countries.

  • UGC- Human Resource Development Centre, University of Madras in the areas Physics, Nano Science, Teaching and Learning Techniques in Higher Education, Women Studies and Research Process and Methodology.

  • Domain Expert and Mentor for Physics, Model School project of Government of Tamil Nadu (2022)

Women Empowerment programs

Dr. John has been involved in ‘Women Empowerment’ programs. She represented the country to places including China and USA to deliver plenary and special talks related to ‘Women in Science, Engineering and Technology – Scenario and strategies in India’. Served as panelist and resource person for topics related to Gender dimensions in higher education particularly STEM initiatives in academic forums and also by American Centre, American Consulate, Chennai.

Awards and Recognition

Dr. Rita John was selected as the ‘speaker of the year 2018’ by the USIEF for the ‘Knowledge Connect Program’, American Consulate, Chennai.

She is recipient of various awards and prizes. To mention a few: ‘Fellow of Academy of Science’, ‘Young Women Scientist Award’ by the Government of Tamil Nādu, ‘Women Scientist Honor’ on National Science Day, ‘Academic Achievement Award’ and ‘Women Achiever Award’ by the University of Madras, ‘Life Time Achievement Award’ by Indian Spectro Physics Association at the National level (2021).