The five-day hybrid workshop on “Recent Advances in Microscopy and Spectroscopy” commenced on 23rd February 2026 at the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad as part of its Centennial Celebrations.
The workshop, being held from February 23–27, is organized under the Indo-Norwegian Cooperation Programme 2024 (INCP2) project titled “Bioscopy – Towards Modern Transdisciplinary Education and Research in Microscopy.”
The Principal Investigator from Norway is Prof. Krishna Agarwal of UIT The Arctic University of Norway, while the Indian Project Coordinator is Prof. Biswajit Chowdhury of IIT (ISM).
The initiative is supported on the Indian side by the University Grants Commission (UGC), Government of India, and includes collaboration with leading AcSIR and CSIR laboratories such as CSIR-Central Scientific Instruments Organisation, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute and CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology.
The workshop is jointly organized by the Departments of Chemistry & Chemical Biology and Physics at IIT (ISM). Prof. Sourav Kumar Dey is serving as Convenor and Prof. Umakanta Tripathy as Co-Convenor.
The inaugural session was attended by Prof. Tanmoy Maity, Associate Dean (International Relations and Alumni Affairs), Prof. S.K. Padhi, Head of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Prof. V.K. Rai, Head of the Department of Physics, and Prof. Biswajit Chowdhury.
The dignitaries emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary research and international academic collaboration in advancing microscopy and spectroscopy.
Around 35 participants joined physically at IIT (ISM), while another 35–40 participated online, including international attendees from Norway.
The technical sessions focus on advanced microscopy techniques such as confocal, nonlinear, super-resolution and holographic microscopy, along with cutting-edge spectroscopy methods including fluorescence, Raman, vibrational and molecular spectroscopy.
The inaugural day set a strong academic tone, fostering global engagement and knowledge exchange in emerging imaging and spectroscopic technologies.
