Central Department of Chemistry, Tribhuvan University

Central Department of Chemistry

The front premise of CDC, TU
Motto	Go Green
Type	Public
Established	1965 (1965)
Students	180
Location	Kirtipur, Kathmandu , Nepal
Campus	Urban
Website	www.cdctu.edu.np

Introduction

Established in 1965, Central Department of Chemistry is one of the first science department that has been commenced by Tribhuvan University as a branch of Tri-Chandra Campus for the beginning of advanced course of Science in Nepal, which only provided the course in Organic Chemistry then. It has then ever since growing and extending its scope far beyond what has been in the start and currently enrolling the students for Masters of Chemistry degree as chief authority also conducting entrance examinations, enrolling students, running research activities as leader and pioneer in many interdisciplinary subjects and variations of chemistry throughout the country, running with an affiliation. It has extended its branches at Bharatpur, Biratnagar, Pokhara, Tri-Chandra College and recently at ASCOL.

History

Tribhuvan University was established by promulgating the Tribhuvan University Act in 1959. TU has commenced teaching, research, and other academic activities from July 14, 1959. The teaching of Chemistry in Nepal, however, had already commenced in 1921 in Tri-Chandra College, with the introduction of Intermediate of Science (I.Sc.) program. It was then upgraded to Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) level in 1947. Master's Degree in Chemistry was started only from November 28, 1965 initially at Tri-Chandra College with the introduction of a program in Organic Chemistry. The program was conducted under the lecturer-in-Charge-ship of Late Professor Prasanna Man Singh Pradhan, the then Head of the Chemistry Department of Tri-Chandra College. This historical step also pioneered the introduction of research initiatives in Chemistry in Nepal.

The present Chemistry building within the University Campus was constructed on August 17, 1966 and inaugurated on July 16, 1967. The Central Department of Chemistry then started to function in its own building at the University complex.

Master's degree programs in Inorganic Chemistry and Physical Chemistry were introduced in 1966 and 1967, respectively. Late Professor Dr. Dhruba Man Singh Amatya was formally appointed as the first Head of the Department in 1966 and he remained to that post up to 1984. After him, Prof. Dr. S.P. Dhoubadel (1984/10/28 - 1984/11/25), Prof. Dr. C.L. Gajurel (1984/11/26 - 1985/08/31 and 1987/04/11 - 1987/11/05), Prof. J.K. Shrestha (1985/09/01 - 1987/03/31 and 1987/11/06 - 1994/06/05), Prof. Dr. M.D. Manandhar (19894/06/06 - 2002/06/01), Prof. Dr. R.R. Pradhananga (2002/06/06 - 2007/12/12), and Prof. Dr. T.P. Pathak (2007/12/13 - 2009/08/31) were appointed as Head of the Central Department of Chemistry during the period in between 1984-2009. Recently, Prof. Dr. Kedar Nath Ghimire has resigned from the post and Prof. Dr. Megh Raj Pokhrel has been leading the Department as the Head since 2014.

Since the establishment, the department has extended its courses on various subjects with amendment each year. The latest being Biochemistry, Natural Product Chemistry, Electro-chemistry, Nanotechnology, Polymer science, etc. Since 2013, the department has adopted a semester system which previously succeeded by year basis as major campuses here in Nepal do such. The total quota of students for each year was 90 and after being converted to semester system, the quota has been limited to 45 per semester effectively maintaining the identical seats over the year.

Faculty Members

Organic Chemistry

Professor Dr. Riddhibir Singh, Professor Dr. Ram Chandra Basnyat, Assistant Professor Dr. Sushan Joshi, Assistant Professor Dr. Surya Kant Kalauni, Assistant Professor Dr. Bimala Subba, and Teaching Assistant Dr. Sushika Mulmi.

Physical Chemistry

Professor Dr. Jagadeesh Bhattarai, Professor Dr. Kedar N. Ghimire, Professor Dr. Vinay Kumar Jha, Associate Professor Dr. Rameshwar Adhikari, Associate Professor Dr. Amar Prasad Yadav, Associate Professor Dr. Deba Bahadur Khadka, Assistant Professor Mr. Santosh Khanal, Assistant professor Mr. Bipeen Dahal and Teaching Assistant Dr. Kshama Parajuli.

Inorganic Chemistry

Professor Dr. Megh Raj Pokhrel, Head of the Department, Professor Dr. Armila Rajbhandari Associate Professor Ms. Sushma Shrestha, Associate Professor Dr. Paras Nath Yadav, Assistant Professor Dr. Sabita Shrestha, Assistant Professor Dr. Nootan Prasad Bhattarai and Assistant Professor Mr. Khagendra P. Bohara.

Guest Professors and Part-Time Teaching Staff

Professor Jaya Krishna Shrestha (Coordination Chemistry), Professor Dr. Tulsi Prasad Pathak (Nuclear Chemistry), Professor Dr. Sarbajna Man Tuladhar (Organic Chemistry), Associate Professor Mr. Krishna Ram Palak (Organic Chemistry), Associate Professor Dr. Mina Rajbhandari (Organic Chemistry).

Administrative staffs

The list of administrative staffs are as follows: 1. Mr. Rajbhai Prakash 2. Mr. Shankar B. Kunwar 3. Mr. Taradatta Joshi 4. Ms. Nira Manandhar 5. Mr. Dhruba K. Khadka 6. Ms. Geeta Lamichhane 6. Mr. Deepak Adhikari 7. Ms. Laxmi Rimal 8. Mr. Namshanti Maharjan 9. Ms. Sunita Rimal 10. Ms. Bimala Lama 11. Ms Mainya Pode 12. Mr. Sujit Pode Dyola

Teaching

Courses offered for master's degree in Chemistry (M. Sc.) in the Central Department of Chemistry are of four semesters duration. The total credit hours in theory and laboratory works in M. Sc. is 60. During third semester, students may choose an area of specialization in one of the three separate streams: Physical Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and Inorganic Chemistry while in first and second semester all students are in one general stream. The third semester students may choose one of the following papers as elective subject: Spectroscopy, Nuclear Chemistry, Natural Product Chemistry, Biochemistry and Food Chemistry. In context of emerging new developments in Chemistry, the Department is doing homework in introducing more courses as electives in future. Candidates seeking admission to the M. Sc. Degree must hold a B. Sc. degree with major in Chemistry from Tribhuvan University (TU) or an equivalent Degree from the Universities recognized by the TU. They must be qualified in the Entrance Test conducted by the Department. Candidates seeking to admit in the Ph. D. program must have an M. Sc. degree in Chemistry from TU or an equivalent Degree from the University recognized by the TU.

Research

The Department is engaged in research and development activities in various fields of Chemistry. The different areas of research covered are as follows: Applied Enzymology and Biotechnology, Chemistry of Clay Minerals, Corrosion and Surface Science, Electrochemistry/Electrodes Environmental Chemistry, Natural Products Chemistry, Natural and Synthetic Zeolites, Organic Sulfur Chemistry, Polymer and Materials Chemistry, Reaction Mechanisms, Separation Chemistry & Technology Synthetic Chemistry

Services of modern sophisticated instruments currently available at the Department are as follows: Proton-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer, 60 MHz (P-NMR), Fourier Transform Infrared Absorption Spectrometer, Gas Liquid Chromatography, High Performance Liquid Chromatography, Planar Chromatograph, Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer, Differential Thermal Analysis and Thermogravimetry (DTA-TG), XFS Spectrometer, UV-VIS Spectrometer, Medium Pressure Liquid Chromatograph, Potentiostat/Galvanostat, Fluorimeter, Polarimeter, Flame Photometer, Polarizing Optical Microscope.

ChemSA

The students of this Department have an association named Chemistry Students’ Association (CHEMSA). This association is involved in extracurricular activities for the welfare of Chemistry students and publishes an annual science magazine “Spectrum”. The ChemSA organized Tree Plantation Program in the Department Premise and constructed the fence around the Department Building collecting the donation from University authority as well as the Department’s academic staff.

PhD and M.Sc. Dissertations

The research works in the Department are conducted basically in the frame of M. Sc. and Ph. D. dissertations. The funding for the research works are generated by different projects, departmental budget as well as personal efforts of academic staff and students. The academic staffs of the Department have strong ties with the scientists from renowned international laboratories which have facilitated high level collaborative research works.