Prof. Mahesh Hariharan's Photo
Prof. Mahesh Hariharan, FASc,
Deputy Director, IISER Thiruvananthapuram, &
Professor, School of Chemistry, IISER Thiruvananthapuram
deputy.director[at]iisertvm[dot]ac[dot]in

Mahesh Hariharan is a Professor at School of Chemistry, IISER Thiruvananthapuram. After completing doctoral research (2002-2007) from CSIR-NIIST India with Dr. D. Ramaiah, Dr. Hariharan carried out postdoctoral research (2007–2009) with Prof. F. D. Lewis at Northwestern University. His research efforts focus on understanding the interaction of light with biomolecules, crystalline and twisted organic materials. Prof. Hariharan is an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences. Prof. Hariharan is the recipient of the Chemical Research Society of India Bronze Medal (2020), Japanese Photochemistry Association Lectureship Award for Asian and Oceanian Photochemist Sponsored by Eikohsha (2020), Distinguished Lectureship Award from the Chemical Society of Japan (2017) and the Asian and Oceanian Photochemistry Association Young Scientist Prize (2014). Prof. Hariharan has featured in the young chemists/scientists issue in ChemComm (2017), Chemistry A European Journal (2018) and The Journal of Physical Chemistry (2019).


Education

  • B.Sc., 1998, The Cochin College, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala.
  • M.Sc., 2000, Sacred Heart College, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala.
  • Ph.D., 2006, CSIR-NIIST, Trivandrum, Kerala

Appointments

June 2025-Till date Deputy Director, IISER Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Feb 2024 Visiting Scientist and Dr. Reich Lecturer, University of Würzburg, Germany
Oct 2022-May 2025 Registrar, IISER Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Aug 2021-Till date Co-Coordinator, CAMRIE, IISER Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Mar 2021-Oct 2022 Head, School of Chemistry, IISER Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Jan 2020-present Professor, IISER Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
June 2016-July 2018 Head, School of Chemistry, IISER Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Nov 2016 Visiting Professor, University of Würzburg, Germany
Sept 2014-Dec 2019 Associate Professor, IISER Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
June 2014-Sept 2014 Visiting Professor, Montana State University, Montana, USA
May-July 2010, July 2013 Visiting Fellow, Northwestern University, Illinois, USA
July 2009-Sept 2014 Assistant Professor, IISER Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
March 2007-July 2009 Postdoctoral Fellow, Northwestern University, Illinois, USA

Academic Services

Jan 2025-Jan 2026
Member, Jury Committee of Selection of Projects Under PRAYAAS, NCERT
Sep 2024-Till Date
Member, Governing Council, Centre for Nano & Soft Matter Sciences, Bengaluru
Feb 2024-Feb 2024
Member, Formulation of Guidelines for National Junior Science Award, NCERT
Jan 2024-Jan 2024
Member, Jury Committee of Selection of Projects Under PRAYAAS, NCERT
Feb 2023-Feb 2023
Member, Formulation of Guidelines for National Junior Science Award, NCERT
Apr 2023-Mar 2026
Council Member, Chemical Research Society of India, Bangalore
Aug 2022-Jan 2023
Vice-Chairman, SCERT Curriculum Revision, Focus Group on Science Education
May 2022-May 2023
Member, Syllabus Review Committee on the Subject of Chemical Sciences, CSIR
Apr 2022-Mar 2024
Member, Building and Works Committee, IISER TVM, Kerala, India
Dec 2021-Nov 2023
Member, Board of Governors, IISER TVM, Kerala, India
Jul 2020-Jun 2023
Convener, CRSI Local Chapter of the region, Trivandrum/Cochin/Calicut
Jan 2020-present
Member, Senate, IISER TVM, Kerala, India
June 2016-July 2018
Member, Senate, IISER TVM, Kerala, India

Honors and Awards

  • Member, International Advisory Board of IC on Excited State Aromaticity and Antiaromaticity, 2025
  • Member, International Advisory Board of International Conference on Photochemistry, 2024-
  • Co-Chief Editor, International Reviews in Physical Chemistry, 2024-
  • Editorial Board Member, Resonance, Journal of Science Education, 2024-
  • Outstanding Reviewer for Chemical Science 2023
  • Featured in Chemical Society Reviews Pioneering Investigators Issue 2023
  • Reviewer Spotlight in Chemical Science 2023
  • Editorial Advisory Board Member of Chemical Science, 2023-2025
  • Editorial Advisory Board Member of The Journal of Physical Chemistry A/B/C, 2023-2025
  • Editorial Advisory Board Member of ACS Applied Optical Materials, 2022-2024
  • Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, 2022-
  • Associate Editor of Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry, 2021-
  • Lectureship Award for Asian and Oceanian Photochemist Sponsored by Eikohsha 2020
  • Chemical Research Society of India Bronze Medal 2020
  • Featured in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Virtual Special Issue “Young Scientists” 2019
  • Featured in Chemistry-A European Journal Young Chemists Special Issue 2018
  • Featured in ChemComm Emerging Investigators Issue 2017
  • Chemical Society of Japan Distinguished Lectureship Award, 2017
  • Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016-
  • Associate Editor of Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences, 2016-
  • Associate Editor of RSC Advances, 2015-2022
  • Chartered Chemist and Scientist of the Royal Society of Chemistry, 2015
  • Asian and Oceanian Photochemistry Association Young Scientist Prize, 2014
  • Indo-US Science and Technology Forum Fellowship, 2014
  • Kerala State Young Scientist Award, 2013