Prof. Dinesh Kumar Srivastava (born 1952) is presently Indian National Science Academy Senior Scientist and Honorary Visiting Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru. He is now working on energy, environment, climate change, international collaborations, and science outreach along with a continuation of his research on quark-gluon plasma.
He obtained his graduation from Allahabad University in 1970 and joined the Training School of the Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Mumbai. He started working at the Variable Energy Project of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in 1971 and retired as Director and Distinguished Scientist at the Variable Energy Cyclotron Center, Kolkata in 2016. Later, he continued there as Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) Raja Ramanna Fellow until 2019. He worked at National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru as a Homi Bhabha Chair Professor, during 2019-2023.
He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India, and the Indian National Science Academy. He holds an Honorary Professorship at Amity University since 2019 and was an Emeritus Professor of Homi Bhabha National Institute.
He was awarded the Indian Nuclear Society’s award for “Outstanding Contribution to Teaching of Nuclear Sciences''. Prof. Srivastava received the Outstanding Referee Award by the American Physical Society (APS) in 2009 and was honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award by Chitkara University in 2012. He was also awarded the Homi Bhabha Lecturer Award by the Indian Physics Association and Institute of Physics UK in 2016, and the G. N. Ramchandran Award in Physical Sciences, from SASTRA University in 2024. He has delivered the Sir C. V. Raman Memorial Award Lecture at Calcutta University and the Prof Abdus Salam Memorial Award Lecture at Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi.
He is serving as an Editorial Board Member of Scientific Reports, and Physics (MDPI) Journals. He served as a Member of the Editorial Board of Physical Review C, from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2012, and Pramana for about 10 years. He is President of the Indian Physical Society since 2014.
Dr Srivastava has worked at several prestigious labs and universities abroad, including KfK (now KIT) Karlsruhe, GSI Darmstadt, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley, Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton New York, University of Minnesota, Duke University, McGill University, University of Cape Town, Bielefeld University, and the University of Frankfurt, etc.
His research interests include Electromagnetic probes of quark-gluon plasma (QGP), relativistic hydrodynamics, production, and propagation of charm quarks in QGP, transverse flow, etc. Earlier, he made important contributions in the theoretical understanding of elastic, inelastic, and break-up reactions of light nuclei. Prof. Srivastava has published more than one hundred and seventy papers and delivered more than 400 talks, seminars, and colloquia. He is the author of two collections of short stories and more recently three books of children’s literature in science.
His book on “Climate Change and Energy Options for a Sustainable Future” written with V. S. Ramamurthy was published by World Scientific Publishing Company (WSPC) in early 2021. Another one on “Art and Science of Managing Public Risks”, by V. S. Ramamurthy, Dinesh Kumar Srivastava, and Shailesh Nayak was also published by WSPC in early 2022. A new book exploring the importance of international collaborations, “Science Beyond Borders: International Collaborations in Basic Sciences”, written with V. S. Ramamurthy. Shailesh Nayak, and D. Suba Chandran is under publication by WSPC.