Dr. Paramvir Singh Ahuja
Detailed CV could be sought from the Directorate
Dr. Paramvir Singh Ahuja born on 19th December, 1952, has an excellent academic record with B.Sc.(Agri) and M.Sc. (Agri) from PAU, Ludhiana and thereafter a Ph.D. from the University of Nottingham as a Commonwealth Scholar during 1983. He has been a national scholarship holder throughout his academic tenure. He has done his Post-Doctorate from McGill University under NSERC, Fellowship at Montreal, Canada and has been a Visiting Scientist to the Ohio State University, Columbus USA. During his Ph.D. he has also worked at the Plant Breeding Institute, Cambridge, UK and Nuclear Research Institute at Julich in Germany. He has several national awards to his credit and has delivered reputed societal memorial lectures. He is a Fellow of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), and National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI) besides other professional bodies pertaining to his area of specialization.
He started his working career as a Agricultural Research Scientist in the ICAR in 1977 and thereafter joined CSIR in 1983 on his return from UK. Initially he was Head, Department of Plant Tissue Culture at CIMAP Lucknow wherein his Department became a Centre of Excellence. Thereafter, he joined as Head, Plant Biotechnology and Biodiversity Conservation Division, CSIR Complex, Palampur now known as IHBT. He took over as Director of the Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT) on 13th April, 1998 and is on this position since then. During the year 2008-09 he also had additional charge as Director, CIMAP Lucknow. He has been a member of Research Councils/ Scientific Advisory Committees/Management Councils of several prestigious institutions of the country. He has taken part as a member of Task Forces and has been on committees of Govt. of India. He has been a member of Editorial Board of many national journals. He is a Life Member of more than 15 professional bodies. He has guided 10 Ph.D. students and several M.Tech/M.Sc. studies. He has more than 200 Research Publications/Reviews and has delivered innumerable invited lectures. He has edited two Lab Manuals and several books. He has over 20 patents and some of these are commercialized. His early contribution are in the improvement of wheat and forage legumes wherein his work resulted in release of a salt resistant wheat variety. He has made a commendable contribution in the area of conservation and improvement of Medicinal and Aromatic plants.
He has played a leadership role in release of the first somaclonal variety in India in the aromatic grass Cymbopogon winterianus popularly known as CIMAP BIO-13. His work on reproductive biology, tissue culture of MAPS led to the development of gene bank at CIMAP. He has provided leadership for the production of several somatic hybrids in Tropane Alkaloids and has been a pioneer on the work on hairy root production and secondary metabolites. His contribution on characterization of the India Tea germplasm and his research on tea, rose and potato transgenics, is today well known. His role in bioprospection of novel plants, genes from high altitudes and their validation and translation to application is noteworthy. He has played a pivotal role in introducing stevia and several other medical plants. He has made significant contribution in extending rural technologies to remote locations of Himalayas. He is acknowledged as an institution builder who has raised IHBT to an Institute of International reckoning.
Institute of
Himalayan Bioresource Technology,Post Box No. 6 Palampur (H.P.) 176061 INDIA Tel:
+91-1894-230742-43 Fax: +91-1894-230433
E-mail:director@ihbt.res.in