Prof Dr. C.T. Aravindakumar took charge as the interim Vice Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University on June 5, 2023.

Hon. Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, in his capacity as Chancellor of Universities, appointed Prof Dr. C.T. Aravindakumar as the interim  Vice Chancellor of MGU. He will be in charge until a new VC is appointed on regular basis.

Dr. Aravidakumar completed his four year term as the Pro -Vice Chancellor of MGU on May 27 and is serving as senior professor at the School of Environmental Sciences at MGU. He is also holding post of Director at International Center of Polar Studies, Interuniversity Instrumentation Center and sophisticated Analytical Instrument Facility.

He obtained PhD degree from University of Pune under the exchange programme with Max-Plank-Institute, Germany under ICSC-World Laboratory Fellowship.

Prof Dr. C.T. Aravidakumar did his Post-Doctoral researches at The Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, Max-Planck-Institute, Germany and The Free University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

He was also a visiting professor/scientist in several reputed Universities and research organisations in nearly 16 countries in Europe, USA, Australia and Asia. He received full visiting professor title twice from the University of Paris, France.

Prof Dr. C.T. Aravidakumar  has over 400 publications in International Journals/Conference proceedings/Conference presentations/book chapters/reviews/editorials. He completed 20 national and international major research projects (total Rs.15 Crores) including the prestigious Obama-Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative with Duke University, USA.

30 students obtained PhD under his guidence. He presented research papers in over 50 national and international conferences (plenary/invited/Chair) within India and in countries such as Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, France, Norway, Denmark, USA, Japan, Australia, Thailand, Hong-Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brazil, Russia, UK, Slovakia and Korea.

He was the team leader of India’s Arctic Expedition in July 2017. He was selected for the LEAP programme of MHRD in 2019, and ERASMUS fellowship from the European Union, 2019. Presently he is serving as expert member in many National/international bodies related to environmental research including the Science Foundation from Russia, Poland and Kazakhstan.

In 2022, he was nominated as the Chairman of the committee on Environmental Impact Assessment of India’s Antarctic Research Projects. In 2023, he was awarded the prestigious Indo-US Fulbright Fellowship.