Jayaraman Sivaguru
Bowling Green, OH| Grant Category: | Fulbright-Nehru Academic & Professional Excellence Award (Research) |
| Project Title: | Light-driven Strategies for Developing a Sustainable Future |
| Field of Study: | Chemistry |
| Home Institution: | Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH |
| Host Institution: | Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka |
| Grant Start Month: | March 2026 |
| Duration of Grant: | Four months |
Brief Bio:
Dr. Jayaraman Sivaguru is a distinguished university professor at Bowling Green State University (BGSU), Ohio. His recognitions include the 2008 NSF CAREER award, the 2010 Grammaticakis-Neumann Prize from the Swiss Chemical Society, and the young investigator awards from the Inter-American Photochemical Society (2011) and Sigma-Xi (2012). Besides, he won the 2012 Peltier Award for Innovation in Teaching from NDSU. He was a visiting young professor at the Global Centre for Excellence, Osaka University, and was also visiting fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences under the President’s International Fellowship Initiative. He serves as the American editor for the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry and as the co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology. In 2021, he was awarded the Honda-Fujishima Lectureship by the Japanese Photochemistry Association for outstanding achievement in photochemistry. In 2023, he received the Olscamp Award from BGSU. In 2025, he was named as the 48th Probst Lecturer at SIUE. Dr. Sivaguru is a member of the International Organizing Committee for the IAPS-2026 meeting in Sao Paulo and will also co-chair the 2027 Gordon Conference on Photochemistry.
His research interests include: uncovering new excited state chemical reactivity; light-induced axial to central chiral transfer; asymmetric organo-photocatalysis; supramolecular photocatalysis with water-soluble nanocontainers; light-responsive materials for polymer circularity; development of high-efficiency photoinitiators; and designing light-initiated strategies for eye protection and ophthalmic applications (e.g. contact lenses and other eyewear).
Dr. Sivaguru is passionate about helping students to gravitate toward STEM disciplines. Toward this, in 2007, he launched an outreach program called PICNICS (Parents Involvement with Children Nurturing Intellectual Curiosity in Sciences).
For his Fulbright-Nehru project, Prof. Sivaguru is collaborating with Prof. N. Jayaraman of the Indian Institute of Science on photochemical aspects within dendritic systems. He is also collaborating with Prof. Ashok Mishra at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras on photophysical studies. Besides, Prof. Sivaguru is holding classes on photochemistry. He is also evaluating the feasibility of adapting PICNICS to an Indian setting.