PUNE: Prof Arvind Anant Natu, a former NCL scientist (1973-2007), has been nominated as the Chairperson of the Board of Governors at the Indian Institute of Science Education & Research (IISER), Kolkata. His tenure will be for a period of three years.

Prof Natu served CSIR-NCL, Pune, till 2007 and after superannuation, he has been serving IISER, Pune. 

His research interests are synthetic organic chemistry, chemistry and natural products, 

Bio-organic chemistry, Novel antifungals, drug discovery, DNA diagnostics and therapeutics. Prof Natu completed his MSc and PhD in 1969 and 1976, respectively from University of Pune. 

He is the recipient of many awards and honours including Cross Order of Merit (2018) by the German President. He is the honorary advisor and the German Research Ambassador since 2007. Prof Natu had been involved in the conceptualisation, planning and execution of the IISER Pune and now, IISER Tirupati. He is also the Fellow of Maharashtra Academy of Science. He is a member/advisor of the board of directors at many institutes, universities and pharma companies.