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Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, a member of Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, was appointed as the Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to the Government of India on 20 April 2022. He has been appointed to the post for a period of three years, succeeding renowned biologist Prof. K. VijayRaghavan.

Born 26 June 1951, Prof. Sood is a physicist, known for his pioneering research on graphene and nanotechnology. A Distinguished Honorary Professor of Physics at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, he was honoured with the Padma Shri in 2013, the fourth highest civilian award, for his contributions to the fields of science and technology. 

He graduated in Physics (BSc Hons) from the Punjab University, Chandigarh, in 1971, did his MSc Hons from the same university and in 1973 joined the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam as a scientist. After a PhD in 1982 from the Indian Institute of Science, he did post-doctoral research at the Max Planck Institute, Germany.

Prof. Sood joined the Indian Institute of Science as an associate professor and is currently an honorary professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bengaluru since 1993. 

Prof. Sood Sood has done extensive research on hard condensed matter and soft condensed matter physics, with special emphasis on Raman scattering and nanotechnology. He has been credited with many path breaking findings and inventions, which are said to be of daily and scientific uses. In 2003, he generated electrical signals by passing liquids over solids or through nanotubes – a phenomenon termed as the Sood Effect. 

Prof. Sood is a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), Indian Academy of Sciences (FASc), Indian National Science Academy (FNA), The World Academy of Sciences (FTWAS) and the National Academy of Sciences, India (FNASc). He holds the Bhatnagar Chair of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and is a former President of the Indian Academy of Sciences and Vice-President of the Indian National Science Academy. 

Prof. Sood is a recipient of awards such as the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize; TWAS Prize in Physics; G.D. Birla Science Award; Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Award; Materials Research Society (India) Medal; Millennium Gold Medal of Indian Science Congress; Homi Jehangir Bhabha Medal of Indian National Science Academy; Sir C.V. Raman Award of the University Grants Commission; H.K. Firodia Award in Science and Technology; and the G.M. Modi Award for Science.