AMU to confer degree on Japanese physicist

Aligarh Muslim University will confer the Doctorate in Science, honoris causa, on noted physicist and Nobel laureate Takaaki Kajita of Japan at its 64th annual convocation scheduled on November 1.

Engineer Sobhi Batterjee, distinguished entrepreneur and Chairman, Middle East Healthcare Company and Saudi German Hospitals, Saudi Arabia, will deliver the convocation address.

Chief Guest Batterjee has been engaged in developing a chain of Not-for-Profit hospitals for the poor, in association with Mohammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize winner and noted economist of Bangladesh, Gramin Bank, Islamic Development Bank (IDB), GE and CCC.

Takaaki Kajita is currently Director of the Centre for Cosmic Neutrinos at the Institute for Cosmic Ray Research (ICRR), Japan.

He is also the principal investigator of ICRR project located at the Kamioka Observatory, the KAGRA gravity wave detector.

Some 5,000 graduate, post-graduate and PhD degrees will be awarded at the convocation. Besides, more than 200 medals would also be distributed on the occasion.

The first Annual Convocation was held on December 28, 1922 and degrees were conferred on 75 graduates.

The first convocation was presided over by its founder Chancellor Begum Sultan Jahan, ruler of Bhopal.

This annual convocation has gained importance on another count as well.

Prof. Takaaki Kajita is visiting AMU along with a high-level delegation of physicists and scholars from Japan to facilitate a Memorandum of Understanding with the Aligarh Muslim University for developing cooperation and exchange in Physics.

Prof. Sajjad Athar, Department of Physics, Aligarh Muslim University told the media persons that Prof. Kajita's visit to AMU will also help increase the prospects for better Indo-Japan relations and cooperation in the field of scientific explorations.

He said that following the convocation proceedings, an "Indo-Japan Collaboration Meeting" will be held on "Opportunities for Neutrino Research in Japan" which will be presided over by the AMU Vice Chancellor, Lt. Gen. Zameer Uddin Shah (retd).

--IANS

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