Welcome to NCCR

The National Centre for Catalysis Research (NCCR) at the Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, Chennai is established by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India in April 2006.

Catalysis is a multi-dimensional (needing the skills of science, engineering, design, fabrication and control) as well as multi-disciplinary science covering all the four branches of chemistry, namely Physical, Inorganic, Organic and Bio as well as Chemical engineering and technology. The domain of catalysis is fundamental for improving petroleum refining, petrochemical, fine and bulk chemical industries, which only can fulfill the needs of society, keeping in view the energy efficiency. The importance of catalysis increased steadily and it will continue to grow in our century due to the increasing importance and significance of life sciences, due to the interface of biology and chemistry that is developing rapidly in recent years and also due to the developments in material science like the invention of meso-porous and nano materials. The ever increasing research efforts have now led to a situation where the boundaries between the three branches of catalysis, namely, homogeneous, heterogeneous and bio are no longer rigid and have become permeable.