The Research and Development Cell (RDC) with cutting-edge technology had been established at PONNAIYAH RAMAJAYAM INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY(PRIST) in the academic year 2008 to help the society in promoting science and technology on energy, environment, food, materials, biomolecules and mechanisms, drug discovery, and stem cell platforms for regenerate medicines. The RDC is housed in an independent, multi-storied building with the state-of-the-art equipment and infrastructure to help achieve its mission and vision. The centre has dedicated laboratories for Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Industrial Biotechnology, Molecular Microbiology, Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Physical Sciences, Plant Tissue Culture, Animal Biotechnology, Nanotechnology, Stem Cell Research, Pharmacology, and Pharmaceuticals. The centre with dedicated scientists from different disciplines is now marching on to attain on par excellence in the arena of academic and research activities under the directions of Board Members and Advisors
PONNAIYAH RAMAJAYAM INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY(PRIST) has identified four major research areas to work for the benefit of human welfare:
- Drug Discovery and Development
- Energy and Environment
- Materials and Manufacturing
- Bio-metic Systems and Engineering

The plinth area of the Research and Development Cell is 40,000 square feet, of which 19,200 sq ft is currently dedicated to active research units such as Drug discovery, Stem Cell Biology, Molecular Biotechnology, Metabolic Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Material Sciences and physical Sciences, and Plant Biotechnology. Each division has the state-of-the-art facilities to carry out the mission of the Centre.
Technologies available at PONNAIYAH RAMAJAYAM INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY(PRIST)
Mechanical/Electrical/Electronic Engineering:
- Embedded systems and automation technology
Environmental Engineering:
- Unique adsorption technology for wastewater treatment
- Nanocoagulant technology for effluent treatment
- Organo-refining as a potential fuel cell technology
Material Science:
- Crystal manufacturing and processing technology for electronic components, semiconductors, integrated circuits, led, crystals, relays, connectors, ac-dc power supplies, capacitors, micro controllers, resistors, electronic hardware, transformers.
- Custom made nano-composite materials for industrial applications
Industrial Biotechnology:
- Microbial strain development for industrially important chemicals, enzymes and bioenergy productions.
- Distillery effluent treatment and utilization of waste for value-added bioproducts at pilot-scale.
- Upstream and downstream processing for bulk chemicals and enzymes production.
- Bio-fertilizers production.
- Biogas production.
- Spirulina cultivation and processing.
Plant Biotechnology:
- Hill Banana cultivation.
- Food and energy crop plantations.
- Tissue culturing for commercially important plant propagation.
- Disease-free plantation.
The Research and Development Cell at PONNAIYAH RAMAJAYAM INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY(PRIST) has Thirty Two well-qualified scientists from different disciplines in science and engineering. The research interest of the faculty spans a wide range; from energy and environment to problems of immediate interest to industry and the society.
Administration
Dr. Venkata HRD

Sustainability Management, Innovation Management, Entrepreneurship and Ancient Indian Management
Dr. A. Bakrudeen Ali Ahmed

Metabolic Engineerings and Diabetes
Dr. R. Arun Kumar

Oncology studies, Patents and Copyrights
Dr. Kailasam Koumaravelu

Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics
Dr. A. Sundaresan

Clinical Biochemistry
Dr. C. Anitha

Animal Biochemistry
Dr. T. Veeramani

Marine Biotechnology
Dr. N. Mahalakshmi

Microbial Enzymology
Dr. V. Vinoth Kannan

Mechanical - Alternative Fuels
Dr. G. Saravanan

Mechanical Engineering
Dr. S. Nithyanantham

Computer Science Engineering
Dr. M. Abdul Ghani Khan

Mechanical Engineering
Dr. V. S. Srinivasan

Electronic Communication Engineering
Dr. S. Dhanushkodi

Mechanical Engineering
Dr. R. Manikandan

Plant Natural Products and Applications
Dr. Kalapati Madhavi

Banking Management, Cost Accounting and Financial Management
Dr. G. Karthiga

Business and Management
Dr. M. Srilasri

Mechanical Engineering
A total of 560 Research Scholars have registered for their Ph.D work in Research and Development Cell at PONNAIYAH RAMAJAYAM INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY(PRIST) under broad disciplines:
- Crystal growth and material science
- Structure determination of bioactive compounds
- Characterization of bioactive compounds from plant and marine source
- Ex situ conservation of endangered plants
- Molecular marker development
- Identification of novel drugs from marine source
- Molecular modeling and drug designing
- Renewable energy and environment
- Farming systems management
- Ecology of Tsunami affected areas
- Solid waste and waste water management
- Water resources and management
- Sustainable development
- Computational science
- Materials research
Publications
| Total number of Publications | 2736 |
| Paper Publications in Scopus-Indexed International Peer-reviewed Journals | 1280 |
| Publications in Book Chapters | 4990 |
National and International Conferences/Symposia/Workshops
| International Conferences conducted | 12 |
| National Conferences/Workshop conducted | 74 |
Ongoing Extramural Projects
| S.NO | PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR | TITLE OF THE PROJECT | FUNDING AGENCY | AMOUNT SANCTIONED (IN LAKHS) |
PERIOD / STATUS |
| 1 | Dr. P.L.K.PRIYADARSHINI | The Applications of Graph Theory Concepts in Cryptography (ERIP/ER/1103893/M/01/1348) |
DRDO | 4.10 | Oct. 2011 – Oct. 2012 Completed |
| 2 | Dr. S. RAMESH | Development of Real-Time PCR Based High Throughput Biosensor System for the Detection and Identification of Food-Borne Pathogenic Fungi (ERIP/ER/1103948/M/01/1377) |
DRDO | 9.44 | Feb. 2012 – Mar. 2014 Completed |
| 3 | Dr. S. RAMESH | Antihyperglycemic, Antihyperlipidemic and Antioxidative Effects of Noni (Morinda citrifolia L.) Fruits in Experimental and Clinical Models (WNRF-Project/ PRIST /MoA/12) |
World Noni Research Foundation | 9.99 | Feb. 2012 – Feb. 2014 Completed |
| 4 | Dr. R. ELANGO MATHAVAN | In vitro and Ex situ Conservation and Rehabilitation of Selected Threatened Medicinal Plants of North East India (BCIL/NER-BPMC/2012/699) |
DBT | 17.1 | Apr. 2012 – Apr. 2015 Completed |
| 5 | Dr. ASHUTOSH DAS | Characterization and Utilization of Residue, Deoiled Cake from Non-Edible Oil – Seeds as Adsorbents in Wastewater Treatment (DST/TSG/AF/2011/148/28.01.2013) |
DST | 34.98 | Feb. 2013 – Feb. 2016 Completed |
| 6 | Mrs. SELVASUDHA | Novel Nano formulation for Treating Hyperlipidemia (SSD/SS/026/2011/G) |
WOS-B | 7.24 | Nov. 2012 – Nov. 2014 Completed |
| 7 | Dr. S. MOHAN RAJ | Construction of Synthetic Electron Circuit in Escherichia coli for Enhanced Production of Hydrogen from Renewable Source (IND-Korea/P-19/30.05.2013) |
DST-India & MEST- Republic of Korea |
58.12 | July 2013 – July 2016 Completed |
| 8 | Dr. ANUSHA BHASKAR | Medicinal Plants-Their Role in Wound Healing and Regeneration (ERIP/ER/1203036/M/01/1466) |
DRDO | 17.00 | Dec. 2012 – May 2015 Completed |
| 9 | Dr. S. RAMESH | Development and Validation of Real-Time PCR Based Nanodiagnostic System for Rapid Detection, Biotyping and Quantification of Food-Borne Enterotoxigenic Bacterial Pathogens (BT/PR10423/PFN/20/883/2013) |
DBT | 15.83 | Dec. 2014 – Dec. 2017 Completed |
| 10 | Dr. M. SIVANANTHAM | Preparation of High Energy Electrode Materials from Ordered Double Hydrophilic Block Copolyelectrolyte Nanostructures (ECR/2017/000760) |
DST (SERB – ECR) | 21.72 | Mar. 2018 – Mar. 2021 Completed |
| 11 | Dr. D. SENTHILNATHAN | Carbon-Carbon cross coupling reaction through Reductive Elimination with Iron-catalyst; Spin state influences, Electronic structural and mechanistic studies through DFT (EMR/2017/000745) |
DST | 38.89 | Jul. 2018 – Jul. 2021 Ongoing |
| 12 | Dr. ASHUTOSH DAS | Study project on the development of reactor for safe disposal of explosive (DRDL/21/90P/18/01174/101030) |
DRDO | 8.99 | Aug. 2018 – Feb. 2020 Completed |
| 13 | Dr. ASHUTOSH DAS | Establishment of a research-based center for Sustainable Treatment, Reuse and Management for Efficient, Affordable and Synergistic solutions for Water(WATER-IC for SUTRAM of EASY WATER) (Partnership with IIM, IITT, AU, CLRI, IITR, VITC & IISERB) (DST/TM/WTI/WIC/2K17/82(G)) |
DST -WTI | 893.57 | Oct. 2018 – Oct. 2023 Ongoing |
| 14 | Dr.Arun Kumar | Chemopreventive potential of Reserpine on 7,12 dimethyl benz[a]anthracene induced hamster buccal pouch carcinogenesis (Ref. No. 45/43/2018-PHA/BMS/OL) |
ICMR | 10.14 | Oct. 2018 – Oct. 2020 Completed |
| 15 | Dr. ARJUN PANDIAN | Reassessment of population status, In vitro propagation and Restoration of three Endemic and Endangered Rudraksha trees (Elaeocarpus spp.) of Western Ghats (Partnership with Gandhigram Rural Institute- Deemed University) (BT/PR29159/FCB/125/9/2018) |
DBT | 45.69 | Mar. 2019 – Feb. 2022 Ongoing |
| 16 | Dr. ASHUTOSH DAS | Estimation and tracking of Subsurface Groundwater Discharge (SGD) along Coastal stretches of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, based on understanding and Modeling of Coastal Aquifer Dynamics | ISRO | 33.84 | June 2020 – May 2023 Ongoing |
| 17 | Dr. BAKRUDEEN ALI AHMED | Anticancer potential ofBaicalin combined with Paclitaxel on oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) – an in vitro and in vivoapproach. | ICMR | 44.5 | July 2021 – July 2024 Completed |
Consultancy Services
The major objective of providing consultancy services to academia and industry is to promote science and technology with social benefits. PONNAIYAH RAMAJAYAM INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY(PRIST) is also willing to serve as a resource hub in connecting strategic partners from academia and industries for business development.
Types of consultancy services provided
- Product and process development for industries.
- Farming system and management for agriculturists/farmers.
- Solid waste and waste water management to industries.
- Business support in aromatic and medicinal plants cultivation and marketing.
- Production of bulk and fine chemicals, biomaterials and energy related products.
- Analytical support for students, researchers, industrial and technical professionals.
- Training programs for students and research scholars on innovative projects.
- Pollution monitoring control.
- Socio-economic development.
- Rural development.

