The sprawling campus of the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI) at Peechi here is set to host a Sophisticated Analytical Instrumentation Facility (SAIF) equipped to help academicians, researchers and students in chemical, environmental and life sciences research.
The project, to be taken up in collaboration with the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology, and Environment (KSCSTE), seeks to upgrade the Central Instrumentation Unit (CIU) at the KFRI with an assemblage of high-end instruments that find application in medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, forensic tests, food sciences, genome fingerprinting, mineralogical studies, polymer analysis, and toxicology, among other things.
The government has approved a Budgetary provision of ₹100 lakh for the facility, which is also proposed to be developed as a training centre in analytical instrumentation.
“Over the years, scientific research has moved from conventional techniques to high throughput technologies dependent on highly complex, state-of-the-art instruments and facilities that are unaffordable for most universities and research institutions. By equipping the CIU with the complete range of analytical instruments, we hope to develop a centralised, self- sustaining facility catering to the needs of academic institutions and industry,” says G.M. Nair, Adviser, Kerala Biotechnology Commission.
Training programmes
Three regular training programmes in analytical instrumentation are proposed to be conducted at the facility, including short-term training courses, internship programmes, and certificate courses.
Last year, the KFRI-CIU had received more than 1,000 requests from post graduate students and PhD scholars for analysis of various types. The unit carried out 854 analyses with the instruments available.
“The overall objective is to develop SAIF as a knowledge centre providing exposure to the budding scientific community in modern instruments and technologies,” says Prof. Nair.
SAIF is expected to start functioning from the year 2017-18 and become fully equipped in another two years. “Once fully operational, the laboratory can National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Ltd. (NABL)- accredited, offering a wide range of services to the State government in areas such as testing of water quality and pesticide residues,” Prof. Nair added.