Senior scientist Nallathamby Kalaiselvi has been appointed as the first woman Director General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), a consortium of 38 research institutes across the country.
She is known for her work on the subject of lithium-ion batteries, and she is the current director of the CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CSIR-CECRI) at Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu.
Her appointment is for a period of two years with the day from the date of assumption of charge or till further orders, whichever is earlier, a personnel ministry order stated on Saturday.
Kalaiselvi broke the glass ceiling by a becoming scientist to head the Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CSIR-CECRI) in February 2019.
She began her profession as an entry-level scientist in a similar institute.
Hailing from Ambasamudhram, a small city in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, Kalaiselvi went to a Tamil medium school.
