Subsequently, he served as the director of this institution for a period of thirteen years, concurrently holding a professorship. He has held visiting research positions at the International Center for Theoretical Physics, Trieste; Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen; Japan Society for Promotion of Science, Invitation Fellowship at the Shizuoka University, Japan; University of Cincinnati and currently an Adjunct Professor of Physics at Georgia State University. Recognition Kirthi Tennakone has been awarded National Honors of the Government of Sri Lanka on two occasions, "Vidya Nidhi" in 1986 and "Desha Bandu" in 2005. University of Sri Jayewardenepura of Sri Lanka conferred an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree to him in 2007. He is a Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences, elected 1990. He was one of the invited scholars to visit Solar Cell Materials & Devices Group, Beijing, China. Research Neutrino Physics: In 1972 Sandip Pakvasa and Kirthi Tennakone suggested that neutrinos may be massive and discussed consequences of massiveness, notably - astrophysical implications. They pointed out the possibility assessing the neutrino mass by detecting the light and neutrino signals of supernova explosion. Tennakone has also examined macroscopic changes in linear and angular momentum associated with neutrino bursts from astrophysical systems. Condensed Matter Physics: Kirthi Tennakone and co-workers pioneered the studies on semiconducting properties Copper(I) Thiocyanate, a rare example of a transparent p-type semiconductor, currently adopted in many devices and developed techniques of its deposition as thin films. He has also worked on electrical conduction in unconventional materials, nanostructured films and electroceramics. Tennakone and co-workers introduced the idea of using crystal growth inhibitors to secure intimate contact and pore filling in nanostructured heterojunctions. Solar Energy Conversion and Photochemistry: The concept of the dye-sensitized solid-state solar cell was first proposed by Tennakone et al. in a 1988 publication titled "Dye-sensitized solid-state solar cells". The invention of practical device based on the idea was also first reported by Tennakone et al. in 1995. Perovoskite solar cells are vigorously pursued nowadays are based on extremely thin layer of a low band gap semiconductor sandwiched between two nanostructured n and p type high band gap semiconductors, the concept subsequently referred to as eta cell was reported by Tennakone et al. in 1998. Dye-sensitized solar cells are generally based mesoporous films of TiO2,.Tennakone’s group is also credited with development of a dye-sensitized cell of comparable efficiency adopting ZnO/SnO2composite films. Tennakone et al. has also studied the dye-sensitization