Sir Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar OBE, FNI, FASc, FRS, FRIC, FInstP (21 February 1894 – 1 January 1955) was an Indian colloid chemist, academic and scientific administrator. The first director-general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), he is revered as the "father of research laboratories" in India. He was also the first Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC). In 1958, to honour his name and legacy, the Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) instituted the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for scientists who have made significant contributions in various branches of science. Early life Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar was born in the Bhera, Punjab region of British India, in a Hindu kayastha family. His father, Parmeshwari Sahai Bhatnagar, died when he was eight months old, and he spent his childhood in the house of his maternal grandfather, an engineer, who helped him develop a liking for science and engineering. He enjoyed building mechanical toys, electronic batteries, and string telephones. From his maternal family he also inherited a gift of poetry. He completed his elementary education from the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic High School, Sikandrabad (Bulandshahr). In 1911 he joined the newly established Dayal Singh College, Lahore (which was later moved to New Delhi, India after independence) where he became an active member of the Saraswati Stage Society and earned a good reputation as an actor. He wrote an Urdu one-act play called Karamati (Wonder worker), the English translation of which earned him the Saraswati Stage Society prize and medal for the best play of the year in 1912. Bhatnagar passed the Intermediate Examination of the Punjab University in 1913 in first class and joined the Forman Christian College, where he obtained a BSc in physics in 1916, and an MSc in chemistry in 1919. Education and early research Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar was awarded a scholarship by the Dayal Singh College Trust to study abroad, and he left for America via England. However, he could not find open berths on English ships, as they were all reserved for American troops, who were then being demobilised due to the First World War. The Trustee permitted him to join the University College London under chemistry professor Frederick G. Donnan. He earned his Doctorate in Science in 1921. While in London, he was supported by the British Department of Scientific and Industrial Research with a fellowship of £250 a