Central Electrochemical Research Institute

The Central Electrochemical Research Institute is located at the Centre for Education in Karaikudi. Karaikudi is a town known for its old houses and heritage, but our corner of it is focused on science and research. The institute is a big part of the town. We have various buildings dedicated to different parts of electrochemistry. I work in the office area, but I often walk past the research labs where people are busy with their experiments. You can see all sorts of glass beakers and machines through the windows. It’s a very quiet and serious place most of the time. The weather in Karaikudi can be really intense, especially the heat, so we spend a lot of time indoors. We have a lot of researchers and students who live on the campus, so it feels a bit like a small village. There are trees lining the paths between the buildings which helps a bit with the sun. We don't have a big marketing department or anything like that. We just have our labs and our books. People here are mostly interested in their work and the technical details of what they are studying. The staff room is a place where we talk about the local news and our families while having some coffee. It’s a plain and functional environment. We just do our research, teach the students at the center, and manage the daily tasks that come up for us.