Dr. Sivaram is presently an INSA Senior Scientist and Honorary Professor at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, India. Prior to this, he served as the eighth Director of NCL (2002-10) and as CSIR Bhatnagar Fellow (2010-15) and J.C. Bose Fellow (2006-15) at NCL.
An alumnus of Madras Christian College (B.Sc., 1965) and IIT-Kanpur (M.Sc.,1967), he received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Purdue University, W. Lafayette, Indiana, USA in 1971 working with Nobel Laureate Professor H.C. Brown (Scientific Genealogy). After a brief stay as a Research Associate (mentor: Professor J.P.Kennedy) at the Institute of Polymer Science, University of Akron, USA, he joined the Research Centre of Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd., at Vadodara in 1973. In 1988, he joined NCL as Head of the Polymer Chemistry Division.
Dr. Sivaram is a highly decorated scientist with numerous awards to his credits. He is a recipient of the Vishwakarma Medal (INSA), Silver Medal of the Chemical Research Society of India, Millennium Medal of the Indian Science Congress Association, Distinguished Alumnus Award of IIT, Kanpur, Professor S.R. Palit Memorial Award of the Indian Association for Cultivation of Science, K.G. Naik Gold Medal of M.S. University, Baroda, FICCI Award in Physical Sciences, Om Prakash Bhasin Award, Goyal Prize in Applied Sciences, Distinguished Material Scientist of the Year Award, 2011 bestowed by Materials Research Society of India and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Indian Chemical Society, 2015. The Society of Polymer Science, Conferred him on the "International Award" in recognition of his significant contributions to Polymer Science.
Dr. Sivaram was awarded the D.Sc. (honoris causa) by Purdue University, USA in 2010.
The President of India conferred the coveted civilian honor, Padma Shri, on Dr. Sivaram in 2006.
He has mentored the Ph.D. thesis of 36 students, over a dozen post-doctoral fellows and published over 210 papers in peer reviewed scientific journals. He is cited as an inventor in 49 granted European and US as well as 52 Indian patents. Several of his patents have been licensed to companies worldwide. He has edited two books, authored one book and serves on the Editorial Board of several national and international journals in chemistry and polymer science. He is an elected Fellow of all the learned academies of science and engineering in India, namely, Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad and Indian National Academy of Engineering, New Delhi. He is also an elected Fellow of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, Trieste, Italy (TWAS), Fellow of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and Royal Society of Chemistry, UK.
He has lectured widely around the world and has been visiting professor at the University of Bordeaux, France, Free University of Berlin, Germany and H.A. Morton Distinguished Professor of Polymer Science at the University of Akron, Ohio, USA. Currently he is a Visiting Professor at the centre for Rapid and Sustainable Product Development, Polit�cnico de Leiria, Portugal.
Dr. Sivaram serves as the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee, Vyome Biosciences Ltd., New Delhi and a Member of the Scientific Advisory Council of IOC R&D, Faridabad, Apollo Tyres, Gurgaon, HLL Life Care Ltd, Thiruvananthapuram and Asian Paints Limited. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Asian Paints India Limited, Mumbai, Apcotex Industries Limited, Taloja, GMM Pfaudler Limited, Anand, Deepak Nitrite Limited, Vadodara, Supreme Petrochemicals Limited, Mumbai and Gharda Chemicals Limited, Mumbai. He was the founder-Chairman of Entrepreneurship Development Center, Pune, a "not for profit" Company, promoted by CSIR-NCL to drive innovation and create wealth out of cutting edge science and technology.
Dr. Sivaram's research interest concerns polymer synthesis (cationic, anionic, GTP, Ziegler Natta, free radical and step growth polymerizations), high performance polymers; surface chemistry of polymers; porous polymers for energy related applications, biodegradable polymers, polymers from renewable resources, organic-inorganic hybrids and structure-property relationship in polymers