Professor B.S.B. Karunaratne assumed office as the
director of the Postgraduate Institute of Science
(PGIS) with effect from 18th August 2008, succeeding
Prof. M.A.K.L. Dissanayake.
Professor Karunaratne is a Professor of Physics
at University of Peradeniya. He obtained his B.Sc.
(Physics Major) degree in 1971 from University of
Ceylon and the Ph.D. degree in 1980 from University
of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom, specializing
in Physics of Materials. Since 1971 he has been
a member of the Department of Physics at Peradeniya.
After spending a year of his
sabbatical leave at University of Warwick, UK,
in 1987, Prof. Karunaratne returned to Peradeniya
and played a leading role in initiating research
work on Ceramic materials. Establishment of a
Ceramic Research Laboratory in 1987 at the Department
of Physics, University of Peradeniya, aiming at
postgraduate research is a major achievement during
his career. Most of the equipment in this ceramic
laboratory was designed and constructed by him
with the help of the technical staff in the Physics
workshop. These valuable instruments worth over
several millions of rupees are required for the
fabrication of ceramic materials and to investigate
their properties.
Professor Karunaratne has participated
in many international research conferences on
Materials, chairing sessions, delivering invited
lectures and presenting research papers. As an
Associate member of the International Centre for
Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy he
has participated in many important scientific
activities at the ICTP. Professor Karunaratne
has supervised more than 12 Ph.D and M.Phil. students
and many M.Sc. students. He has published more
than 150 research publications and communications
in international and national journals and in
conference proceedings. He has several patents
to his credit. He was awarded visiting Research
Fellowships by the Royal Society and Nuffield
Foundation in 1987 and by the European Commission
(Mari Curie Fellowship) in 1995 to carry out research
at the University of Warwick, U.K. He was also
appointed as a visiting Professor at the Graduate
School of Science and Technology, Shizuoka University
in Hamamatsu, Japan in 2007 and a visiting Scientist
at Korea Institute on Materials Science (KIMS),
South Korea in 2008.
Professor Karunaratne has worked
as acting Director, PGIS on several occasions.
He was the Chairman of the Board of Study in Physics
from 2002- 2007, the Secretary of the Board of
Study in Physics from 1998- 2002 and a Member
of the Board of Study in Physics from the inception
of the PGIS in 1996. He also served as the Programme
coordinator of the M.Sc. Programme in Physics
of Materials from 1996-2007. As the founder coordinator,
he played a major role in designing (syllabus
preparation, laboratory work, syllabus revision,
etc) the M.Sc. programme. He has been a resource
person/teacher in more than seven M.Sc. programmes
conducted by the PGIS.
Professor Karunaratne was the
Head of the Department of Physics at University
of Peradeniya from 1991 to 1994 and again from
2000 to 2003, and served as the acting Dean of
the Faculty of Science on several occasions. Prof.
Karunaratne was the overall coordinator of the
of the Faculty of Science IRQUE (Improving Relevance
and Quality of Undergraduate Education) World
Bank project from 2004-2006 and was responsible
for preparing project documents and played a major
role in finalizing the procurement of research
equipment. He was the founder course coordinator
of the Applied Science Programme of the Faculty
of Science and has shouldered the responsible
for designing the programme, syllabus preparation,
laboratory work, industrial placements, seminar
organization, etc. Prof. Karunaratne was the Director-Science
Industry Interaction Cell during 2004-2006. He
has arranged internships with more than twenty
industrial organizations and was able to mobilize
their support for closer industry-University interaction.
He is a member of the subject (Physics/Materials
Science) review panel of Quality Assurance (QA)
and Accreditation Council of the University Grants
Commission. As a reviewer he has rendered his
service in several subject review programmes in
the university system.
During the past ten years Prof.
Karunaratne managed to help more than 100 needy
students in the Faculty of Science by arranging
scholarships provided through personal contacts
in Australia and USA.
Professor Karunaratne has made
a significant contribution to secondary education
in Sri Lanka. He is the author of two text books
in Physics written for GCE advanced level students
in Sri Lanka. Prof. Karunaratne extended his service
as a resource person in developing A-Level Physics
curriculum and various aspects related to evaluation
of students. He has organized several Physics
Education workshops for A-Level teachers and participated
as a resource person in many school science camps
for A-level and O-level students.
Professor Karunaratne was the
President of Section E1 of the Sri Lanka Association
for the Advancement of Science (SLAAS) in 1992/93.
He served as a member of the steering committee
on Physical, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences
of Natural Recourses and Science Authority (NARESA)
from 1996-1998 and also served as a member of
the Steering Committee on Physics & Mathematics
of the National Science Foundation (NSF) from1999-2002.
From 2002-2004 he rendered his service as the
Chairman of the Steering Committee on Physics
& Mathematics of the NSF. He also played an
active role as a member of the National Task Force
for Nanotechnology of Ministry of Science and
Technology, from 2006 to 2008.
Professor Karunaratne served
as a member of the Board of Management of Industrial
Technology Institute (ITI), Colombo from 2005-2007
and was also a member of the Board of Directors
of Centre for Technical Excellence in Ceramics
(CENTEC) from 2006-2007
