R. Murugavel is currently Institute Chair Professor and JC Bose National Fellow. He has been the Head of the Department during Dec. 2011 to Jan. 2016. He received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from University of Madras and Ph.D. from Indian Institute of Science (1993). He carried out postdoctoral work at the University of Goettingen, Germany during 1994-1997. He is a fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Science Academy, and the Royal Society of Chemistry. He has been conferred with J. C. Bose National Fellowship, Swarnajayanti Fellowship, Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, DAE-SRC Outstanding Investigator Award,    C. N. R. Rao National Prize in Chemical Sciences,           

S. C. Bhattacharya Award for Excellence in Research in Basic Sciences, DAE Young Scientist Award, CRSI Bronze and Silver Medals, MRSI Medal, and J. C. Ghosh Medal. He has also held an appointment as DFG Mercator Professor at the University of Bochum during 2009-2010.