Dr. Suresh Das obtained his Ph. D. in Chemistry in 1981 from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, U.K. Subsequently, he gained postdoctoral research experience at the Max Planck Institüt für Strahlenchemié, Germany (1981-1984), Radiation Laboratory, University of Notre Dame, USA (1984-1985) and the University of Houston, USA (1985-1988). After a short stay as a Visiting Fellow at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, he joined as Head of the newly established Photochemistry Research Unit in 1989, at the Regional Research Laboratory, Trivandrum, where he was instrumental in setting up state of the art facilities for conducting advanced research in basic and applied aspects of photochemistry, and for leading the Unit (subsequently renamed as the Photosciences and Photonics Section), to its present reputed national and international status.
 

He has been a Visiting Scientist at the Max Plank Institüt für Biophysikalische Chemie, Göttingen, Germany (1999 and 2000), Radiation Laboratory, University of Notre Dame, USA (1998 – 1999) and National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology Tsukuba, Japan. He is a Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry. He is a recipient of the CRSI Silver (2009) and Bronze (2000) Medals and the INSA-JSPS Visiting Fellowship (2003). He has been Convener of the International Symposia on Photochemical Sciences organized by the Photosciences and Photonics Division of NIIST in 1998, 2001 and 2004. His research Interests are in the areas of photoresponsive liquid crystals, squaraine dyes, dye sensitized solar cells, organic solid-state luminescent materials photoinduced electron transfer.