About

The Central Glass & Ceramic Research Institute, Calcutta was one of the first five National Laboratories established by the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR). The Institute conducts application oriented and objective basic research on problems connected with glass, ceramics & related materials. The foundation stone of the Institute was laid on 24 December 1945 by Sir Ardeshir Dalal who was then the President of the CSIR. The construction of the main building was started in 1948 and the Institute was officially opened on 26 August 1950 by Dr B. C. Roy, Chief Minister of West Bengal.

Atma Ram, the Institute’s founding Director, established a “Museum of Raw Materials & Finished Products” with the goal of giving special emphasis to the dissemination of scientific information for the general public. The museum was located in the ground floor of the main building extended to three spacious rooms and retained rare historical specimens of ceramics dating back to the Indus-Sarasvati civilization and glass artefacts from Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa, Mughal, Napoleonic, pre-Victorian and Victorian periods. Evidences from Abbey, France, Switzerland and Sweden presented a wide range of exhibits covering the long stretch of human history. Several glass wares belonging to de la Rive, Davy, Faraday, Sir J. C. Bose, Sir P. C. Ray adorned the museum. The museum also received a sample of glass from the New Mexico site of the first atomic bomb explosion. Over the decades, the museum closed down; and many of its contents and rich legacy and wonderful vision passed into oblivion.

Museums in National Laboratories have of late received a special impetus from the Government. An MoU signed between CSIR and the National Council of Science Museums during 2021 endeavoured to fast track the establishment of museums in CSIR Laboratories. In order to align with the trend and also to renew the past tradition, CSIR-CGCRI undertook setting up of the “Atma Ram Memorial Museum & Archives”, that was opened on 8^th  June 2022 by Dr Shekhar Mande, former Director General of CSIR.

The archive envisages to acquire, preserve and publicly make available the documented heritage of the Institute and the CSIR including narratives, photographs, films, press clippings, letters, resource books etc.

The museum is named after Dr Atma Ram, one of the key personalities who contributed towards the establishment of CSIR. He was the first Director of CSIR-CGCRI and eventually became the Director General of CSIR. There are three sections to the museum. The CSIR-CGCRI gallery, showcases the long back history and development of the Institute. The old museum’s remnants are on display, along with replicas of earlier inventions such as optical glass, railroad signal glass, mica bricks, optical fibres etc. Gallery for CSIR tells the tale of its genesis, the beginning of a stream of National Laboratories and achievements which help the nation to achieve self-sufficiency.  The seminal role played by ceramics and glass technology in the advancement of Indian civilisation is chronicled in the Ancient Indian gallery.

The motto of this venture is to evolve as a single-point information resource for the future and act as a fountain head for disseminating scientific information to the larger audience, especially curious young students as a part of their science education program.