Dr. Anil Bhardwaj joined ISRO in 1993,after completing Ph.D. in Applied Physics (Space and Planetary Science) from the IT-BHU, as a research scientist at Space Physics Laboratory (SPL) of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC), Trivandrum. Dr. Bhardwaj is currently a Senior Research Scientist and Head of the Planetary Sciences Branch of SPL, VSSC.
Dr. Bhardwaj is a recipient of 2007 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award for his outstanding achievements in the area of Planetary Sciences. He was awarded NRC Senior Fellowship by US National Academy of Science, and worked at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center for ~2 year during 2004-2005. He was also awarded fellowship grant by United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs (UN-OOSA), Vienna, Austria, in 1996.
His primary field of research is theoretical and observational studies of planetary atmospheres, ionospheres and magnetospheres. The planetary bodies that he has worked on include Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Moon, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Triton, Titan, Rings of Saturn, Io plasma Torus, Mars, Earth, and Comets.
Dr. Bhardwaj is the Principal Investigator of the SARA experiment on Chandrayaan-1 – the first Indian Lunar Mission. He has been the Principal- and Co-Investigator on many observation programs with Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope of NASA; XMM-Newton X-ray Observatory of ESA; and Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT) of India. He is a member of the ASTROSAT mission, and a Team Leader of International Heliophysical Year (IHY)-Coordinated Investigation Program (CIP3) “Universality of Auroral Structure”.
Dr. Bhardwaj has written a Chapter in Encyclopedia of the Solar System (2007), edited 2 books, and has written invited reviews in reputed international journals. He has over 60 refereed international journal publications and over 100 conference presentations. He has delivered several invited talks/colloquium at Institutes in the world, including, NASA, Caltech, JPL, UCL (London), IRF (Sweden), ESTEC (Netherlands), LPAP (Belgium), and many more. His collaborative research programs span over 30 research institutes in India, US, Europe, and Asia.
He is currently the President of Planetary Science Section of Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS); the Editor-in-chief of Advances in Geosciences (Planetary Science volume); and a Member of the Editorial Board of Planetary and Space Science (Elsevier journal). He has convened several special sessions at conferences in India and aboard on topics related to planetary sciences. He is a life member of Astronomical Society of India and Kerala Academy of Sciences, and a member of American Geophysical Union. He is a member of several ISRO and national level committees related to Planetary and Space Sciences research programs in India.
Dr. Bhardwaj’s research findings have led to several Press Releases by NASA and ESA. He has discovered X-rays from rings of Saturn, soft X-rays from Earth’s aurora, and made the first detection of “X-ray flares” from Jupiter and Saturn. Several special news report on his research have appeared in New Scientist, Science News, Space Now, etc. and several national and international daily.
One Ph.D., two M.Tech. theses, one MS thesis from MIT (USA), and several MS projects, are awarded under his guidance.