Central Scientific Instruments Organisation

Central Scientific Instruments Organisation is a Chandigarh, India-based national laboratory dedicated to research, design and development of scientific, and industrial instruments. It is one of the constituent laboratories of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), an Indian industrial research and development organisation situated at Chandigarh's Sector 30-C.

CSIO was established in October 1959 as a laboratory that works on the research, design, and development of scientific and industrial instruments. It was located in New Delhi, and then moved to Chandigarh in 1962. The first Director was Piara Singh Gill. CSIO campus (spread over an area of approximately 120 acres) comprises office buildings, R&D laboratories, Indo-Swiss Training Centre and a housing complex. A building and the accompanying workshops were inaugurated in December 1967. Another block was added in 1976 for housing the R&D Divisions and library. During the mid-1980s the laboratory buildings and infrastructural facilities were modernized. An Administration Block was inaugurated in September 1994.

With a view to meeting the demand for instrument technologists, the Indo-Swiss Training Centre (ISTC) was started in December 1963 with the cooperation of the Swiss Foundation for Technical Assistance, Zurich, Switzerland.

CSIO is under the Physical Sciences Cluster of CSIR. CSIR-CSIO has signed an MoU with CSIR-IMTECH Chandigarh on 28 April 2012 for collaborative research work.

CSIO has infrastructural facilities in the areas of microelectronics, optics, applied physics, electronics, and mechanical engineering. R&D programmes are in food & agriculture, health and rehabilitation, avionics, snow and seismic monitoring in the strategic sector, landslide and structure health monitoring for public safety, and bio and nanosciences.

A large number of instruments have been developed by the Institute and their know-how has been passed on to the industry for commercial exploitation.

The laboratory provides a two-year postgraduate research programme in Engineering (PGRPE) in 'Advanced Instrumentation Engineering' the only such program in India. The students are designated as Quick Hire Scientist Trainee QHS(T). The areas of research are Optics and Photonics, Bio-Medical Instrumentation and Agrionics. After the completion of 1-year course work taught by the senior scientists of the organization, they are given a one-year project work as their thesis.

CSIO campus is situated on the Ambala-Chandigarh highway which houses the laboratories and workshops, Indo-Swiss Training Centre (ISTC) and residential complex. Amenities on campus include Clinical Centre, Crèche, Community Centre, Health Club and Adult Park. There are 250 dwelling units catering for the employees. A hostel is available for students from engineering institutions and universities undergoing their thesis/project/training. A guest-house with 16 rooms is on campus. A canteen facility exists for all the employees and students.