Home » Research » Current Research

Current Research

Home
Explore
Research Stories
News
FOS Research Culture

Active engagement in research is the single most important contribution a University can offer to its community. Faculty of Science is in the forefront of knowledge generation and innovation through research in Sri Lanka. Here, students, staff and the community come together in a conducive environment with free thinking space to solve problems, innovate and to advance science.

34+

Research Groups

290+

Researchers

100+

Annual Publications

Access cutting-edge innovation and expertise
Let's Talk

Colombo Science and Technology Cell was established to promote and serve manufacturing and service industries as well as agriculture in Sri Lanka through research, development, innovation,scientific services and knowledge and technology transfer.

Earn a Research Degree

Research degrees considered as higher-level academic degrees as the candidates are driven by naturally inquiring minds or a passion to solve problems. A research degree gives candidates the opportunity to conduct their own research to create new knowledge. Therefore, each research degree is unique and differs from another. Each research degree graduate is equipped with the transferable skills essential for challenging and diverse roles in industry as well as in research and academic organizations. Faculty offers MPhil and PhD programs in a number of diverse disciplines.

Explore out MPhil / PhD Programs
Explore current research

The Faculty of Science at the University of Colombo is at the forefront of pioneering research across a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines. Our academic and research staff are actively engaged in cutting-edge investigations that address national priorities, global scientific challenges, and the advancement of fundamental knowledge. From molecular biology to climate change, data science to renewable energy, our current research projects reflect a commitment to innovation, collaboration, and societal impact. We invite students, researchers, and partners to explore the dynamic work being undertaken across our departments and research centers. Each department contributes uniquely to the advancement of science and innovation. Explore our department-wise research focus below:

Department of Chemistry
Click here
Department of Physics
Click here
Department of Mathematics
Click here
Department of Zoology and Environmental Sciences
Click here
Department of Plant Sciences
Click here
Department of Statistics
Click here
Department of Nuclear Science
Click here

Department of Chemistry

Prof. K M Nalin de Silva

  • Water and gas purification
  • Smart textiles and apparel
  • Value addition to minerals
  • Anti-cancer natural compounds and their effective delivery using advanced materials
  • Biodegradable polymers
  • Smart materials through electrospining technology.

Prof. Dhammike Dissanayake

  • Study of mechanisms
  • Application of quantum mechanics to calculate molecular properties and reaction mechanisms
  • Sensor development

Prof. Samantha Weerasinghe

  • Molecular dynamics
  • Drug Discovery
  • Molecular docking
  • Stability of clusters in gas phase
  • structure and stability of proteins

Prof Ranil Dassanayake

  • Transgenic Technology (Dengue mosquito, Zebra fish)
  • filariasis
  • Cancers
  • Molecular diagnostics
  • protein expression & purification

Prof. Chamari Hettiarachchi

  • Plant Transgenics
  • abiotic & biotic stresses
  • Protein expression and purification
  • Screening of Natural products for antimicrobial
  • anticancer drug development
  • screening for endophytic fungi

Prof. W Rohini M de Silva

  • To remove heavy metals, toxic anions, hardness, and organic dyes as well as bio polutants from water.
  • To achieve targeted delivery of anticancer and other drugs.
  • To develop smart textiles via electrospining.
  • To develop hydrophobic, transparent and insulating coatings.
  • To develop photo catalyst to remove chemical toxins and bio toxins. Value addition to minerals.
  • To develop processes to convert illumanite to useful Titanium compounds. Polymer composites to reduce abrasion and increase heat conduction. Identify structural changes for the process of preparing Ayurvedic medicine called “kajjali".

Dr. Neranga I Abeyasinghe

  • Spectroscopy
  • Organic Photo voltaics
  • Nonlinear spectroscopy
  • Fluorescent sensing
  • Chromophore synthesis
  • Quantum-confined nano clusters
  • Computational Calculations
  • Plant extracts for disease therapy
  • Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) of biomarkers

Dr. Hasini Rangika Perera

  • Development and analysis of ion selective electrodes
  • development and analysis of electroanalytical sensors
  • Corrosion inhibition – using coating, using particles

Dr. H Ireshika C De Silva

  • Synthesis of heterocyclic compounds with poetntial bilogical activities
  • Investigation of catalytic activity of plant extracts based nanoparticles in various organic reactions
  • Isolation of bioactive natural products from Sri Lankan herbal plants and their endophytic fungi, Value addition to natural products.

Prof. K R Ranjith Mahanama

  • Air quality
  • water quality
  • food characterization
  • investigation on adulterants
  • food composition
  • developing quality indices

Dr. Aashani Tillekaratne

  • Development of materials for drug delivery, bioimaging and sensory applications.
  • Studying surface chemistry and catalytic activity of developed materials.
  • Computational calculations of catalytic materials

Dr. M N Kaumal

  • Analytical method development and validation, Laboratory management, Electrochemistry, Analytical Instrumentation, paper-based device development, portable electrochemical sensor development.
  • Intellectual property management and technology transfer, Innovation commercialization, Chemical education.

Dr. Gayathri N Silva

  • Riboswitches
  • CRISPR
  • Cell culture
  • Functional analysis of proteins

Dr. S M Vithanarachchi

  • Luminescent Sensors and MRI contrast agents development and applications
  • Plant extract-based metal nano particles synthesis and applications
  • Biodegradable polymer development
Research Groups
  • Application of Analytical Methods in Quality Assurance
  • Biochemistry and Biotechnology
  • Developments and Applications of nano-materials
  • Electrochemistry and Photochemistry
  • Organic Synthesis and Natural products
  • Theoretical and Computational Chemistry

Department of Physics

The research strength of the department is mainly focused on five broad research themes supported by the senior academic staff. The areas of postgraduate level research that is currently taking place are given in the following table

Prof. D U J Sonnadara

  • Climate Change
  • Climate modeling
  • Extreme weather events

Dr. M Madhavi

  • Molecular Dynamics

Prof. D U J Sonnadara

  • Modeling natural systems
  • Image processing
  • Machine vision
  • Autonomous robot navigation

Dr. Dilina Perera

  • Spin glasses and disordered systems
  • Atomistic modeling and simulations (Generalized-ensemble Monte Carlo, Molecular dynamics, Spin dynamics)
  • Adiabatic quantum computation
  • Physics-inspired solvers for discrete optimization

Prof. T R Ariyaratne

  • Application of technology

Dr. M K Jayananda

  • Reconfigurable Computing
  • Embedded Systems

Dr. H H E Jayaweera

  • Passive LIDAR
  • Optical Instrumentation

Dr. Lakmal Weerawarna

  • Flexible Electronics

Prof. I M K Fernando

  • Lightning Generated Electric Fields

Prof. K P S C Jayaratne

  • Acoustics (Thunder Signatures)
  • Lightning protection

Dr. M K Jayananda

  • Dynamic stability

Dr. Siyath Gunewardene

Dr. Hiran HE Jayaweera

  • FISH Imaging
  • Multispectral Imaging
  • Optical Spectroscopy
  • Raman Spectroscopy
  • Passive LIDAR

Dr. Dilushan Jayasundera
Dr Lakmal Weerawarna
Dr Siyath Gunewardene

Dr. Dilanga Siriwardane

Research Groups

Department of Mathematics

Prof. S S N Perera

  • Dengue Transmission Models
  • Infectious Disease Transmission Models
  • Biological Modeling
  • Fuzzy Modeling / Interval Mathematics
  • Actuarial / Finance models and their applications in Biology

Dr. Paduma E Samarawickrama

  • Reducibility of Systems of Quasi-Periodic Linear Functional Differential Equations
Research Groups
  • Graph Theory Research Group
  • Algebra Research Group

Department of Zoology and Environment Sciences

Prof. D D Wickramasinghe

  • Biodiversity Conservation
  • Herpetology, Wetland Ecology
  • Water and Sanitation
  • Pollution Management
  • Disaster risk reduction
  • Biosecurity and biosafety

Dr. Maheshi Mapalagamage

  • Understanding immunopathogenesis of infectious diseases
  • Biomarkers for severe dengue infection
  • Diagnostic tools for infectious diseases

Prof. Devaka K Weerakoon

  • Conservation of threatened animals
  • Ecology and behaviour of Asian Elephants
  • Human-animal conflict management
  • Impact of development on the ecology and conservation of animals
  • Management of invasive alien species
  • Wildlife management

Prof. Mayuri R Wijesinghe

  • Ecotoxicology

Prof. P Nihal Dayawansa

  • Behavioural Ecology (Elephants, Small Mammals, Birds, Amphibians & Reptiles, Butterflies)
  • Wildlife Management (Designing Protected Areas, Park Planning, Interpretation)
  • Environment Management (Pollution, Sustainability and Green Business)
  • Human Wildlife Conflict
  • Wetland Ecology
  • Ornithology

Prof. Wipula B Yapa

  • Ecological studies of small mammals, particularly bats
  • Ecosystem services of bats
  • Social behaviour of small mammals
  • Acoustic communication
  • Flash communication in fireflies
  • Zoonotic diseases associated with bats & small mammals

Dr. Erandathie Lokupitiya

  • Climate change
  • Greenhouse gas inventorying
  • Carbon cycle research

Dr. Gayani Harendra Galhena

  • Population genetics
  • Medical Genetics
  • DNA fingerprinting in forensic and kinship analysis

Dr. Sampath S Seneviratne

  • Patterns of speciation (evolution) in an island biogeographic framework
  • Causes and consequences of endemicity in Sri Lankan biota
  • Resolving phylogenetic, ecological and phenotypic affinities of rainforest birds
  • Using molecular and phylogenetic tools to set priorities in conservation
  • Genetic basis of animal vocalization
  • Fragmentation and genetic connectivity patterns in suburban tropical rainforests
  • Ecology of bird migration in the Central Asian Flyway
  • The role of genome and phenome in incipient speciation events
  • Reflectance spectrometry and pigment biochemistry of birds in Sri Lanka
  • Evolutionary deep-history of gwandwanan lineages in Sri Lanka

Dr. Devanmini Halwatura

  • Hydro meteorology
  • Environmental flows
  • Drought frequency analysis

Dr. Inoka C Perera

  • Transcriptional regulation in microorganisms
  • Synthetic Biology

Dr. Ayomi Witharana

  • Water and wastewater treatment
  • Pollution prevention and environmental management

Dr. Sachini Amarasekara

  • Cancer and inflammation – Colon cancer & IBD
  • Osteoimmunology – Anti-osteoporotic properties of plant extracts
  • Reproductive immunology – Male subfertility
  • Autoimmunity – Psoriasis

Dr. Vindhya Kulasena Fernando

  • Heavy metal pollution
  • Microplastic pollution

Dr. Chandima Dangalle

  • Taxonomy and ecology of Coleoptera
  • Molecular entomology and phylogeny
  • Invertebrate biology
Research Groups

Department of Plant Sciences

Dr. C M Nanayakkara

  • Biofertilizers
  • Biological Control Agents
  • Bioremediation
  • Microbial Biodiversity
  • Natural Products

Dr. K G S U Ariyawansa

  • Fungal endophytes
  • Plant-fungal interactions
  • Plant disease resistance
  • Fungal endophytes for disease control
  • Commercial applications of fungal endophytes

Dr. H D D Bandupriya

  • Plant tissue culture
  • In vitro conservation
  • Gene expression
  • Genetic transformation
  • Bioactive compounds

Ms. D M R G Mayakaduwa

  • Plant tissue culture
  • In vitro anther culture for crop improvement

Dr. I A J K Dissanayake

  • Environment modeling
  • carbon sequestrationt

Prof. T D Silva

  • Wide Hybridization
  • Crop Germplasm Characterization & Conservation
  • In Vitro Anther Culture

Prof. T L Shamala Tirimanne
Prof. Hashendra S Kathriarachchi
Prof. H D Dharshani Bandupriya
Dr. Pasan Fernando
Dr. Anushka Wickramasuriya
Dr. K G Sameera U Ariyawansa

  • Genomics
  • Transcriptomics
  • Proteomics
  • Metagenomics
  • Machine learning
  • Phylogenetics
  • Systems Biology
Research Groups

Department of Statistics

Dr. C D Tilakaratne

  • Data Mining
  • Time Series Analysis

Prof. M R Sooriyachchi

  • Epidemiology
  • Clinical Trials
  • Survival Analysis
  • GLM
  • Multilevel

Prof. W N Wickremasinghe

  • Multivariate Methods
  • 3-Mode data
  • Linear Methods

Dr. G P Lakraj

  • Asymptotic theory
  • Functional Time Series
  • Stochastic Processes
  • Machine Learning

Mr. E R A D Bandara

  • Statistical inference

Dr. R A B Abeygunawardana

  • Control Charts
  • Linear Models
  • Small Area Estimation

Dr. M D T Attygalle

  • Statistical Modelling
  • Data Visualization

Dr. C H Magalla

  • Exponential family Modelling
  • Multivariate Analysis

Dr. J H D S P Tissera

  • Statistical inference

Dr. Rasika Jayatillake

  • Bayesian analysis
  • GLM

Dr. Sameera Viswakula

  • Genomic Biostatistics

Dr. A A Sunethra

  • Survival Analysis
  • Joint Modelling

 Dr. K A D Deshani

  • Data Mining
  • Computational Statistics

Dr. Nadeeka Dilini Basnayake

  • ANN Modeling
  • Signal Processing
  • Time Series Forecasting
  • Econometrics

Mrs. Imali T Jayamanne

  • Survey & Sampling
  • Survival models
  • Record Linkage
  • Missing Imputation

Mrs. Hasani S Karunarathna

  • Multilevel modeling
  • multivariate models
  • Statistical quality control
Research Groups

Department of Nuclear Science

Dr. J Jeyasugiththan  Ms. Mahesha Jayakody

  • Radiotherapy
  • Diagonostic Radiology
  • Nuclear Medicine

Dr. M Lamabadusuriya

  • Radioanalytical chemistry
Research Groups
  • Medical Physics
  • Environmental radioactivity
  • Nuclear analytical techniques in pollution
  • Monitoring with Special reference to heavy metals
  • Gamma spectroscopy Physics Education Unit

Research Stories

Are we dulling bird calls?

Silent Spring, spurring the interest of conservationists, industrialists and the general public, was one of the most influential books in recent history. Here, Rachel Carson,...
Read More