Baskaran obtained Ph. D in synthetic organic chemistry from IIT Kanpur in 1990 and subsequently he held postdoctoral positions at the Duesseldorf University, Germany and Harvard University, USA. Prior to joining IIT Madras in 1998, he briefly held scientist position at the Dr. Reddy’s Research Foundation, Hyderabad. His research interests are mainly focused on the development of new strategies in organic synthesis, asymmetric synthesis and stereoselective synthesis of biologically active and pharmaceutically important molecules. He is a recipient of AvH fellowship, Germany and CRSI bronze medal. He is an elected Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences. He serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Chemical Sciences (India).