The Institute is headed by Professor Rajeeva L. Karandikar, an internationally renowned mathematician. CMI was founded in 1989 by Professor C. S. Seshadri, F.R.S., who is presently Director-Emeritus. The Institute has a talented group of faculty members who have strong academic ties with reputed institutions in India and abroad. The Institute also attracts a regular stream of academic visitors, both from India and abroad.
The main areas of research in Mathematics pursued at the Institute are algebra, analysis, differential equations, geometry, probability, statistics and topology. In Computer Science, the main areas of research are formal methods in the specification and verification of software systems, design and analysis of algorithms, computational complexity theory and computer security. In Physics, research is being carried out mainly in gravitation, quantum field theory, string theory and mathematical physics.
The Institute has a well established Ph.D. Programme in Mathematics and Computer Science and has announced a Ph.D. Programme in Physics starting in 2011.