Where the stars meet the classroom — nurturing the next generation of scientists and mathematicians.
Jamal Nazrul Islam was one of Bangladesh's most celebrated physicists and mathematicians — a man whose intellect rivalled the greatest scientists of the twentieth century. Born on 24 February 1939 in Jhenaidah, he would go on to study alongside Stephen Hawking at Cambridge and earn international renown for his research in cosmology and quantum field theory.
Yet at the height of his global fame, he made a choice that astonished the world: he turned down prestigious positions in the United Kingdom and the United States and returned to Bangladesh in 1984. His reason was simple — his homeland needed him more.
He founded the Research Centre for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (RCMPS) at the University of Chittagong and devoted the rest of his life to cultivating scientific thinking on Bangladeshi soil. The Jamal Nazrul Islam Mathematics School carries forward that same spirit of excellence and homecoming.
The Jamal Nazrul Islam Mathematics School (JNIMS) was established in Chittagong in honour of Bangladesh's most distinguished mathematical mind. The school is dedicated to making high-quality mathematics and science education accessible to students across all backgrounds, embodying Professor Islam's lifelong belief that rigorous thinking should be a birthright, not a privilege.
JNIMS follows a curriculum that blends classical problem-solving with modern computational thinking, inspired directly by Professor Islam's own interdisciplinary approach to knowledge.
Chittagong, Bangladesh — near the University of Chittagong campus.
Classes VI–XII with specialised mathematics and physics streams.
Dedicated preparation for Bangladesh Mathematical Olympiad and international competitions.
Formal academic tie with the Research Centre for Mathematical and Physical Sciences.
Professor Islam's academic output was as vast as the cosmos he studied. From the long-term fate of galaxies to the mathematical architecture of the universe itself, his work pushed the boundaries of human knowledge and earned him a place among the foremost theoretical physicists of the twentieth century.
Studied and worked at the University of Cambridge, collaborating with Stephen Hawking, Dennis Sciama, and other leading figures in theoretical physics. Specialised in gravitational theory and the global structure of spacetime.
Published influential research on the ultimate fate of stars, galaxies, and matter over cosmological timescales — work that predated and inspired Freeman Dyson's famous paper on the same subject.
Published his landmark book by Cambridge University Press — the first popular-science treatment of the far-future cosmos. It remains a foundational text and was translated into multiple languages.
Chose to leave prestigious positions in the West and return permanently to Bangladesh, joining the University of Chittagong and dedicating himself to building scientific capacity in his homeland.
Established and directed the Research Centre for Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Chittagong, mentoring generations of Bangladeshi scientists and publishing extensively on quantum field theory, cosmology, and classical general relativity.
This masterwork examined what will become of the universe over trillions of years: the death of stars, the evaporation of black holes, and the final silence of matter. Written with both mathematical rigour and uncommon clarity, it demonstrated that great science writing can be accessible to all — a philosophy that JNIMS carries into every classroom.
What made Jamal Nazrul Islam extraordinary was not just his command of tensor calculus or quantum mechanics — it was the depth and wholeness of his humanity. He was as comfortable reciting Tagore as he was deriving field equations, and he believed passionately that science and culture were two expressions of the same search for meaning.
Professor Islam had a deep and lifelong love of Rabindra Sangeet — the songs of Rabindranath Tagore. He viewed Tagore's philosophy of unity between nature, humanity, and the cosmos as deeply aligned with physics.
He was himself a poet in Bengali, writing verse that reflected on existence, time, and the universe. He read widely in both Bengali and English literature and encouraged students to nourish their inner lives through the written word.
His return to Bangladesh was itself the most powerful cultural statement of his life — that rootedness in one's own culture is not a limitation but a strength.
Islam found connections between Sufi thought, Bengali humanism, and cosmological wonder. He often spoke of science as a spiritual enterprise — a way of appreciating the extraordinary elegance of creation.
A passionate advocate for conducting science in the Bangla language. He believed that scientific ideas must be discussed in one's mother tongue to truly take root in a people's consciousness.
He regularly opened his home to students, holding informal seminars over tea — cultural salons as much as academic workshops. JNIMS replicates this in its mentorship programmes.
"I came back because this is where I belong. The brightest stars don't leave the sky that made them. If I can help even one young person here see the beauty in mathematics, that is worth more than any position in the world."
— Professor Jamal Nazrul Islam (paraphrased from interviews)Professor Islam passed away on 16 March 2013, but his influence on Bangladeshi science, education, and culture continues to grow. The school named in his honour strives to embody each dimension of his remarkable life.