Senior Lecturer
Contact:
Central Campus, First floor, Science and Technology building, Room No : 137
Office: +94112881257, Ext: 490
E-mail: ddalw@ou.ac.lk dusha_usjp@yahoo.com
I graduated from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka with a First Class (Hons) in B.Sc Special degree in Chemistry in 2005. Further I successfully completed the Graduate ship course in Chemistry offered by the College of Chemical Sciences, Institute of Chemistry Ceylon in 2003. I served as a temporary Demonstrator at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and The Open University of Sri Lanka since 2006 to 2008.
Then, I joined The Open University of Sri Lanka as a Lecturer (Probationary) in year 2008. After a short period I commenced my higher studies in University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka and I received my Ph.D in Chemistry in 2016. My thesis is based on the Spectroscopic and Photochemical properties of carotenoids such as lycopene, β-carotene, bixin, norbixin and their oxidized intermediates were investigated using UV-vis, fluorescence and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopic (UV-vis DRS) techniques and small angle neutron scattering (SANS) studies.
After that I was promoted to the Senior Lecturer (Grade II) in Chemistry in year 2016.
Positions held:
Executive Committee member, Section E-2 (Chemical Sciences), Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (SLAAS), Sri Lanka (2018)
Secretary, The Buckyball Society, Department of Chemistry, The Open University of Sri Lanka. 2018
Executive Committee member, The Open University Teacher’s Association (OUTA), The Open University of Sri Lanka. 2017
Secretary, The Buckyball Society, Department of Chemistry, The Open University of Sri Lanka. 2016
Member, I was a member in the American Physics Society (APS) 2015.
Member, Institute of Chemistry Ceylon, College of chemical sciences since 2013.
Areas of Specialization:Physical Chemistry
Research interests:Photochemistry and spectroscopy of carotenoids and their radical cations
Affiliations:Member of IChem, Member of SLAAS
Programme Coordination:B.Sc Degree Programme
Course Coordination:CYU5304, CYU5307, CYU6606
Awards:1. The National Research Council Merit Award for a scientific research publication “Spectroscopic studies of neutral and chemically oxidized species of β-carotene, lycopene and norbixin in CH2Cl2: Fluorescence from intermediate compounds” in the year 2015 in Journal of Luminescence 2015, Vol 158,
pp 60-64.
2. “Chemical Industries (Colombo) Limited” prize awarded for the Best Performance in Chemistry in 3rd year 2004.
3. A merit award was obtained (5th place) in the Chemistry competition, which was held by the “Royal Society of Chemistry Sri Lanka section”, for the best Chemistry special graduates of the Island for the year 2005.
Fellowships
Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) –COL Fellowship 2021
Undergraduate Research projects are being carried out under the topic of “Chemical and spectroscopic studies on carotenoids and their aggregates”.
Absorption of selected pesticide residues By plants
Publications:
14). Perera R.M.T.N, Gunawardena J.A.S.U, Chandrika U.G, Alwis D.D.D.H, High Performance Liquid Chromatography – DAD analysis of apo-carotenoids presents in Saffron flower (Crocus sativus L.) stigma, The Open University Research sessions 2021 (OURS2021), The Open University of Sri Lanka, 2021, p 120.
13). Nayanakanthi Nilakarawasam, Radhika De Silva, Dusantha Alwis, Thejani Bulathwatta, Ransirini De Silva and Nimmi Dilsha. Developing a proactive motivational individual student support system at OUSL: A preliminary study for identification of influential factors, Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU2021) Colombo, Sri Lanka.
9). Alwis, D. D. D. H.; Bandarage, G.; Zoysa, M.N.K.De. Assessing the prior knowledge and thinking skills of students related to glassware in an undergraduate practical chemistry course; A preliminary study. 24th IUPAC International Conference on Chemistry Education (ICCE 2016), Malaysia 2016, TCE 04, Pg. 61.
8). Alwis, D. D. D. H.; Chandrika, U. G.; Jayaweera, P. M., The Optical absorption spectra of Self-assembled aggregates of β-carotene. Proceedings of the Annual Academic sessions of the Open University of Sri Lanka, 2015, p 65-68.
7). Alwis, D. D. D. H.; Chandrika, U. G.; Jayaweera, P. M., Photosensitization of TiO2 semiconductor nanoparticles by carotenoids in solution: photo degradation of carotenoids on TiO2 surface. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology, in preparation.
6). Alwis, D. D. D. H.; Ratnaweera, D.; Dadmun, M.; Chandrika, U. G.; Jayaweera, P. M., A scattering study of the conformational structure and aggregation behavior of conjugated polyene in acetone, In preparation.
5). Dusantha Alwis.; Dilru Ratnaweera.; Thusith Etampawala.; Mark Dadmun.; Udumalagala Chandrika.; Pradeep Jayaweera.; Self-Assembly of Carotenoids During Solution Casting of Solar Devices, American Physical Scoiety MAR15 Meeting.2015, 60 (2).
4). Alwis, D. D. D. H.; Chandrika, U. G.; Jayaweera, P. M., Spectroscopic studies of neutral and chemically oxidized species of β-carotene, lycopene and norbixin in CH2Cl2: Fluorescence from intermediate compounds. Journal of Luminescence 2015, 158 (0), 60-64.
3). Alwis, D.D.D.H.; Chandrika, U.G.; Jayaweera, P. M., UV light induced photo-degradation study of carotenoids in MeOH: The influence of inorganic anions, ICMA proceedings of the International conference of multidisciplinary approaches, University of Sri Jayewardenepura Sri Lanka, 2014, p. 146.
2). Alwis, D.D.D.H.; Chandrika, U.G.; Jayaweera, P.M. “Absorption and Emission Properties of Lycopene, β-Carotene, Norbixin and Their Chemically Oxidized Species, Annual sessions of the Institute of Chemistry Ceylon, Chemistry in Sri Lanka. 2013, 30 (2), p 13-14.
1). Alwis, D.D.D.H.; Rathnayake, W.M.K.M.; Chandrika, U.G.; Jayaweera, P.M. A kinetics study of photodegradation of lycopene in water/acetone solutions, Proceedings of the 68th Annual Sessions of Sri Lanka association for advancement of science. 2012, p. 69.