Prof. J. C. N. Rajendra received his primary and secondary education at St Patrick’s College Jaffna, Sri Lanka. In 1984, he obtained his Bachelor of Science (Hons), specialising in Physics, from the University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka (UOJ). He joined the Eastern University, Sri Lanka (EUSL) in 1986 and awarded a British Council Scholarship in 1987 for postgraduate research studies at the University of Sussex. In July 1991, he was awarded the Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) by the University of Sussex, United Kingdom. He returned to Sri Lanka in 1991 and continued his service at EUSL. At EUSL, he served in different capacities, including as a Head of the Department of Physics (Feb 2001 – Oct 2001 & Feb 1992 – Feb1998) and Dean of the Faculty of Science (Oct 2001 – Oct 2004).
Prof. J. C. N. Rajendra won the Commonwealth Fellowship in 1998 and proceeded to the University of Sussex on sabbatical. There, he worked as a Visiting Research Fellow in Experimental Physics (1 Aug 1998 – 31 July 1999). In 1999, He received his MInstP and CPhys title from the Institute of Physics (United Kingdom). During his second sabbatical, he served as a Senior Lecturer Gr I at the OUSL (1 Nov 2004 – 31 Oct 2005). Subsequently, he joined the Vavuniya Campus of the University of Jaffna (VCUOJ) in 2006 and served there till 2009. At VCUOJ, he served as Head of the Department of Physical Science and Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science for a shorter period. Later, he joined the OUSL in 2009 and promoted to Professor in Physics (Oct. 2009 to Oct. 2017). In Oct. 2017, he was promoted to Senior Professor in Physics and became the Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the OUSL in October 2018.
Prof. J. C. N. Rajendra has over thirty-three years of research and teaching experience in physics. His research in Low-Temperature Physics involves studying the Physical properties of Liquid Helium and Liquid Hydrogen in confined geometries and Heat Capacity techniques to investigate the possibility of Superfluidity in para hydrogen (a boson system). Currently, he is interested in fabricating nano-crystalline Si and SiO2 from locally available post-harvest waste materials for industrial applications. In addition, he has spent a substantial amount of his professional life in enhancing teaching, and learning practices in Physics Education and research focused on Open and Distance Learning (ODL) environment. He enjoys sharing his passion for physics and research with members of the general public, occasionally giving talks in schools and, where possible, organising or taking part in outreach events for students and teachers.