HBCSE is a National Centre of the TIFR, Mumbai. The Centre aims at promoting equity and excellence in science and mathematics education from primary school to undergraduate college level and encourages the growth of scientific literacy in the country. It has a wide spectrum of inter-related activities which includes research and development concerning science education, teacher education, science popularization and talent nurture. It is the nodal centre of Olympiad programmes in mathematics, physics, astronomy, chemistry, and biology. Another important programme is the National Initiative on Undergraduate Science (NIUS), concerning tertiary science education in India. It runs a Graduate School in Science Education. Students admitted to HBCSE Graduate School work towards the Ph.D. degree of the TIFR which is a Deemed University.