Dr Kalaiselvi was the Theme Director of Energy and Energy Devices (E2D) of CSIR, wherein CSIR-CECRI is the Nodal laboratory. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Government Arts College, Tirunelveli affiliated to Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai.
In 1999, 2000, & 2001, she was honoured with the Young Scientist Seminar Award of CECRI (3 times). In 2006, she earned a Citation in Marqui’s who is who in Science and Engineering in Asia. In 2007, she was ranked among the Top 100 Scientists of the year 2007 and International Scientist of the year.