Dr. Mangala Katugampola was assigned as the new Head of the Department of Archaeology of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya. The appointment letter was handed over to Dr. Mangala Katugampola by the Vice- chancellor, Prof. D.M. Semasinghe on the 19th of November 2018 at the Office of the Vice- chancellor. Present at the occasion were Prof. Lakshman Senevirathne, Deputy Vice- chancellor and Ms. Dhammika Ambegoda, Assisstant Registrar- Academic Establishment Division.

Dr. Mangala Katugampola who has obtained his first degree from the University of Kelaniya in 1998 has successfully completed the Postgraduate Diploma in Archaeology from the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology. Subsequently, he obtained his MPhil Degree from the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology in 2010 and under that he conducted research on Ancient Settlement Studies and GIS. In 2015 he obtained his PhD from Sichuan University, China and the research pertaining to his PhD is based on Spatial Studies and GIS.

He has conducted research in the fields of GIS in Archaeology, Field Archaeology, Visual Media in Archaeology, Burial Archaeology and Silk- route Studies and has published more than 08 internationally recognized research articles and more than 20 research articles on national level. Dr. Katugampola has participated in more than 35 national and international Archaeological field research projects. He is currently engaged in 03 international ongoing research projects.

He is working as a Director of the GIS Unit at the Central Cultural Found (CCF) attached to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs.

Moreover, he is the current Vice-president of the Arts Council and the Senior Student Counsellor of the Faculty of Social Sciences.