The institute was established in 1917 by Acharya Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose, the father of modern scientific research in the Indian subcontinent.

Current concentration of research is in the fields of physics, chemistry, plant biology, microbiology, molecular medicine, biochemistry, biophysics, bioinformatics and environmental science.

The institute has contributed to extremely important discoveries and has been home to internationally renowned researchers like Sambhu Nath De (discoverer of the cholera toxin), Debendra Mohan Bose (who pioneered the use of photographic emulsion plates in particle physics as attested by the Nobel laureate Sir C. F. Powell ) along with Bhibha Chowdhuri and others, Gopal Chandra Bhattacharya, Shyamadas Chatterjee (known for research on fusion) etc.

Jagadish Chandra Bose himself started the display of his instruments which, as a continuous process, made their way into the present museum in the year 1986–87.

The main purpose of this technological museum is to display and maintain some of the instruments designed, made and used by Sir J. C. Bose, his personal belongings and memorabilia.