Sircar was, thus, a product of the College that had borne witness to the event of learning science education. He obtained, first, a licentiate in medicine and surgery in 1860 and then, in 1863, the degree of doctor of medicine, a rare achievement for an Indian at the time. In 1869, Sircar began broaching the project of a national science association to the public through pamphlets, letters to the editor of the Hindu Patriot and public addresses. In 1876, he founded the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS). The IACS, Sircar's brainchild, enjoyed the State patronage, private donations and his own life's savings. It was financed from public subscriptions, and had the support of Sir Richard Temple, the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal. The IACS had an eventful life as well. During that period, the Indian League had already been founded. It opposed its preference for general science and advocated applied science for the economic development of the country and job generation. But, the IACS survived despite such hostilities of the Indian League. In the August 1869 issue of the Calcutta Journal of Medicine , Sircar wrote an article entitled, “On the Desirability of a National Institution for the Cultivation of Science by the Natives of India”. He wrote:

We want an institution, which will combine the character, the scope and objects of the Royal Institute of London and of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. We want an institution, which shall be for the instruction of the masses… And we wish that the institution be entirely under native management and control.

Sircar felt that the underdevelopment of India was due to its backwardness in science. India had the potential to master modern science. The Indians had shown themselves to master science in the past. This could be achieved through self-help. He desired that Indians should cultivate science not only for economic betterment but also for their regeneration. Of course, after persistent efforts, he succeeded in establishing the IACS in 1876. Later, the IACS evolved into a world-famous research institute. It had a lecture hall by 1884 and a laboratory was constituted in 1891 with donations from the Maharaja of Vizianagaram. It organised a series of lectures by Prafulla Chandra Ray, Jagadis Chandra Bose, Asutosh Mookerjee, Pramatha Nath Bose, Father Lafont and many other distinguished scientists. It is best known for its sponsorship of the work of C. V. Raman, a physicist, who was later awarded the Nobel Prize for the discovery named after him, the Raman Effect.