33 named for country’s highest science honour
This is the first national Vigyan awards announced by the government. Till 2023, the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award was India’s top science honour.
The team behind India’s maiden moon landing and a pioneering biochemist were among the 33 scientists honoured with India’s highest science awards announced by the government on Wednesday.
The science and technology ministry released a consolidated list of final awardees of the first-ever Vigyan Puruskar. The team of Chandrayaan-3 mission won the team award. Biochemist Govindarajan Padmanabhan, former director of the Indian Institute of Science-Bengaluru and Padma Bhushan laureate, won the Vigyan Ratna Puraskar, a lifetime achievement award.
Thirteen scientists won the Vigyan Shri award and 18 scientists won the Vigyan Yuva-Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar awards.
This is the first national Vigyan awards announced by the government. Till 2023, the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award was India’s top science honour. It was named after Bhatnagar,a renowned chemist who was the first chairman of the University Grants Commission and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, and in whose name the awards were instituted in 1958. Scientists under 45 were eligible for the SSB award.
This year, the government consolidated the awards under the Vigyan Ratna (lifetime achievement), Vigyan Shri (distinguished contributions), Vigyan Yuva-Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (for young scientists under 45) and Vigyan Team (exceptional contribution in a team) across 13 domains.
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This is the first time when there is no separate list for SSB awards, which had 12laureates in 2023. According to people familiar with the matter, this year’s SSB winners are called Vigyan Yuva awardees and the pattern is likely to continue.
The Vigyan Shri awardees include astrophysicist Annapurini Subramanian in space science, agriculture scientist Anandharamakrishnan C in agriculture, Avesh Kumar Tyagi in atomic energy, Umesh Varshney and Jayant Bhalchandra Udgaonkar in biological sciences, Syed Wajih Ahmad Naqvi in earth sciences, Bhim Singh in engineering sciences, Adimurthi Adi and Rahul Mukherjee in mathematics and computer science, Sanjay Behari in medicine, Lakshmanan Muthusamy and Naba Kumar Mondal in physics and Rohit Srivastava in technology and innovation.
“Extremely happy and humbled to be selected for the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar — Vigyan Shri 2024. I thank my teachers, my students, peers and collaborators — all played a big role in my scientific pursuit. Big support from family!” Subramanian, the director of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, posted on X.
The Vigyan Yuva awardees include Krishna Murthy S L and Swarup Kumar Parida in agriculture, Radhakrishnan Mahalakshmi and Aravind Penmatsa in biological sciences, Vivek Polshettiwar and Vishal Rai in chemistry, Roxy Mathew Koll in earth sciences, Abhilash and Radha Krishna Ganti in engineering sciences, Purabi Saikia and Bappi Paul in environmental science, Mahesh Ramesh Kakde in mathematics and computer science, Jitendra Kumar Sahu and Pragya Dhruv Yadav in medicine, Urbasi Sinha in physics, Digendranath Swain and Prashant Kumar in space science, and Prabhu Rajagopal in technology and innovation.
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Virologist Pragya Yadav, a senior scientist at the Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR) National Institute of Virology in Pune, is the first winner from the country’s apex biomedical research regulator.
“I am obviously excited but more than me it is my family and my ICMR family that is extremely happy and excited for me. I am the first recipient of this award from the entire ICMR family. It obviously feels nice when your hard-work gets recognised. I have been receiving thousands of messages and am finding it hard to reply to each one of them,” said Yadav.
Sahu, a paediatric neurologist at PGIMER Chandigarh, was instrumental in starting a paediatric epilepsy fellowship at the institute.
In agriculture, Krishnamurthy is a senior scientist at Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s Indian Institute of Rice Research, and specialises in plant breeding.
“We are developing a variety of salt-tolerant rice using conventional and molecular breeding approaches. It will help farmers to get a good yield in salt-affected soil fields. I think it is this work that has been recognised by the government in the form of this award. I am ecstatic,” said Krishnamurthy.
In biological science, Mahalakshmi is professor and India Alliance Fellow at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal, whose research interests include Membrane Protein Biophysics, Protein Biochemistry, Neurodegeneration and Cancer.
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Penmatsa is a professor in the Indian Institute of Science-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology. He specialises in research on structural biology of integral membrane proteins. “This is a great recognition especially since the field that my research is focussed on is particularly challenging because of the international competition. The credit also goes to my students who work very hard,” said Penmatsa.
The award under the mathematics and computer science category went to Mahesh Ramesh Kakde, who is a faculty in Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and specialises in number theory and arithmetic geometry. “I was expecting it, but when something like this happens even if it’s expected, it feels great,” said Kakde.
Urbasi Sinha is a researcher at the Raman Research Institute and her area of specialisation is light and matter physics.
Space science and technology category award has been jointly given to Digendranath Swain and Prashant Kumar. Swain is head, experimental techniques section, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO. Prashant is also a scientists at ISRO who works on satellite data assimilation in space application centre.
Technology and innovation award went to Prabhu Rajagopal, who is a faculty at IIT Madras, and specialises in artificial intelligence and control.
In chemistry, Rai is a professor of organic chemistry and chemical biology at the Indian Institute of Science Research and Education Bhopal. Polshettiwar is a professor in the Department of Chemical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.
His research focus is the use of nanotechnology to combat climate change. “This recognition is incredibly humbling and stands as a testament to the relentless pursuit of excellence and innovation in materials science and catalysis by my research group at TIFR Mumbai. This award is a direct result of my group’s dedication and motivation towards high-quality work and breakthrough research, driven by our genuine desire to help India combat climate change. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all my past and current group members,” he said.
In earth sciences, Koll was honoured. “I am overwhelmed,” Koll said on X.
In engineering, Radha Krishna Ganti is a professor at IIT-Madras, with research centering around advancing the theory and development of wireless and cellular communication. The other winner, Abhilash, goes by only his first name and is principal scientist at National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur, who specialises in hydro-biohydrometallurgy, waste recycling, rare earth extraction, environmental microbiology etc.
“I work in the field of metal extraction, and it has been 20 yrs of pain and hardship to reach this mark. But I am not stopping here,” he said.
Purabi Saikia and Bappi Paul jointly shared the award under environmental sciences category. Saikia is a plant ecologist and faculty in the department of botany at Banaras Hindu University. Paul is a faculty at National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar. His specialisation includes nanoparticles and organic synthesis.