Bengaluru: Six eminent scientists have been awarded the Infosys Prize 2018 across various categories of science and research, the software major’s science foundation announced on Tuesday.
The annual award includes a gold medal, a citation and a prize purse worth $100,000 (or its equivalent in Indian rupees, Rs 72.68 lakh), the Infosys Science Foundation (ISF) said in a statement.
“The Infosys Prize seeks to honour the efforts of some of the brightest scientists and researchers and highlight the country’s ongoing quest for scientific excellence,” Narayana Murthy, Trustee ISF and Founder, Infosys, said.
"When we instituted the Infosys Prize, we invited jury chairs for whom the only criteria for selecting winners was merit" – @Infosys_nmurthy, welcoming and thanking the jury chairs for Infosys Prize 2018. #InfosysPrizeAt10 pic.twitter.com/mkeNFPFnsW
— Infosys Prize (@InfosysPrize) November 13, 2018
A six-member jury of renowned scientists and professors selected the winners from 244 nominations received in six categories, ISF said.
Also read: Infosys Prizes 2017 Announced for Three Women – but That Is Not Enough
By recognising these researchers and celebrating their achievements, the Infosys Prize aims to inspire young minds to explore science as a career option and advance innovation in the country, according to the foundation.
Navakanta Bhat, a professor at IISc, Bengaluru, was awarded the prize in the ‘engineering and computer science’ category for his work on the design of novel biosensors. Based on his research in biochemistry and gaseous sensors, Bhat has pushed the performance limits of existing metal-oxide sensors.
He also devised gas sensors with ultra-precise detection accuracies necessary for space and environmental monitoring, especially useful for India’s growing space, atomic energy and security programmes, ISF said.
In the humanities category, Kavita Singh, a professor and dean at the School of Arts & Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, was awarded for her study of Mughal, Rajput and Deccan art.
Singh’s work shows the significance of museums in highlighting the social impact of art, and thereby relates visual culture to large contemporary questions of secularity, modernity and political conflict, the foundation said.
The life sciences prize was awarded to Roop Mallik, an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, for his work on molecular motor proteins crucial for the function of living cells.
Mallik has identified and measured forces needed to transport large particles inside cells, and demonstrated their role in fundamental processes such as targeting pathogens for their destruction and moving lipid droplets for fatty acid regulation in the liver.
Nalini Anantharaman, professor and chair of mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study, University of Strasbourg, France, received the mathematics for her work in quantum chaos. Mathematicians and physicists have been trying for decades to unravel the mysteries of this subatomic space.
The physical sciences prize was bagged by S.K. Satheesh, professor at the Centre for Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences, IISc, for his pioneering work in climate change.
Also read: With Ministers Like These, Every Day Must Be Science Day
His studies on black carbon aerosols, the light-absorbing microscopic particles in air that greatly influence atmospheric energy balance over the Indian subcontinent, have enabled a better understanding of the climatic impact of these particles.
The social sciences prize was awarded to Senthil Mullainathan, professor of computation and behavioural science, the University of Chicago, for his pathbreaking work in behavioural economics.
Mullainathan’s research has had a substantial impact on diverse fields such as development, public finance, corporate governance and policy design. A significant part of this work is relevant to India, according to the ISF.
“We hope the work of all our winners bears fruit and helps improve societies and economies across the world,” said K. Dinesh, president of the ISF.