IISc professor, five others win Infosys Prize

Bengaluru: These are the thinkers, the movers and shakers of tomorrow. At least that's what the Infosys Science Foundation (ISF) believes when it cherry-picked six men and women who they believe have made a difference in the varied fields of Humanities, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences.

Prof V. Kumaran, a professor of Department of Chemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, is one of the six winners of the prestigious Infosys Prize this year in the category of Engineering and Computer Science.  

The other winners are Prof Sunil Amrith, Mehra Family Professor of South Asian Studies, Professor of History, Harvard University for Humanities; Dr Gagandeep Kang, Executive Director of Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad, for Life Sciences; Prof Akshay Venkatesh, Professor, Department of Mathematics, Stanford University, for Mathematical Sciences; Dr Anil Bhardwaj, Director, Space Physics Laboratory, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram for Physical Sciences; and Prof Kaivan Munshi, Frank Ramsey Professor of Economics, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge for Social Sciences.

The awards ceremony will be held on January 7, 2017 in Bengaluru, where Prof Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, President of the Royal Society and Nobel Prize Laureate, will felicitate the winners, announced the trustees and co-founders of Infosys, Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy and Mr S.D. Shibhulal, at a crowded press conference at the Infosys campus in Bengaluru.

The prize includes Rs 65 lakh, a gold medallion and a citation certificate. “India can do slightly better in the area of mathematics, which does not require heavy investments in laboratories and instruments. Youngsters should be encouraged to do mathematical research in India,” Mr Murthy said.
    
“The number of children entering the research field is low. We don't have many research universities or a proper framework where the industry and universities can collaborate" Mr Shibhulal said. The winners were shortlisted from over 250 nominations by a jury panel, comprising renowned scientists and professors. Jury chairs of the six categories are: Prof Pradeep K. Khosla (University of California) for Engineering and Computer Science, Prof Amartya Sen (Harvard University), Humanities, Dr Inder Verma (Salk Institute of Biological Sciences) for Life Sciences, Prof Srinivasa S.R. Varadhan (New York University) for Mathematical Sciences, Prof Shrinivas Kulkarni (California Institute of Technology) for Physical Sciences, and Prof Kaushik Basu (Cornell University) for Social Sciences.