CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) ongoing ‘One Week One Lab’ programme in Hyderabad on Friday, September 08, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement
The winners of the 2022 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize awarded for Science and Technology were announced on Spetember 11, 2023, a year after the prize was scrapped by the Centre unexpectedly.
The award honours the scientific achievements of researchers (under the age of 45) working in India. Named after the eminent scientist and the founder and first Director-General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Dr. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, the annual prize is typically announced on his birthday, September 26. However, last year the government released a statement stating that most of the existing awards will be scrapped, including those instituted through private endowments. In its place, a few high-stature awards will be introduced.
The surprise announcement took place during the launch event of the ‘One Week One Lab’ programme, hosted by the CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR). During this event, N Kalaiselvi, the director general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), revealed the names of the recipients of the Bhatnagar Prize. The announcement was made in the presence of Dr. Jitendra Singh, Vice President of CSIR, in New Delhi.
The award comes with a cash prize of ₹5 lakh. For 2022, 12 recipients have been awarded the prize spanning across seven scientific disciplines:
- Biological Sciences: This is jointly awarded to Dr. Ashwani Kumar of CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology and Dr. Maddika Subba Reddy of Centre for DNA Fingerprinting Diagnostics
- Chemical Sciences: This is jointly awarded to Dr. Akkattu T Biju of the Indian Institute of Science and Dr. Debabrata Maiti of the Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay)
- Earth, Atmosphere and Planetary Sciences: This is awarded to Dr. Vimal Mishra of the Indian Institute of Technology (Gandhinagar)
- Engineering Sciences: This is jointly awarded to Dr. Dipti Ranjan Sahoo of the Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi) and Dr. Rajnish Kumar of the Indian Institute of Technology (Madras)
- Mathematical Sciences: This jointly awarded to Dr. Apoorva Khare of the Indian Institute of Science and Dr. Neeraj Kayal of Microsoft Research Lab
- Medical Sciences: This is awarded to Dr. Dipyaman Ganguli of CSIR- Indian Institute of Chemical Biology
- Physical Sciences: This is jointly awarded to Dr. Anindya Das of the Indian Institute of Science and Dr. Basudeb Dasgupta of Physics Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
