Calcutta's Suman Chakraborty bags Infosys award for elucidating interaction of fluid mechanics

The Infosys Science Foundation (ISF) Tuesday announced the winners of the Infosys Prize 2022 in six categories – Engineering and Computer Science, Humanities, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences & Social Sciences.

President at Infosys Science Foundation Kris Gopalakrishnan said, “The Infosys Prize is promoting stellar research in India by identifying and rewarding individual scholars."

He hopes the researchers' works in India would "set the stage for finding solutions for the existential crises"

that the world faces like "the effects of climate change, accessible diagnostics and healthcare, challenges of mental health, fulfilment of fundamental human rights".

The tech giant Infosys celebrates the achievements of the researchers and scientists, this year's edition was held at the Infosys Science Foundation’s new office in Bengaluru.

Elaborating on the importance of funding science and research in India, Narayana Murthy, Founder of Infosys &  Trustee  for the Infosys Science Foundation, said, “There is an urgent need for both government and private sectors to invest more in science and research.

The prize for each category consisted of a gold medal, a citation, and a prize purse of USD 100,000 (or its equivalent in Rupees).

Winners of the Infosys Prize 2022

Humanities

The Infosys Prize 2022 in Humanities was awarded to Sudhir Krishnaswamy, Vice Chancellor at the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru for his sharing his understanding of the Indian Constitution, especially his carefully argued account of the importance of the landmark ‘basic structure doctrine’ adopted by the Supreme Court in 1973 that guides and constrains various efforts to amend it, while ensuring its stability in the face of executive and legislative outcomes in India’s political life.

Life Sciences

The Infosys Prize 2022 in Life Sciences is awarded to Vidita Vaidya, Professor of Neurobiology at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai for her fundamental contributions to understanding brain mechanisms that underlie mood disorders such as anxiety and depression, including signals engaged by the neurotransmitter serotonin in causing persistent changes in behavior induced by early life stress and the role of serotonin in energy regulation in brain cells.

In a post-pandemic age when the focus on mental health has become ever more urgent and important, Prof. Vaidya’s work is extremely contextual.

Mathematical Sciences

The Infosys Prize 2022 in Mathematical Sciences is awarded to Mahesh Kakde, Professor of Mathematics at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru for his contributions to algebraic number theory.

Prof. Kakde’s deep work on the non-commutative Iwasawa main conjecture, his work on the Gross-Stark conjecture (with Samit Dasgupta and Kevin Ventullo), and on the Brumer-Stark conjecture (with Samit Dasgupta), resolves outstanding conjectures at the heart of modern number theory.

Often called the queen of mathematics, number theory studies the relationships between numbers and often has practical applications in areas such as cryptography.

Physical Sciences

The Infosys Prize 2022 in Physical Sciences was awarded to Nissim Kanekar, Professor at the National Centre for Radio Astronomy, Pune for his study of galaxies in an era --the so-called “high noon” period -- in which stars were being formed at a maximum rate.

Excluding which, his careful astronomical investigations have placed the strongest limit on possible secular variation of the fine structure constant and the electron-to-proton mass ratio.

Kanekar's work has put India’s radio astronomy capabilities on the world map.

Social Sciences

Rohini Pande, Henry J. Heinz II Professor of Economics and Director at the Economic Growth Center, Yale University for her outstanding research on subjects of key importance, including governance and accountability, women’s empowerment, the role of credit in the lives of the poor, and the environment.

Her empirical findings, based on diverse methodologies, offer major promise and potential for policy design in emerging economies, including India.

As discussions on the fallout from the climate crisis, social justice, and what makes for a just and equitable society become ever more urgent, Prof. Pande’s work has tremendous implications.

The Infosys Prize is awarded by the Infosys Science Foundation, a not-for-profit trust set up in 2009.