caption: (From left) Winners, Arun G Chandrasekhar, Professor of Economics, Stanford University, USA, Prof Mahmood Kooria, Lecturer, School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, UK, Prof Shyam Gollakota, Paul G Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering University of Washington, Infosys founder & Trustee of Infosys Science Foundation N R Narayana Murthy, Mathematician Peter Sarnak, Trustee Kris Gopalakrishnan, Prof Siddhesh Kamat Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at IISER, Pune, Prof Vedika Khemani, Associate Professor at Stanford University, USA ,and husband and daughter of Neena Gupta, Professor, Theoretical Statistics and Mathematics Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata during the 16th Infosys prize organised by Infosys Science Foundation in Bengaluru on Saturday, 11th January 2025.
DH Photo/ B K Janardhan
Bengaluru: The Infosys Science Foundation (ISF), Bengaluru, felicitated the six laureates for the 2024 Infosys Prize on Thursday, spanning six categories – Economics, Engineering and Computer Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, and Physical Sciences.
This year, ISF merged Humanities and Social Sciences into one category and introduced a new Economics category.
Highlighting the new direction, Kris Gopalakrishnan, President, Infosys Science Foundation mentioned in his address the Infosys Prize Residency program; a laureate of the Infosys Prize in any category, not residing in India, is required to spend 30 days of their choosing in the calendar year following the announcement of the award in an Indian institution of their choice.
Two women were among this year’s winners. Prof Vedika Khemani from Stanford University won in Physical Sciences and Prof Neena Gupta, from the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, received the Mathematical Sciences prize.
The other laureates were Prof Siddesh Kamat, from Indian Institute for Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune in Life Sciences, Prof Arun Chandrashekar of Stanford University in Economics, Prof Mahmood Kooria, from the University of Edinburgh, in Humanities and Social Sciences, Engineering and Computer Science, Prof Shyam Gollakota from the University of Washington in Engineering and Computer Science.
The winners were felicitated by chief guest Prof Peter Sarnak, Gopal Prasad Professor of Mathematics, Institute for Advanced Study, and Eugene Higgins Professor of Mathematics, Princeton University, with a 22k gold medal, a citation, and a prize purse of USD 100,000.
"Over the years I have witnessed firsthand the immense talent and impact of Indian mathematicians, physicists and computer scientists and as clear from the descriptions of this year’s prize winners this tradition extends across all these disciplines and to all of the 2024 prize winners," Sarnak commented during his address.