Infosys Science Foundation to Announce the Winners of the 12th Infosys Prize

Bengaluru: Infosys Science Foundation (ISF) will announce the winners of the Infosys Prize 2020 on the evening of December 02, 2020, virtually. The Infosys Prize, which was instituted to elevate the prestige of science and research, also aims to inspire the youth to choose a vocation in research. The prize for each category comprises a pure gold medal, a citation, and a prize purse of USD 100,000 (or its equivalent in Rupees) this year.

Infosys Science Foundation will felicitate scholars across six categories – Engineering and Computer Sciences, Humanities, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Social Sciences. A distinguished jury, comprising of leaders in each of these fields, evaluates the work of the nominees against the standards of international research, placing the winners on par with the finest researchers in the world.

“Over the last 12 years, the Infosys Prize has chosen the very best contemporary researchers and scientists who have gone on to distinguish themselves further. This reaffirms our faith in our process and purpose. We realized that there was a serious need to bring science to the fore and make it fashionable again, especially for the younger generation who need to see contemporary role models in these fields and be inspired by them,” said N.R. Narayana Murthy, Founder, Infosys, President – Board of Trustees, Infosys Science Foundation.

Since its inception in 2009, Infosys Science Foundation has felicitated works of 68 laureates from not just institutes like the IITs, IISc, ISIs, and NCBS but also CSIR labs across the county, niche research institutes like JNCSAR and Harish Chandra Research Institute, among others. Last year, this time, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, early winners of this Prize, won the Nobel memorial prize in Economics. Manjul Bhargava and Akshay Venkatesh went on to win the Fields Medal – one of the highest honors in mathematics given only once in four years to those under 40 years of age. Gagandeep Kang became the first woman from India to be elected as a member of the Royal Society. This year, Ashoke Sen and Thanu Padmanabhan, who were awarded Infosys Prize in 2009, made it to the top 30 in their field in a list of top 2 percent leading scientists in the world, according to a paper published by Stanford researchers.

Winners for this year will be announced and felicitated in a virtual ceremony on December 2, 2020.

Agenda of the event:
Opening address by N. R. Narayana Murthy- Founder, Infosys, President – Board of Trustees, Infosys Science Foundation
Address by the chief guest – Abel Prize winner, S R Srinivasa Varadhan
Announcement of winners across six categories by the chairs of each jury panel
Vote of thanks by Salil Parekh – CEO and MD, Infosys

About the Infosys Science Foundation
The Infosys Prize is awarded by the Infosys Science Foundation, a not-for-profit trust set up in 2009. The award is given annually to honor outstanding achievements of contemporary researchers and scientists across six categories: Engineering and Computer Sciences, Humanities, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences. Each prize consists of a gold medal, a citation and a purse of USD 100,000. The award intends to celebrate success in research and stand as a marker of excellence in these fields.

Jury Chairs
Prof. Kaushik Basu | Prof. Arvind | Prof. Shrinivas Kulkarni | Prof. Akeel Bilgrami | Dr. Mriganka Sur | Prof. Chandrashekhar Khare

Trustees
Srinath Batni | K. Dinesh | S. Gopalakrishnan | N. R. Narayana Murthy | Nandan Nilekani | T. V. Mohandas Pai | Shibulal S.D.