Infosys Science Foundation announces 2024 award winners

A file photo of Infosys co-founders NR Narayana Murthy and S. Gopalakrishnan addressing mediapersons about the changes in Infosys award, at Infosys Science Foundation (ISF), Jayanagar, in Bengaluru on May 15, 2024. | Photo credit: Murali Kumar K

The Infosys Science Foundation (ISF) has announced the winners of the Infosys Prize 2024 in six categories: economics, engineering and computer sciences, humanities and social sciences, life sciences, mathematical sciences and physical sciences.

The Infosys Prize honors the achievements of individuals whose research and scholarship has a significant impact on India.

The prize for each category consists of a gold medal, a citation and a cash prize of $100,000 (or its equivalent in rupees).

The laureates of the Infosys Prize 2024 have been selected by an international panel of jury members, consisting of renowned scientists and experts.

Over the past fifteen years, the ISF has recognized groundbreaking research that has impacted various aspects of human life.

In 2024, the ISF has decided to honor researchers under the age of 40emphasizing the need for early recognition of exceptional talent.

Kris Gopalakrishnan, Chairman, Infosys Science Foundation, said: “The Infosys Prize has played a crucial role in recognizing brilliant minds whose contributions are shaping the future of research and science. This year we once again focused on rewarding young researchers under the age of 40, recognizing their enormous potential and the promise of paradigm-changing work.”

The winners of the Infosys Prize 2024 in the six categories are:

Economy

The Infosys Prize 2024 in Economics is awarded to Arun Chandrasekhar, professor at the Department of Economics, Stanford University, for his contribution to the study of social and economic networks, using innovative data sets and building on theoretical methods from machine learning and computer science .

His collection and mapping of network data from multiple villages in Karnataka provides a testing ground for studying important questions in development economics. Prof. Chandrasekhar’s work sheds light on the role of networks in the functioning of the modern economy. His work provides crucial ingredients for better policymaking.

Engineering and computer science

The Infosys Prize 2024 in Engineering and Computer Science is awarded to Shyam Gollakota, professor at the School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington, for his impactful research and technology translation across multiple technical domains in socially relevant areas such as smartphone-based affordable healthcare tools for low- and middle-income countries, battery-free computers and communications, and augmenting human auditory perception with artificial intelligence.

Humanities and social sciences

The Infosys Prize 2024 in Humanities and Social Sciences is awarded to Mahmood Kooria, Lecturer at the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, for his outstanding and pioneering contributions to the study of Maritime Islam in a global perspective, with special emphasis for Kerala in the pre-modern and early modern eras. His groundbreaking studies have revealed the role of Islamic law in shaping economic, political and cultural transformations on the Indian Ocean coast.

Life sciences

The Infosys Prize 2024 in Life Sciences is awarded to Siddhesh Kamat, Associate Professor in the Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, for his discoveries related to bioactive lipids and their receptors, and their metabolic and signaling pathways. His research, which uses cutting-edge methods to understand the function of lipids, a key component of cells, has important implications for understanding the role of these molecules in a range of cellular functions and human diseases.

Mathematical Sciences

The 2024 Infosys Prize in Mathematical Sciences is awarded to Neena Gupta, professor in the Theoretical Statistics and Mathematics Unit of the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, for her work on the Zariski cancellation problem, a fundamental problem in algebraic geometry that was solved for the first time was stated in 1949 by Oscar Zariski, one of the founders of modern algebraic geometry. In 2014, she proved the striking result that Asanuma’s three-dimensional affine manifold yields a positive answer to Zariski’s original cancellation problem.

Physical Sciences

The 2024 Infosys Prize in Physical Sciences is awarded to Vedika Khemani, associate professor in the Department of Physics at Stanford University, who has made broad and pioneering contributions to theoretical and experimental non-equilibrium quantum matter, particularly the discovery of time crystals. This could have important implications for the future of quantum computing and other technologies.