Science Awards 2025 — Infosys Prize 2024 and Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar 2025

The Infosys Prize and the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar serve the same general goal — recognising outstanding science — but they do it from very different positions, and understanding the difference matters both for contextualising the awards and for competitive exam preparation.

The Infosys Prize is a private award, funded by the Infosys Science Foundation, a not-for-profit trust set up in 2009 by the founders of Infosys. Its USD 100,000 prize per category makes it the largest science award in India by monetary value. The prize has always been international in orientation — winners have included researchers based at universities in the United States, the United Kingdom, and across India — and the emphasis is on individuals whose work has the most intellectual ambition. From 2024, the foundation restricted its eligibility to researchers under forty, which shifted it from a career-recognition prize toward an early-career-spotting function. Several past winners have gone on to receive global recognition: Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo received the Nobel; Manjul Bhargava and Akshay Venkatesh received Fields Medals; Gagandeep Kang became the first Indian woman elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

The Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar is a government award, administered under the Ministry of Science and Technology, and modelled deliberately on the Padma Awards — it carries no monetary prize, but the status it confers is that of a national civilian honour. It replaced the previous structure of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, which was last given in 2022 under the old system administered by CSIR. The RVP brought the SSB prize inside a new four-tier framework: lifetime recognition (Vigyan Ratna), distinguished mid-career work (Vigyan Shri), young scientists under 45 (Vigyan Yuva — which retains the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar name), and team contributions (Vigyan Team). It covers thirteen scientific domains, from Physics and Chemistry to Space Science and Agricultural Science.

For students preparing for exams, the key fact about both awards is that they generate questions at different difficulty levels. The Vigyan Ratna winner (Narlikar, posthumous, for Physics) and the Infosys Prize winners in Economics (Chandrasekhar) and Physical Sciences (Khemani, time-crystals) are the most-tested names from these 2025 cycles.

The Infosys Prize 2024 was presented at a ceremony on 11 January 2025. All six recipients were under forty, following the foundation's revised focus on early-career recognition. Two women featured among the six — mathematician Neena Gupta and physicist Vedika Khemani.

Economics — Arun Chandrasekhar (Stanford University)
Chandrasekhar's research sits at the point where economics, sociology, and computer science converge. He built large-scale data sets mapping the actual social networks of residents in multiple villages in Karnataka — who knows whom, who borrows from whom, who asks for information from whom — and then used these maps to study how economic behaviour and policy effects flow through real communities rather than across anonymous markets. The jury recognised his use of machine learning methods to address questions that standard economic modelling had long struggled with: how does a development programme actually reach the people it is meant to help?

Engineering and Computer Science — Shyam Gollakota (University of Washington)
Gollakota's work has a recurring theme: taking expensive or complex technologies and designing stripped-down versions that function on minimal power or cheap hardware. He built smartphone apps that can perform basic lung health screening by listening to breathing sounds; he developed battery-free computing systems that harvest energy from ambient radio signals; he created AI-based tools that augment human hearing. The citation described his research as spanning multiple engineering domains in ways that serve populations in low- and middle-income countries who are priced out of conventional medical devices.

Humanities and Social Sciences — Mahmood Kooria (University of Edinburgh)
Kooria studies the Indian Ocean world as a space shaped not just by trade and navigation but by the movement of legal ideas. His work traces how Islamic law — its texts, its scholars, its courts — circulated around the ocean's rim from the medieval period onward, reaching Kerala's Malabar coast and shaping local economic and political relationships in ways that pre-colonial Indian historiography had largely missed. The jury called his contributions to the study of maritime Islam seminal.

Life Sciences — Siddhesh Kamat (IISER Pune)
Kamat's laboratory at IISER Pune works on lipid biology — specifically on the class of molecules called bioactive lipids, which act as chemical signals in cells. These molecules are involved in inflammation, cell death, and metabolic function, and disruptions in their pathways are implicated in diseases from cancer to neurodegeneration. Kamat developed new mass spectrometry-based methods to track these molecules in living systems, mapping their receptors and metabolic pathways with a precision that earlier techniques could not achieve.

Mathematical Sciences — Neena Gupta (Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata)
In 2014, Neena Gupta solved the Zariski Cancellation Problem — a fundamental problem in algebraic geometry that the mathematician Oscar Zariski had posed in 1949. The problem asks whether it is possible to cancel a polynomial variable from an equation and still have the remaining variety be the same. Gupta proved a striking negative answer in the case of positive characteristic algebraic varieties, resolving a question that had stood for sixty-five years. The 2024 Infosys Prize was a formal national recognition of work that had already earned her several earlier awards including the ICTP Ramanujan Prize.

Physical Sciences — Vedika Khemani (Stanford University)
Khemani works on what physicists call non-equilibrium quantum matter — quantum systems that are not in thermal equilibrium and can exhibit properties that have no classical analogue. Her most celebrated contribution is the prediction and experimental verification of time-crystals: a phase of matter that breaks the continuous time-translation symmetry of a system and exhibits periodic behaviour without energy input. The concept had been theoretical for years before Khemani's work provided the framework for experimental realisation. The jury noted that her contributions span both theoretical prediction and experimental guidance in quantum computing.

The Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar 2025 was announced on 26 October 2025 via a PIB press release from the Ministry of Science and Technology. The ceremony date was not announced in the same release; it would be notified separately to awardees.

Vigyan Ratna (Posthumous) — Prof. Jayant Vishnu Narlikar (Physics — Astrophysics and Cosmology)
Jayant Vishnu Narlikar was one of India's most respected scientists and science communicators. He worked in theoretical astrophysics and cosmology, contributing to the Steady State theory of the universe alongside Fred Hoyle. Though the Big Bang model eventually prevailed in the scientific mainstream, Narlikar's intellectual rigour and his willingness to challenge dominant frameworks earned him lasting respect. He founded the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune in 1988, building it into one of India's leading astronomy research institutions. He was also widely known as a science writer in Marathi, bringing astronomy to public audiences who had no access to technical literature. He received the Padma Vibhushan in 2004. He died in 2025. The Vigyan Ratna was given to him posthumously — only the second posthumous award in the RVP's short history.

Vigyan Shri Recipients (8)

• Dr. Gyanendra Pratap Singh — Agricultural Science: crop sciences research with practical applications for Indian farming systems.
• Dr. Yusuf Mohammad Seikh — Atomic Energy: contributions to nuclear science and atomic energy research in India.
• Dr. K. Thangaraj — Biological Sciences: human genetics and genomics; population genetics of Indian communities.
• Prof. Pradeep Thalappil (Thalappil Pradeep) — Chemistry: nanomaterials and water purification technology; IIT Madras; creator of affordable arsenic-removal water filters for rural India.
• Prof. Aniruddha Bhalchandra Pandit — Engineering Sciences: chemical engineering and process intensification.
• Dr. S. Venkata Mohan — Environmental Science: bioelectrochemical systems and biorefinery approaches for environmental remediation.
• Prof. Mahan Mj — Mathematics and Computer Science: geometric group theory; Professor at TIFR; awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in 2015.
• Shri Jayan N — Space Science and Technology: contributions to India's space programme within ISRO.

The Vigyan Yuva–Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar category recognises researchers under the age of forty-five who have made exceptional contributions in their fields. The 2025 cycle named fourteen scientists across eleven domains.

Agricultural Science: Dr. Jagdis Gupta Kapuganti and Dr. Satendra Kumar Mangrauthia — both working on agricultural biotechnology and crop improvement, with applications to food security for Indian farmers.

Biological Sciences: Shri Debarka Sengupta — computational biology and single-cell analysis; and Dr. Deepa Agashe — evolutionary biology, studying how bacteria adapt under environmental stress.

Chemistry: Dr. Dibyendu Das — supramolecular chemistry and the design of synthetic systems that mimic biological functions.

Earth Science: Dr. Waliur Rahaman — isotope geochemistry of the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal, contributing to the understanding of monsoon variability over geological timescales.

Engineering Sciences: Prof. Arkaprava Basu — computer architecture and hardware security.

Mathematics and Computer Science: Prof. Sabyasachi Mukherjee (TIFR, Mumbai) — complex dynamics and the connections between Mandelbrot sets and Kleinian group theory; and Prof. Shweta Prem Agrawal (IIT Madras) — theoretical computer science, particularly in the area of algorithm design. Note: Sabyasachi Mukherjee also received the Infosys Prize 2025 in Mathematical Sciences — the same year — for the same body of work, reflecting recognition from two different institutions independently.

Medicine: Dr. Suresh Kumar — research in medical sciences addressing disease mechanisms relevant to the Indian population.

Physics: Prof. Amit Kumar Agarwal (IIT Kanpur) — condensed matter theory; and Prof. Surhud Shrikant More — observational cosmology and large-scale structure of the universe.

Space Science and Technology: Shri Ankur Garg — contributions within India's space science infrastructure.

Technology and Innovation: Prof. Mohanasankar Sivaprakasam (IIT Madras) — biomedical devices and low-cost diagnostic tools for healthcare delivery in resource-limited settings.

Vigyan Team Award — CSIR Aroma Mission (Agricultural Science)
The Vigyan Team award went to the team behind the CSIR Aroma Mission, a programme that worked with farmers across northern and northeastern India to introduce aromatic crops — lavender, rose, damask rose, patchouli, lemongrass — as an alternative or supplement to traditional crops. The mission demonstrated that a single team combining agricultural scientists, technology developers, and on-the-ground extension workers could transform the economics of a farming region by opening a pathway to the essential oils market. The mission's reach covered multiple states and contributed to improving farmer incomes without requiring a change in fundamental farming practice.

• SSC (CGL, CHSL, MTS): Two near-certain question types. First — who received the Vigyan Ratna in the RVP 2025? Jayant Vishnu Narlikar (Physics/Astrophysics) — posthumously. Second — who won the Infosys Prize 2024 in Mathematical Sciences? Neena Gupta (ISI Kolkata) for solving the Zariski Cancellation Problem. Both names + their fields lock into a standard SSC current affairs pattern.
• UPSC Prelims: Three angles. First, the RVP system itself — it replaced the old Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (last given in 2022) and now has four categories: Vigyan Ratna (lifetime), Vigyan Shri (distinguished), Vigyan Yuva-SSB (under 45), Vigyan Team. Second, the Infosys Prize 2024 Physical Sciences winner Vedika Khemani — time-crystals are a quantum phase of matter with implications for quantum computing, which is a live UPSC S&T topic. Third, Sabyasachi Mukherjee received BOTH the Vigyan Yuva (RVP 2025) and the Infosys Prize 2025 in Mathematical Sciences in the same year — an unusual double recognition.
• Railway (NTPC, Group D): Focus on RVP structure (four categories) and Vigyan Ratna recipient (Narlikar, posthumous, Physics). Also: Infosys Prize = USD 100,000 + gold medal + citation; given by Infosys Science Foundation; India's largest science award by prize money.
• Banking (IBPS, SBI, RBI): Infosys Prize 2024 ceremony was January 11, 2025 (Bengaluru). Chief guest: Prof. Peter Sarnak (Princeton/IAS). New policy: winners not based in India must spend 30 days at an Indian institution. CSIR Aroma Mission winning the Vigyan Team award is a current affairs Banking GK pick (agricultural science + CSIR).
• Common exam traps:
  1. The Infosys Prize 2024 was ANNOUNCED in November 2024 but the CEREMONY was January 2025. Questions may reference either year — check context carefully.
  2. The Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar REPLACED the standalone Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize — the SSB Prize was last given in 2022. The Vigyan Yuva category retains the SSB name but it is now part of the RVP system.
  3. Neena Gupta solved the Zariski Cancellation Problem in 2014, but received the Infosys Prize only in 2024 — a decade-long gap between the discovery and this recognition. Do not say she solved it in 2024.
  4. Prof. Thalappil Pradeep is the same person as Prof. Pradeep Thalappil — both versions of his name appear in sources. He works on nanomaterials and water purification at IIT Madras.
  5. Jayant Vishnu Narlikar's Vigyan Ratna was posthumous. He founded IUCAA (Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics), Pune. Do not confuse him with the Narlikar-Hoyle Steady State theory; both are correct associations.