| Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar | |
| Awarded For: | Research, technology, innovation |
| Sponsor: | Govt. of India |
| Country: | India |
| Reward: | Certificate and medallion |
| Year: | 2024 |
Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar is a National Award instituted by the Government of India to recognize the contributions of outstanding researchers in the fields of science, technology and innovation.[1] [2]
The institution of this award was announced in January 2024 and the names of the first set of awardees were announced in August 2024. The awards are to be distributed on 23 August 2024, the National Space Day.[3] The award consists of a certificate signed by the President of India and a medallion.
Prior to the announcement of the institution of the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar awards, there were more than 300 awards for science and technology established by various bodies under the Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India. The most prestigious of these awards were the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards (SSB Award) given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) since 1958. The SSB Award carried a cash component of ₹5 lakhs and a monthly special allowance of ₹15,000 as long as the recipient remained in Govt. Service. With the institution of the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar awards, Govt. of India have scrapped all these more than 300 awards, except one instituted by the Department of Atomic Energy in the name of Homi J. Bhabha. In the new avatar of the awards, the cash components have been dispensed with.[4] [5]
The Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar scheme has been established with the following objective:[2]
" The objective of the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar (RVP) is to recognise the notable and inspiring contribution made by the scientists, technologists and innovators individually or in teams in various fields of science, technology and technology- led innovation. The RVP shall be one of the highest recognition in the field of science, technology and innovation in India. Scientists/ technologists / innovators working in government, private sector organizations or individuals working outside any organisation, who have made distinguished contributions in terms of path-breaking research or innovation or discovery in any fields of science, technology or technology- led innovation shall be eligible for the awards. People of Indian origin staying abroad with exceptional contributions benefiting the Indian communities or society shall also be eligible for the awards."
As per the scheme of the awards, each year, a maximum of 56 awardees will be selected from various domains of Science and Technology in four different categories:
The domains of Science and Technology from which the awardees shall be selected have been specified as Physics, Chemistry, Biological Sciences, Mathematics & Computer Science, Earth Science, Medicine, Engineering Sciences, Agricultural Science, Environmental Science, Technology & Innovation, Atomic Energy, Space Science and Technology, and Others.
Scientists, technologists and innovators working in Govt. or private organizations in India who have done highly impactful research, discovery or innovation are eligible for the award. Moreover, such persons of Indian origin and working abroad are also eligible for the award.[2]
The awardees are to be selected by a 17-member panel headed by the Principal Scientific Advisor to Govt of India from a list of nominated persons. Other members of the panel are Secretaries of the six Science Ministries/Departments (DST, DBT, CSIR, MoES, DoS and DAE), four select Presidents of the Science and Engineering Academies and six distinguished scientists and technologists from different fields of Science and Technology. Nominations can be made by any individual, institution, State Govts, Depts/Ministries of Govt of India, heads of national science bodies, etc.[2]
The following are the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar awardees of the year 2024.[6] [7]
| Sl. No. | Award | Name | Field/Domain | Institute/Organisation/University | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vigyan Ratna | Prof. Govindarajan Padmanabhan | Biological Sciences | Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru | |
| 2 | Vigyan Shri | Dr. Anandharamakrishnan C | Agricultural Science | CSIR - National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram | |
| 3 | Vigyan Shri | Dr. Avesh Kumar Tyagi | Atomic Energy | Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai | |
| 4 | Vigyan Shri | Prof. Umesh Varshney | Biological Sciences | Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore | |
| 5 | Vigyan Shri | Prof. Jayant Bhalchandra Udgaonkar | Biological Sciences | Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune (IISER), Pune | |
| 6 | Vigyan Shri | Prof. Syed Wajih Ahmad Naqvi | Earth Science | CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), Lucknow | |
| 7 | Vigyan Shri | Prof. Bhim Singh | Engineering Sciences | Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-D), Delhi | |
| 8 | Vigyan Shri | Prof. Adimurthi Adi | Mathematics and Computer Science | Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-K), Kanpur | |
| 9 | Vigyan Shri | Prof. Rahul Mukherjee | Mathematics and Computer Science | Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kolkata | |
| 10 | Vigyan Shri | Prof. Dr Sanjay Behari | Medicine | Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram | |
| 11 | Vigyan Shri | Prof. Lakshmanan Muthusamy | Physics | Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli | |
| 12 | Vigyan Shri | Prof. Naba Kumar Mondal | Physics | Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata | |
| 13 | Vigyan Shri | Prof. Annapurni Subramaniam | Space Science and Technology | Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru | |
| 14 | Vigyan Shri | Prof Rohit Srivastava | Technology and Innovation | Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-B), Mumbai | |
| 15 | Vigyan Yuva | Dr. Krishna Murthy S L | Agricultural Science | Indian Institute of Rice Research, Hyderabad | |
| 16 | Vigyan Yuva | Dr. Swarup Kumar Parida | Agricultural Science | National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi | |
| 17 | Vigyan Yuva | Prof. Radhakrishnan Mahalakshmi | Biological Sciences | Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bhopal | |
| 18 | Vigyan Yuva | Prof. Aravind Penmatsa | Biological Sciences | Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru | |
| 19 | Vigyan Yuva | Prof. Vivek Polshettiwar | Chemistry | Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai | |
| 20 | Vigyan Yuva | Prof. Vishal Rai | Chemistry | Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bhopal | |
| 21 | Vigyan Yuva | Dr. Roxy Mathew Koll | Earth Science | Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune | |
| 22 | Vigyan Yuva | Dr. Abhilash | Engineering Sciences | CSIR-National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur | |
| 23 | Vigyan Yuva | Dr. Radha Krishna Ganti | Engineering Sciences | Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-M), Chennai | |
| 24 | Vigyan Yuva | Dr. Purabi Saikia | Environmental Science | Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi | |
| 25 | Vigyan Yuva | Dr. Bappi Paul | Environmental Science | National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar | |
| 26 | Vigyan Yuva | Prof. Mahesh Ramesh Kakde | Mathematics and Computer Science | Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru | |
| 27 | Vigyan Yuva | Prof. Jitendra Kumar Sahu | Medicine | Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh | |
| 28 | Vigyan Yuva | Dr. Pragya Dhruv Yadav | Medicine | ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune | |
| 29 | Vigyan Yuva | Prof. Urbasi Sinha | Physics | Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru | |
| 30 | Vigyan Yuva | Dr. Digendranath Swain | Space Science and Technology | ISRO-Vikram Sarabhai Space Center, Thiruvananthapuram | |
| 31 | Vigyan Yuva | Dr. Prashant Kumar | Space Science and Technology | ISRO-Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad | |
| 32 | Vigyan Yuva | Prof. Prabhu Rajagopal | Technology and Innovation | Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-M), Chennai | |
| 33 | Vigyan Team | ISRO - Team Chandrayaan 3 | Space Science and Technology | Indian Space Research Organisation, Bengaluru |