Edu-leaders

The Infosys Science Foundation, promoted by IT services major Infosys Limited, announced the winners of Infosys Prize 2011. The winners have been selected for the prize for their outstanding contribution across five categories of scientific research in Engineering and Computer Science, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences.

Prof. Kalyanmoy Deb, Gurmukh and Veena Mehta Endowed Chair Professor of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Kanpur, and the Director of the Kanpur Genetic Algorithms Laboratory, Kanpur, India, won the prize for Engineering and Computer Sciences for their outstanding research in Evolutionary Multi-objective Optimisation and Genetic Algorithms.

The prize for Life Sciences has been awarded to Dr. Imran Siddiqi, Scientist and Group Leader, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, for “breakthrough contributions to the understanding of clonal seed formation in plants.” His research on apomixes (asexual reproduction) in plants could revolutionise agriculture for farmers in developing countries.

Prof. Kannan Soundararajan, Professor of Mathematics and the Director of the Mathematics Research Center, Stanford University, Palo Alto, USA, won the prize for Mathematical Sciences for his “path-breaking work” on number theory.

Prof. Sriram Ramaswamy, Professor, CCMT, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, won the prize for Physical Sciences for his research on various aspects of the collective behaviour of living systems ranging from bacteria to schools of fish in the ocean.

Prof. Raghuram G. Rajan, Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Finance and the Charles M. Harper Faculty Fellow at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, Chicago, have won Social Sciences - Economics prize, for analysis of the “complex interaction between financial institutions, governments and people”.

President and Chief Executive, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi- Dr. Pratap Bhanu Mehta won the other prize awarded for the Social Sciences (Political Science and International Relations).

The jury chairs of the five disciplines are Prof. Amartya Sen for Social Sciences, Prof. Shrinivas Kulkarni for Physical Sciences, Prof. Pradeep K. Khosla for Engineering and Computer Science, Prof. SR Varadhan for Mathematical Sciences and Prof. Inder Verma for Life Sciences.

In recognition of their outstanding contribution to scientific research, each winner will receive a 22-karat gold medallion, a citation certificate and prize money of Rs 50 lakh. The award ceremony for the Infosys Prize 2011 will be held on January 9, 2012 in Bangalore, where former President of India- Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam will felicitate the winners.

Chairman Emeritus, Infosys Limited and Trustee, Infosys Science Foundation- N.R. Narayana Murthy said, “The winners' effort and dedication to science, discovery and development will no doubt inspire educationists and researchers in India and around the world to strive harder to excel in science and technology and attain global recognition.”