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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Ex-army officer, monk win Infosys Prize
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Ex-army officer, monk win Infosys Prize

A structural biologist, a monk and a former military officer are among the six winners

The Infosys Prize recognizes outstanding contributions in six categories: humanities, social sciences, physical sciences, engineering and computer science, mathematical sciences, and life sciences. Photo: Hemant Mishra/MintPremium
The Infosys Prize recognizes outstanding contributions in six categories: humanities, social sciences, physical sciences, engineering and computer science, mathematical sciences, and life sciences. Photo: Hemant Mishra/Mint

New Delhi: A structural biologist, a monk and a former military officer are among the six who have won the 2015 Infosys Prize for their work on the malaria parasite, geometric group theory and military history, respectively.

President Pranab Mukherjee will confer the awards that carry a prize money of 65 lakh each on the winners in February 2016.

The Infosys Prize recognizes outstanding contributions in six categories: humanities, social sciences, physical sciences, engineering and computer science, mathematical sciences, and life sciences.

The life sciences prize was awarded to structural biologist Amit Sharma for his contributions to the understanding of functioning of proteins in malaria parasites. Sharma’s work explained how the malaria parasite would invade host cells, opening potential pathways for a developing a malaria vaccine. Sharma heads the structural and computational biology group at the International Center for Genetic Engineering & Biology (ICGEB) in New Delhi.

Jonardon Ganeri, a visiting professor of philosophy at New York University and King’s College, was awarded the humanities prize for his productive and penetrating scholarship and interpretation of analytical Indian philosophy, according to the citation. “It gives me great pleasure to congratulate Jonardan Ganeri for his major contributions to Indian analytical philosophy, which stands shoulder to shoulder with other analytical traditions like the Greek and the Chinese. But they have often been neglected, partly because of an excessive focus on the religious and mystical aspects of Indian Philosophy," said economist Amartya Sen, a jury member.

The mathematical sciences prize was awarded to Mahan Maharaj, an engineer-turned mathematician who is now a monk. He is awarded for his contribution to geometric group theory, low-dimensional topology and complex geometry. “Mahan’s work is an important milestone in Thurston’s program, started almost forty years ago, of classifying and understanding the possible shapes of low dimensional spaces using the group of symmetries that they have as a tool," said jury member S.R. Varadhan, mathematician and a recipient of Padma Bhushan. Mahan is professor at Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University, Belur and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.

The Infosys Prize in physical sciences is awarded to G. Ravindra Kumar, a professor at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research for his experimental contributions to the physics of high-intensity laser matter interactions. His work will have implications on testing stellar and astrophysical scenarios, according to the jury.

Srinath Raghavan, a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research was awarded the social sciences prize for his work on the history of South Asia and international politics. Raghavan has authored three books reputed for their sharp analyses of foreign policy and military history in South Asia history and sharp social science. His prominent works include 1971: A Global History of the Creation of Bangladesh which delved into the 1971 Indo-Pak war and the creation of Bangladesh, in the context of the international political economy.

The engineering and computer science prize was awarded to Umesh Waghmare, a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research. He was awarded for using theories to model investigations of microscopic mechanisms responsible for specific properties of materials such as graphene to understand why materials behave a certain way.

“I am impressed with the way Umesh Waghmare has seamlessly transcended the boundaries of physics, chemistry and engineering of materials, and has impacted our understanding of the microscopic mechanisms responsible for the material behavior of engineering materials of importance to industry," said jury member Pradeep Khosla, eminent computer scientist and Chancellor of University of California, San Diego.

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Published: 16 Nov 2015, 08:08 PM IST
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