Infosys Prize 2012 awarded to the best in science and humanities

The Infosys Science Foundation has honored winners of the Infosys Prize 2012 for their outstanding achievements and contributions to science and humanities.

The Infosys Prize rewards outstanding invention, discovery or work across the six disciplines: Engineering and Computer Science, Humanities, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences.

Former Prime Minister of Norway, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, felicitated the seven laureates across the six categories, at a glittering ceremony in New Delhi. Also present at the ceremony were the Trustees of Infosys Science Foundation, Jury Chairs for each category and luminaries including Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Nandan Nilekani, Chairman - Unique Identification Authority of India, Tarun Das, Former Chief Mentor - CII, Som Mittal, President of NASSCOM and Arun Maira, Member of Planning Commission.

The seven winners of this year were drawn from a total of 220 nominees. The prize in each category comprises a gold medallion, a citation expounding the laureate’s work and INR 50 lakh as prize money (over US$ 90,000). The prize for the inaugural Humanities category was split equally between the two winners.

The laureates:

Engineering and Computer Science
Dr. Ashish Lele, Scientist, National Chemical Laboratories (NCL), Pune, India

Humanities

• History
  Prof. Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Distinguished Professor of History and Navin & Pratima Doshi Endowed Chair in Pre-Modern Indian History, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), U.S.A.
• Literary Studies
  Prof. Amit Chaudhuri, Professor of Contemporary Literature, University of East Anglia, Norwich, U.K.

Life Sciences
Dr. Satyajit Mayor, Professor of Cellular Organization and Signaling at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore, India

Mathematical Sciences
Prof. Manjul Bhargava, Professor of Mathematics, Princeton University, Princeton, U.S.A.

Physical Sciences
Dr. Ayyappanpillai Ajayaghosh, Senior Scientist, National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Thiruvananthapuram, India.

Social Sciences
Prof. Arunava Sen, Professor, Economics and Planning Unit, Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), New Delhi, India.

Read Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland’s speech

Learn more about the Infosys Science Foundation and Winners

Press Release: Infosys Prize 2012 Honors the Finest Minds in Science and Humanities