Indian Physicist Deepak Dhar Wins Prestigious 2026 Dirac Medal for Contributions to Statistical Mechanics

Indian physicist Deepak Dhar has won the prestigious 2026 Dirac Medal, one of the world's leading honours in theoretical physics, for his “important contributions to statistical mechanics”.

Dhar is among four physicists selected for this year's medal, the Italy-based International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), which gives the award, said in a statement.

Dhar is a professor at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (ICTS-TIFR) in Bengaluru.

Dhar Shares Honour With Three Physicists

Dhar shares the 2026 medal with Bernard Derrida of France, Marc Mezard of Italy and Haim Sompolinsky of Israel and the US.

The four scientists were recognised for work that has helped researchers understand complex systems, with applications ranging from biology and financial markets to computer science and artificial intelligence.

The ICTP said they were honoured for their contributions to statistical mechanics, a branch of physics that explains how the collective behaviour of large numbers of particles or other individual elements can produce complex patterns.

Established in 1985, the Dirac Medal recognises major contributions to theoretical physics. Its past recipients include several scientists who later received some of the world's highest scientific honours, including the Nobel Prize and the Fields Medal.

Dhar Known for Work on ‘Sandpile Model’

Dhar is particularly known for his work on the "sandpile model", which helps explain how a system can remain stable for a long time before suddenly undergoing a major change. The approach has since been used to study seemingly unrelated phenomena such as earthquakes, traffic jams and fluctuations in financial markets.

ICTP Director Atish Dabholkar, who chairs the medal selection committee, said the work of the four recipients had helped establish statistical mechanics as a powerful framework for addressing questions far beyond its traditional field, including biology, computer science and artificial intelligence.

“I am particularly happy that this year’s Medal recognises a research field that has had a long tradition here at ICTP… and I warmly congratulate the four winners,” Dabholkar said.

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Padma Bhushan, Boltzmann Medal Among Previous Honours

Dhar received his PhD from the California Institute of Technology and spent several decades at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai before joining the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research in 2016.

He has been an Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Distinguished Professor at ICTS-TIFR since 2024. His research focuses on statistical physics and stochastic processes.

Dhar received the Padma Bhushan in 2023, the Boltzmann Medal in 2022 jointly with Nobel laureate John Hopfield, and the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in 1991.