The Infosys Science Foundation (ISF) awarded the winners of the Infosys Prize 2020 on Wednesday in a virtual awards ceremony for their contributions to science and research. The prize consisted of a gold medal, a citation, and a purse of USD 100,000.
The prize was awarded for contributions in six fields such as engineering and computer science, humanities, life sciences, mathematical sciences, physical sciences, and social sciences.
The Infosys Prize 2020 in engineering and computer science was awarded to Professor Hari Balakrishnan from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for his contributions to computer networking, and his seminal work on mobile and wireless systems. The prize in humanities was awarded to Dr. Prachi Deshpande from the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences (CSSS), Kolkata for her nuanced treatment of South Asian historiography.
In life sciences, the prize was awarded to Dr. Rajan Sankaranarayanan from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad for contributions towards understanding the error-free translation of the genetic code to make protein molecules.
In mathematical sciences, the prize was awarded to professor Sourav Chatterjee from Stanford University for his work in probability and statistical physics.
In physical sciences, the prize was awarded to professor Arindam Ghosh from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore for his development of atomically thin two-dimensional semiconductors to build a new generation of functional electronic, thermoelectric and optoelectronic devices.
In social sciences, the prize was awarded to professor Raj Chetty from Harvard University for his research in identifying barriers to economic opportunity, and for developing solutions that help people escape poverty towards improved life outcomes.
The Infosys Prize is awarded by the Infosys Science Foundation, a not-for-profit trust set up in 2009. The winners were handpicked from 257 nominations by a jury comprising of scholars and professors from around the world.
Narayana Murthy, the founder of Infosys and president of Infosys Science Foundation, said, “Good quality research requires openness to ideas, discussion, debate and learning of different cultures. The pandemic has shown us that technology and research plays an important role. Through the Infosys Prize, we aim to honour the best scientists and researchers whose work has the potential to improve our world.”
