The Hindu : National : Infosys institutes prizes to honour outstanding scientists

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 18, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

National

National

Infosys institutes prizes to honour outstanding scientists

Special Correspondent

Bangalore: Infosys Technologies Ltd. announced on Tuesday that it has instituted prizes to honour outstanding Indian scientists in mathematics, physical sciences (physics and chemistry), engineering sciences, life sciences (biology and medicine) and social sciences.

The annual prizes, of Rs. 50 lakh each, will be awarded by the Infosys Science Foundation, a non-profit trust.

The Chief Mentor and Chairman of the Infosys Board, N.R. Narayana Murthy, said the award would be funded by a corpus of Rs. 21.5 crore, which was raised through personal contributions made by seven executive directors of the company. This would be supplemented by an annual grant of Rs. 2 crore from the company.

Mr. Murthy said that though India had emerged as a “global player” in space and rocketry sciences and in developing telecommunication technologies, “there is considerable need to enhance the focus of higher education.”

He pointed out that only two Indian universities figured in the top 100 universities of the world in 2007. In comparison, there were 34 from Japan and 18 from China in the top 100.

Mr. Murthy said the prize, “the largest ever instituted in India, is a way of showing our respect to Indian scientists.”

He hoped that this would “create a positive environment” for young Indians to take to science. He hoped the prizes would “encourage Indian scientists to reach global standards.”

The selection process would be stringent, Mr. Murthy said. The jury would include leading scientists. For instance, the jury for the prize in mathematical sciences would headed by Professor S.R. Srinivasa Varadhan, winner of the Abel Prize, which is regarded the most prestigious international prize in the field.

Mr. Murthy said the Foundation was finalising the jury for the other categories.

The prize for mathematical sciences would be awarded to Manindra Agarwal, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, on Wednesday.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National