On September 11, after nearly a year’s delay, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research announced the 2022 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, named after the renowned chemist and its first director-general. The contenders for the award—the biggest in Indian science—are nominated by their institutes, and judged by a panel of eminent scientists. Over the years, the winners have been men and women who have added depth to India’s scientific rigour and have encouraged scientific temper in academia.
There are several threads that unite this time’s awardees, one being their humility. Each one of 12 awardees attributed their success to their PhD/graduate students who worked with them, for five to six years, or even more in some cases. “Science is often done as a team,” said Basudeb Dasgupta, theoretical physicist at Mumbai’s Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. “You need a team to move a mountain, and so this award must be celebrated as a team achievement.”
At the heart of the achievement lies years of patience, the determination to keep going despite failures and their diehard passion for the subject. For instance, Professor Debabrata Maiti, from IIT Bombay’s chemistry department, spent the past 12 years working on a single aspect—developing a cost-, energy- and time-efficient way of transforming simple organic molecules into complex products for use in the agrochemical and pharmaceutical industries. “In scientific journeys, there are no shortcuts,” he said. “There had been numerous instances when we were frustrated because we were not getting the desired reactions from smaller molecules. This went on for five to seven years. Naturally, my students were more frustrated because it was their career and future.”
This story is from the December 31, 2023 edition of THE WEEK India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the December 31, 2023 edition of THE WEEK India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Political discourse needs red line
The state of political discourse presently on display must surely seem like the norm to younger Indians, who might not have had any exposure to a more tolerant, courteous brand of adversarial politicking. Yet, as their parents would know, this was not always so.
Road to Paris, via India
All roads at Paris Fashion Week seemed to lead to India this season, even as the world’s most celebrated fashion week wound up earlier this week.
PURE MAGIC
A Potterhead and a Downton Abbey fan remembers Dame Maggie Smith
All eyes on Sharvari
A ₹130-crore blockbuster, unequivocal acclaim for two other films, and an upcoming release with Alia Bhatt as co-star— here is the girl Bollywood can’t get enough of
Priyamvada, the glittering star
A sheepish confession: I was dreadfully unaware of the super celebrity status of the very attractive, highly accomplished co-speaker at the just concluded Jaipur Literature Festival International’s first edition in Seattle.
For God's sake, do something!
Plip!…. Plip!….Plip!” “Do Something! For God’s sake, do something!” she wailed.
IT'S SHOWTIME!
The Coldplay mania shows the power of live entertainment and its immense business opportunity
Trump will not concede if he loses narrowly
In his book, All in the Family, Fred C. Trump III, reminisces about the night when Donald Trump decided to run for president for the first time.
EAR TO THE NEIGHBOUR'S GROUND
Not just at Nanda Devi, America's CIA and India’s Intelligence Bureau set up listening devices to monitor China at Khardung La, too
LALU NO LONGER ACTIVE; NITISH ALMOST A LAME-DUCK CHIEF MINISTER
Sheikhpura House is, at the moment, one of the most sought-after addresses in Patna.