Seven researchers from science and humanities streams were honoured with the Infosys Prize-2012 for the work undertaken in their respective field of study. Instituted by Infosys Science Foundation, the award carries a cash component of Rs 50 lakh, a gold medallion and a citation.
The award, in its fourth year, recognised the work of seven laureates from six catagories—engineering and computer science, life sciences, mathematical sciences, humanities, physical sciences and social sciences. The prize for the inaugural humanities category was split equally between the two winners.
The winners include Ashish Lele, scientist at Pune-based National Chemical Laboratories (NCL), Sanjay Subrahmanyam, professor of history and Navin and Pratima Doshi Endowed chair in pre-modern indian history at University of California and Amit Chaudhuri, professor of contemporary literature at University of East Anglia, Norwich, the UK.
Satyajit Mayor, professor of cellular organisation and signaling at Bangalore-based National Centre for Biological Sciences, was awarded for his contribution in life sciences, while Manjul Bhargava, professor of mathematics, Princeton University, was also honoured.
Ayyappanpillai Ajayaghosh, senior scientist at National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, and Arunava Sen, professor, Economics and Planning Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi, were the other awardees.
The seven winners were drawn from a total of 220 nominees. The jury includes renowned academics and researchers such as Amartya Sen, Kaushik Basu and Shrinivas Kulkarni.
The ceremony was presided over by S Gopalakrishnan, executive co-chairman of Infosys and president of the board of trustees, Infosys Science Foundation. Former prime minister of Norway, Gro Harlem Brundtland, felicitated the seven laureates.