The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has announced the winners of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) awards for 2022, one of the most prestigious science prizes in India. The announcement was made nearly a year later, on September 26, 2023, which is the CSIR’s foundation day. The CSIR had announced the winners for 2021 nearly two years ago.
DG @CSIR_IND announced Prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology 2022 on the occasion of ‘Inaugural session’ of One Week One Lab Program of @CSIR_NIScPR organised today. @DrNKalaiselvi @Ranjana_23 @PIB_India @AkashvaniAIR pic.twitter.com/m0qnDUOaY9
— CSIR-NIScPR (@CSIR_NIScPR) September 11, 2023
All 12 winners of the 2022 SSB awards are men, just like the winners for 2021. The 2020 winners included two women scientists.
The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) awards are named after S.S. Bhatnagar, the first director general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) from 1942 to 1954. The awards are given annually to outstanding scientists and engineers in India for their contributions to research in various fields.
The SSB awards are usually announced on the foundation day of the CSIR, which is September 26. Each award carries a prize money of ₹5 lakh. The awards are given in seven disciplines: Biological Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences, Engineering Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Medical Sciences and Physical Sciences.
- Biological Sciences: This is jointly awarded to Dr. Ashwani Kumar of CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology and Dr. Maddika Subba Reddy of Centre for DNA Fingerprinting Diagnostics
- Chemical Sciences: This is jointly awarded to Dr. Akkattu T Biju of the Indian Institute of Science and Dr. Debabrata Maiti of the Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay)
- Earth, Atmosphere and Planetary Sciences: This is awarded to Dr. Vimal Mishra of the Indian Institute of Technology (Gandhinagar).
- Engineering Sciences: This is jointly awarded to Dr. Dipti Ranjan Sahoo of the Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi) and Dr. Rajnish Kumar of the Indian Institute of Technology (Madras)
- Mathematical Sciences: This jointly awarded to Dr. Apoorva Khare of the Indian Institute of Science and Dr. Neeraj Kayal of Microsoft Research Lab.
- Medical Sciences: This is awarded to Dr. Dipyaman Ganguli of CSIR- Indian Institute of Chemical Biology
- Physical Sciences: This is jointly awarded to Dr. Anindya Das of the Indian Institute of Science and Dr. Basudeb Dasgupta of Physics Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.