Infosys Prize 2014: IISc, MIT professors among 6 winners
Jayant Haritsa, Shamnad Basheer, Shubha Tole, Madhu Sudan, Srivari Chandrasekhar and Esther Duflo were on Thursday named as winners.
Jayant Haritsa, Shamnad Basheer, Shubha Tole, Madhu Sudan, Srivari Chandrasekhar and Esther Duflo were on Thursday named as winners of the Infosys Prize 2014.
The prize is given in Engineering and Computer Science, Humanities, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences.
The winners have been recognised for research in fields as diverse as database design and optimization, interpretation of patent laws, understanding emotion and cognition in the brain, probabilistically checkable proofs, green chemistry and affordable health care, said an Infosys release.
The winners were picked by a jury of Pradeep K. Khosla, Amartya Sen, Inder Verma, Srinivasa S.R. Varadhan, Shrinivas Kulkarni and Kaushik Basu.
Here are the winners from each field:
Engineering and Computer Science:
Jayant Haritsa is a professor, Supercomputer Education and Research Centre (SERC) and Chair, Department of Computer Science and Automation (CSA), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. He was awarded for his contributions to the design and optimization of database engines.
Humanities:
Shamnad Basheer is a founder and Managing Trustee, Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access (IDIA), Bangalore and Founder - SpicyIP, India. He has been awarded this prize for his contributions to the analysis of a range of legal issues, including pharmaceutical patent injunctions and enforcement.
Life Sciences:
Shubha Tole is an Associate Professor and Principal Investigator, Department of Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai. She was awarded this prize for her significant contributions to studying the hippocampus and amygdala - centers of learning and memory in the brain. Her work can lead to a better understanding of human behavior, cognition and emotions.
Mathematical Sciences:
Madhu Sudan is a Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research New England and Adjunct Professor, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (EECS) department and Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was awarded for his seminal contributions to probabilistically checkable proofs and error-correcting codes.
Physical Sciences:
Srivari Chandrasekhar is a scientist G, Organic Chemistry Division, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT), Hyderabad. He was awarded for his contributions in the general area of synthetic organic chemistry with a special focus on the synthesis of complex molecules from natural sources.
Social Sciences:
Esther Duflo is the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics, Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Founder & Director, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab. She was awarded for her pioneering contributions to development economics, especially work related to countries such as India and Africa.
The award ceremony will be held on January 5, 2015, in Kolkata, where President Pranab Mukherjee will felicitate the winners.