• Shrinivas R. Kulkarni, an Indian-origin professor of astronomy from the US will be bestowed the prestigious Shaw Prize in Astronomy.

• The other Shaw Prize awardees this year are Swee Lay Thein and Stuart Orkin, both from the US, who received the Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine is awarded in equal shares, and Peter Sarnak, another US scientist who received the Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences.

• The presentation ceremony is scheduled for November 12 in Hong Kong.

Who is Shrinivas R. Kulkarni?

• Kulkarni is the George Ellery Hale Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Science, Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology.

• Kulkarni was born in Maharashtra. He received his Master’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in 1978 and his PhD from University of California, Berkeley in 1983. 

• He is a member of the Royal Society of London, the Indian Academy of Sciences, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the US National Academy of Sciences.

• Among the many of his achievements, he was also the director of Caltech Optical Observatories from 2006 till 2018.

• Kulkarni has received many awards, including the National Science Foundation’s Alan T. Waterman Award and the Dan David Prize.

• He is awarded the Shaw Prize for his ground-breaking discoveries about millisecond pulsars, gamma-ray bursts, supernovae, and other variable or transient astronomical objects.

• His contributions to time-domain astronomy culminated in the conception, construction and leadership of the Palomar Transient Factory and its successor, the Zwicky Transient Facility, which has revolutionised our understanding of the time-variable optical sky.

What is the Shaw Prize?

• Hong Kong-based film and television personality and philanthropist Run Run Shaw founded the Shaw Foundation Hong Kong and The Sir Run Run Shaw Charitable Trust, both of which are dedicated to the promotion of education, scientific and technological research, medical and welfare services, and culture and the arts.

• In 2002, the Shaw Prize Foundation was established. The inaugural Shaw Prize was presented in 2004. 

• The Shaw Prize consists of three annual awards, namely the Prize in Astronomy, the Prize in Life Science and Medicine, and the Prize in Mathematical Sciences, each bearing a monetary award of $1.2 million.

• Since 2004, the Shaw Prize has recognized over a hundred exceptional individuals who have made groundbreaking contributions to their respective fields, many of whom have gone on to receive other prestigious international awards. 

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