Ayyappan Pillai Ajayaghosh, senior scientist, National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Thiruvananthapuram, has been selected for the Infosys Prize 2012 instituted by Infosys Science Foundation, which is one of the highest monetary awards in India that recognises scientific research.
He was selected for the award in Physical Science category. The prize includes a gold medallion, a citation and prize money of Rs 50 lakh. The award ceremony for the Infosys Prize 2012 will be held on January 3, 2013 in New Delhi, where Gro Harlem Brundtland, the former Prime Minister of Norway and former Director General of the World Health Organisation, will felicitate the winners.
Ajayaghosh was selected for the award considering his contribution in pioneering development of methods for the construction of functional nanomaterials, which can be employed as components in energy conversion devices and in powerful substance selective optical sensors. He has demonstrated that these self-assembled nanomaterials can be used to control the electronic energy transfer processes, paving the way for the development of superior light harvesting devices.
The award is given for outstanding research contributions in Engineering & Computer Science, Humanities, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Physical Sciences, Literary Studies and Social Sciences. The seven winners of the Infosys Prize 2012 were informed of their selection on Friday by the trustees and jury chairs who evaluated their work along with panel members comprising eminent scientists and professors from around the world.
The jury chairs included Amartya Sen, Kaushik Basu, Shrinivas Kulkarni, Pradeep K Khosla, Srinivasa S R Varadhan and Inder Verma.