IISc Alumni Awards 2026 Announced: 8 Scientists and Researchers Honoured

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, has announced eight recipients of its Distinguished Alumnus/Alumna Awards and Young Alumnus/Alumna Medals 2026. The awardees include scientists, researchers and technology leaders recognised for their contributions to aerospace engineering, defence technology, computer science, digital infrastructure and scientific research.

The eight recipients include five Distinguished Alumnus/Alumna Award winners and three Young Alumnus/Alumna Medal winners. The awards will be presented at a ceremony on December 19, 2026, at the JN Tata Auditorium on the IISc campus. The institute published the official announcement on November 6, 2026.

IISc Alumni Awards 2026 Winners List

IISc has selected five alumni for its Distinguished Alumnus/Alumna Awards and three researchers below the age of 40 for the Young Alumnus/Alumna Medals. The following table lists all eight recipients and their areas of work.

Who Are the Five Distinguished Alumni Award Winners?

The five Distinguished Alumnus/Alumna Award recipients have made contributions across different research and technology fields.

• B S Manjunath: A computer scientist and professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, he is recognised for his work in computer vision, image retrieval and biological image informatics. His work includes BisQue, an open-source platform adopted as a core service of the US National Science Foundation's CyVerse.
• Dipankar Das Sarma: An eminent condensed matter physicist and ANRF National Science Chair, he has contributed to materials science and research on condensed matter. He also helped establish Indo-Italian beamlines at Elettra, improving India's access to international synchrotron facilities.
• Jagannath Nayak: The Director General of Missiles and Strategic Systems at DRDO has contributed to indigenous defence technologies. His work includes high-accuracy Fibre Optic Gyroscopes for programmes such as Akash, Nag and Astra, along with India's first operational Laser Directed Energy Weapon system.
• Maruthi R Akella: An aerospace scientist and Cockrell Family Chair in Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, he developed algorithms that provided onboard guidance for Intuitive Machines' IM-1 lunar lander mission. Minor planet 5376 has also been named 'Maruthiakella' in his honour.
• Rajat Moona: The Director of IIT Gandhinagar has contributed to India's digital infrastructure, including electronic voting technologies, VVPAT, e-passports and FASTag. He also advanced India's supercomputing capabilities during his tenure as Director General of C-DAC.

Three Young Researchers Receive IISc Alumni Medals

IISc has also selected three researchers below the age of 40 for its Young Alumnus/Alumna Medals. Their work covers theoretical computer science, autonomous systems and computational biophysics.

IISc Alumni Awards 2026 FAQs