IIT Madras Professors Receive Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar 2025

The Government of India has announced the recipients of the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar 2025, one of the country’s highest honours for contributions to science, technology and innovation. Notably, three professors from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT Madras) have been among this year’s awardees.)

Awardees from IIT Madras

• Thalappil Pradeep (Dept. of Chemistry) — Selected in the Vigyan Shri category for his globally recognised work in clean-water technologies, advanced materials and molecular clusters.
• Mohanasankar Sivaprakasam (Dept. of Electrical Engineering) — honoured in the Vigyan Yuva – Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar category for his pioneering health-tech research including affordable medical devices and brain-imaging technologies.
• Shweta Prem Agrawal (Dept. of Computer Science & Engineering) — also awarded under the Vigyan Yuva category for outstanding work in the field of cryptography.

About the Award

The Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar (RVP) honours individuals and teams for exceptional contributions across scientific disciplines such as Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Biological Sciences and more. It features several categories: Vigyan Ratna, Vigyan Shri, Vigyan Yuva, and Vigyan Team. This year, the announcement coincides with broader governmental initiatives to elevate India’s science and innovation ecosystem. The awardees are selected through a rigorous evaluation process led by the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.

Significance

For IIT Madras, having three faculty members recognised in this national honour is a testament to the institute’s research environment and contribution to world-class science. The recognition spans diverse areas — from materials and water tech, to health devices, to cryptography — underlining the breadth and depth of research endeavour.