Three Professors from Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) have been selected for ‘Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar 2025’, the Nation’s highest recognition for outstanding and inspiring contributions by scientists, technologists, and innovators across diverse fields of science, technology, and technology-led innovation.
This year’s announcement - recognising Prof. Thalappil Pradeep, Prof. Mohanasankar Sivaprakasam and Prof. Shweta Prem Agrawal - reinforces IIT Madras’ position as one of India’s leading research and innovation hubs — driving solutions that address national priorities while advancing global scientific frontiers.
The Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar, instituted by the Government of India, honours exemplary achievements and lifetime contributions that have advanced the nation’s scientific and technological capabilities. It is conferred under four categories — Vigyan Ratna (VR), Vigyan Shri (VS), Vigyan Yuva – Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (VY-SSB) and Vigyan Team (VT).
IIT MADRAS AWARDEES
Vigyan Shri: Prof. Thalappil Pradeep, Department of Chemistry, IIT Madras
Vigyan Yuva – Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar: Prof. Mohanasankar Sivaprakasam, Department of Electrical Engineering and , Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Madras
Congratulating the three professors, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “We are immensely proud to see our colleagues from IIT Madras honoured with the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar 2025 — a recognition not only of their individual brilliance, but of the spirit of innovation and dedication that defines our institution. Their achievements reaffirm IIT Madras’s commitment to advancing science and technology for the nation’s development, and serve as an inspiration to our entire academic community.”
Sharing his thoughts on this recognition, Prof. Thalappil Pradeep, Institute Professor, Department of Chemistry, IIT Madras, said, “Over the years, science has become my blood and breath. Let me thank my teachers, students and collaborators who made this journey possible. My family sacrificed everything for the good of science. I could do a bit, only because of my funding agencies, my institute and my country. Words are inadequate to express my gratitude.”
Prof. Thalappil Pradeep has been honoured for his globally-recognized research in clean water technologies, advanced materials, and molecular clusters. His work has led to affordable and sustainable water purification systems that have improved the lives of millions across India and has been recognised also with Padma Shri and several global awards.
Prof. Mohanasankar Sivaprakasam from Department of Electrical Engineering, who heads IIT Madras’ Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre (SGBC) and Healthcare Technology Innovation Centre (HTIC), said, “This award is a recognition for our group’s strong belief that we can do cutting-edge R&D in academia leading to globally-competitive commercial scale technologies and products, impacting over 15 million patients. I thank all our medical and industry collaborators who worked with us to make this happen. None of this R&D would have been possible without the generous support from government, private industry and philanthropies.”
Prof. Mohanasankar Sivaprakasam has been honoured for developing affordable healthcare technologies, medical devices, high-resolution large scale human brain imaging technologies, and establishing globally recognized R&D centres in the health-tech area.
At HTIC, his team develops and deploys affordable healthcare technologies in collaboration with 40+ medical institutions, industries, government agencies, that has reached over 15 million patients in India and abroad.
At Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre, Prof. Mohanasankar Sivaprakasam’s team has built a world-leading technology platform that images whole human brains into unprecedented 3D cell-resolution petabyte volumes. Using this platform, the Centre’s multi-national multi-institutional team is mapping whole human brains at cellular level across different ages and diseases, generating new knowledge, insights and technologies.
Prof. Shweta Prem Agrawal, Venky Harinarayan and Anand Rajaraman Chair Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Madras, said, “I am grateful and honoured to receive the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar in the area of Mathematics and Computer Science. I would like to thank my wonderful family, particularly my husband Uday, for their unwavering and unconditional support. I thank IIT Madras for creating and enabling the environment in which this work could take place. I hope that this award creates greater awareness among students to pursue foundational areas like cryptography and choose research careers, especially in India. Equally important is the appreciation for foundational science in our institutions, government and industry so that core scientific work is supported and India can harness her brilliant mathematical talent within the country, to solve questions of global importance.”
Prof. Shweta Prem Agrawal has been recognized for her pioneering research contributions in the field of cryptography. Her research team works on developing new mathematical conjectures that can be used to enable advanced cryptographic functionalities, such as the ability to run machine learning algorithms on data while it is encrypted. Her team has made important advances in post-quantum cryptography which seeks to protect sensitive information against powerful quantum computers.