Prof. Anjan Banerjee (Professor, Biology and Chair, Institutional Committee on Administration) has been awarded the Tata Innovation Fellowship 2020-21, and Prof. Harinath Chakrapani (Professor, Chemistry and Dean, International Relations and Outreach) has won the S. Ramachandran National Bioscience Award for Career Development for 2020-21.
Both these awards are given by the Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India. Tata Innovation Fellowship is a competitive scheme that rewards scientists with outstanding track record and a commitment to finding innovative solutions in health care, agriculture, environment and other allied areas. Every year, five fellowships are awarded to Indian nationals below the age of 55 years and consist of a fellowship and a research grant per annum, separate from regular remuneration. Prof. Anjan Banerjee, who is among the winners of this Award for 2020-21, is a plant developmental biologist, who studies micro RNA (miRNA) mediated gene regulation and long distance signaling in plants, along with plant-pathogen interactions.
S. Ramachandran National Bioscience Awards for Career Development are given to scientists below 45 years of age in recognition of outstanding contributions to basic and applied research in life sciences, mainly Agricultural, Medical, and Environmental Sciences. The awards particularly distinguish significant contributions with potential for product and technology development. A maximum of ten awards are given each year, with a cash prize, citation and a research grant for a period of three years. Among this year’s awardees is Prof. Harinath Chakrapani who works in the area of chemical biology. His lab works on the design and synthesis of chemical probes to dissect out complex biological processes in the cell.
We congratulate Professors Anjan Banerjee and Harinath Chakrapani on this achievement!