The Government of India has announced the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar 2025, a national honour instituted to recognise outstanding achievements in science, technology and innovation. Considered among the country's highest recognitions for scientific contribution, the awards celebrate individuals and teams whose work has advanced India's research ecosystem.
The awards are presented in four categories: Vigyan Ratna for lifetime achievements, Vigyan Shri for distinguished contributions, Vigyan Yuva Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar for exceptional work by scientists aged up to 45 years, and Vigyan Team for collaborative achievements by three or more researchers.
The honours span 13 domains, including Physics, Chemistry, Biological Sciences, Earth Science, Engineering Sciences, Medicine, Agricultural Science, Environmental Science, Mathematics and Computer Science, Technology and Innovation, Atomic Energy, Space Science and allied areas.
Nominations were accepted between October 4 and November 17, 2024, through the national awards portal and evaluated by a committee of scientific leaders chaired by the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India.
For 2025, eminent astrophysicist professor Jayant Vishnu Narlikar has been selected posthumously for the Vigyan Ratna award.
Recipients of the Vigyan Shri award include Dr Gyanendra Pratap Singh (Agricultural Science), Dr Yusuf Mohammad Seikh (Atomic Energy), Dr K Thangaraj (Biological Sciences), Professor Pradeep Thalappil (Chemistry), Professor Aniruddha Bhalchandra Pandit (Engineering Sciences), Dr S Venkata Mohan (Environmental Science), Professor Mahan Mj (Mathematics and Computer Science) and Shri Jayan N (Space Science and Technology).
The Vigyan Yuva Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award will go to 15 young researchers including Dr Jagdis Gupta Kapuganti, Dr Satendra Kumar Mangrauthia, Shri Debarka Sengupta, Dr Deepa Agashe, Dr Dibyendu Das, Dr Waliur Rahaman, Professor Arkaprava Basu, Professor Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Professor Shweta Prem Agrawal, Dr Suresh Kumar, Professor Amit Kumar Agarwal, Professor Surhud Shrikant More, Shri Ankur Garg and Professor Mohanasankar Sivaprakasam across various disciplines.
Under the Vigyan Team category, CSIR's Aroma Mission team has been selected for its contribution in agricultural science.
The announcement underlines India's focus on nurturing scientific excellence and inspiring new generations to pursue research-led innovation. The award ceremony will be conducted at a later date, with details to be communicated to the awardees.
