Videos of the Scientific lecture and Award Function
Speaker 1:
Prof. Dipankar Bhattacharya
Ashoka University, Sonepat
Prof. Dipankar Bhattacharya is the Sunanda and Santimay Basu Chair Professor in Astrophysics
at Ashoka University. Prior to joining Ashoka he was the Dean, Core Academic Programmes
at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA).
He received his Bachelors’ and Masters’ degrees in Physics from Jadavpur University, Kolkata,
and his PhD from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. He carried out post-doctoral
research at the University of Amsterdam and the University of California, Santa Barbara and
was a member of the faculty at the Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru before moving to
IUCAA.
His research interests cover both theoretical astrophysics and observational astronomy, with
particular emphasis on High Energy Astrophysics including compact stars, black holes and
cosmic explosions. He is closely associated with the Indian space astronomy mission AstroSat
and is the chair of its Science Working Group.
Speaker 2:
Prof. Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay
Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata
Prof. Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay did her B Tech, M Tech and Ph.D. in Computer Science
from Calcutta University, IIT Kharagpur and Indian Statistical Institute respectively. She then
joined the Indian Statistical Institute as a faculty member, and became the Director in 2015.
Since 2020 she is continuing in her second tenure as the Director of the Institute. Her research
interests include computational biology, soft and evolutionary computation, artificial
intelligence and machine learning. She is the recipient of several awards including the Shanti
Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in Engineering Science, TWAS Prize, Infosys Prize, JC Bose
Fellowship, Swarnajayanti fellowship, INAE Silver Jubilee award, INAE Woman Engineer of
the Year award (academia), IIT Kharagpur Distinguished Alumni Award, Humboldt Fellowship
from Germany, Senior Associateship of ICTP, Italy, young engineer/scientist awards from
INSA, INAE and ISCA, and Dr. Shanker Dayal Sharma Gold Medal and Institute Silver from
IIT, Kharagpur, India. She is a Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA),
National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI), Indian National Academy of Engineers (INAE),
Indian Academy of Sciences (IASc), Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE),
The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), International Association for Pattern Recognition
(IAPR) and West Bengal Academy of Science and Technology. She serves as a member of the
Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council of the Prime Minister of India (PMSTIAC). In 2022, she received the Padma Shri award, the fourth highest civilian award of the
Government of India.
Chief Guest:
Prof. H. C. Pradhan
Formerly, Senior Professor and Centre Director
Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education
Prof. H.C. Pradhan retired in July 2011, as Senior Professor and Centre Director, Homi Bhabha
Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), TIFR. After graduating from the University of
Mumbai with top rank, Prof. Pradhan completed his doctorate in theoretical nuclear physics
from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1971). After post doctoral fellowships at
McMaster University and University of Wisconsin (Madison), he returned to India and taught
physics initially at Ramnarian Ruia College, Mumbai (1978-80) and then worked at the Western
Regional Instrumentation Centre, University of Mumbai (1980-1988). In 1988, Prof. Pradhan
joined HBCSE where he was Dean of Faculty from 1999 to 2008, and then the Centre Director
from 2008 to 2011. From 2012 to 2017, he was a Raja Ramanna Fellow of the Department of
Atomic Energy, Govt. of India.
Prof. Pradhan is well known for his work on childhood education at the grassroots level and in
the marathi language, especially through his long association with the Maharashtra Vigyan
Parishad (MVP) and the NGO, Gram Mangal. He received the Marathi Jeevan Gaurav Award
by Manohar Vichare Foundation in 2018, and the prestigious Goda Gaurav Award for lifetime
contribution to scholarship in science from the Kusumagraj Foundation, Nashik in 2022. He is
a fellow of Maharashtra Academy of Sciences. He chairs the National Experts Advisory
Committee of NCSTC, DST, Government of India, which oversees children-centric science
programs like National Children’s Science Congress (NCSC). He is also a member of the
Strategic Advisory Committee of the Mahararashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited.