Prof Ramaswamy bags Birla Award for Research

New Delhi, Nov 27: Prof Sriram Ramaswamy, of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, has bagged this year's prestigious G D Birla Award for Scientfic Research for his outstanding work in ''Statistical Mechanics and Dynamics of Soft and Biological Matter''.

Prof Ramaswamy, who is associated with the Department of Physics, IISc, has specialised in the fields of ''statistical mechanics and dynamics of soft and biological matter and on the physics of systems far from thermal equilibrium.'' Among his major contributions is a ''theory of spatiotemporal rheo-chaos in sheared orientable fluids,'' the K K Birla Foundation, which founded the award in 1991, said in a statement here today.

The Rs 1.50 lakh award is given to Indian scientists, preferably below the age of 50, in recognition of their high-calibre scientific research undertaken inside the country.

Born in 1957, Prof Ramaswamy studied in the University of Maryland and got his doctorate from the University of Chicago in 1983. From May 2002, he has been working as Professor, Centre for Condensed Matter Theory, Department of Physics.

The earlier awardees include Dr R A Mashelkar, Prof Ashoke Sen and Dr Goverdhan Mehta, who were subsequently elected as Fellows of the Royal Society, London.

The selection for the award is made by a Board, headed by the President of the capital-based Indian National Science Academy.

UNI