Life Sciences & Biotechnology

The Infosys Prize is an endeavour to elevate the prestige of science and research in India and inspire young Indians to choose a vocation in research. This award is given annually to honour outstanding achievements of contemporary researchers and scientists across 6 categories: Engineering and Computer Sciences, Humanities, Life-, Mathematical-, Physical- and Social Sciences. Each prize consists of a gold medal, a citation and a purse of Rs. 65 Lakh. The award intends to celebrate success in research and stand as a marker of excellence in these fields.

BIRAC has partnered with Nesta to create a separate pool of India fund which would provide SEED funds to Indian innovators through Discovery Awards. Discovery Awards are small seed grants to help teams and individuals further develop their ideas for the main Longitude Prize Challenge. Through this partnership BIRAC would be able to spread the message of Longitude Prize to a large network, towards creating a pipeline of innovators for the Longitude Prize, in the area of Antimicrobial Resistance. Nesta had announced a call soliciting proposals under the Discovery awards.

Longitude Prize, a challenge with a prize fund of £10 million, has been launched to help solve one the greatest issues of our time: the rise of antibiotic resistance. The prize has been developed and is being run by Nesta, the UK?s innovation foundation. The prize was announced by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 2013 and a public vote was launched on BBC in May 2014, and the antibiotics challenge emerged the winner.