Life Sciences & Biotechnology

Har Govind Khorana-Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award (IYBA) initiated in 2005, is an attractive, career-oriented scheme to identify and nurture outstanding young scientists with innovative ideas and desirous of pursuing research in frontier areas of biotechnology. Young scientists up to the age of 35 years are considered for this award. Scientists without regular employment are also eligible for this award. A two-tier selection process is adopted for selecting the awardees every year. The expert committee may bestow the award to a maximum of 25 candidates.

Named after the founder Director of CSIR, the late Dr (Sir) Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, this prestigious award was instituted in the year 1957. SSB award is given each year in recognition of outstanding Indian work in science and technology. SSB Prize of Rs 5 Lakh each are awarded annually for notable and outstanding research, fundamental or applied in the concerned discipline. This award is open to any citizen of India engaged in research in any field of science and technology up to the age of 45 yrs as reckoned on 31st Dec of the year preceding the year of the Prize.

These awards have been instituted by DBT to accord recognition to the contributions of senior and young women scientists in the country working in the areas of biology and biotechnology who have made outstanding contributions in research, technology and product development. These awards are given in two separate categories: Senior (One) and Young (Two). The Senior Category award is bestowed upon a senior women scientist for life time contributions, who has done excellent research in the country and has applied it for benefit of students and society.

NBACD is given in recognition of outstanding contributions in basic and applied research with potential for application/ product and technology development. It is awarded to young bio-scientists below 45 years through a grant for research projects to help in their career development. The award aims to boost excellence in research in basic and applied biosciences and can be granted to 10 candidates for a given financial year. It carries a cash prize of Rs.1 Lakh, a citation and Rs.3 Lakh per year as research grant for 3 years.

CSIR instituted this Gold Medal in 2004 in the fond memory of Prof. G N Ramachandran, a pioneer of protein chemistry and the founding father of structural biology in India for recognising excellence in the interdisciplinary field of Biological Sciences and Technology. A Gold Medal and a citation are to be presented to the awardee on 26 September, the CSIR Foundation Day.

From 2001 onwards, these awards have been instituted by DBT to be given every year on 11th May, the Technology Day in recognition of outstanding contributions of scientists / innovators / entrepreneurs/ Indian institutions and companies both in public as well as private sector for a new process, product development and commercialization of a technology or a product in the areas of biotechnology and biological sciences.

CSIR Young Scientist Awards were introduced in 1987, seeking to promote in-house excellence in various fields of science and technology. These awards are for promoting excellence and recognising outstanding contributions made by the young CSIR scientists for their work done primarily in India during the last 5 yrs preceding the year of the Award. Each award consists of a citation, a cash prize of Rs.50,000 and a plaque. Awardees are entitled to a Special Honorarium of Rs.7,500 per month till the age of 45 years, as long as the recipient remains in the service of CSIR.