New Delhi : Ashoka University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Somak Raychaudhury has been conferred with the prestigious Meghnad Saha Memorial Gold Medal by the Asiatic Society for the year 2022. The award recognizes his outstanding contribution in the field of physics.

Among his major contributions, Somak Raychaudhury has pioneered the study of galaxy superclusters as the Universe’s largest structures, and has worked on exotic stars such as black holes in nearby galaxies. He has developed innovative machine-learning algorithms for mining large astronomical datasets, and recently co-chaired the committee to compile the Vision document for the next decade of Astronomy research for the Government of India.

“It is very special for me to have received this recognition from the Asiatic Society, particularly named after one of my heroes in Science. Dr Meghnad Saha was the President of the Asiatic Society during 1945-46. In its long history spanning over 230 years, the Society has played a significant role in promoting excellence in the field of arts, literature and sciences. It is an honour to receive this recognition from the Society, and I am delighted to accept it,” Professor Raychaudhury said.

Deemed as an ‘Institute of National Importance’ under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, the Asiatic Society, founded in 1784, is the oldest surviving publishing house in the country that promotes high academic standards in the sphere of history and antiquities, arts, sciences, and literature in Asia.

Professor Raychaudhury recently took over as the Vice-Chancellor of Ashoka University, India’s leading interdisciplinary teaching and research university. The university is currently in the second stage of its expansion, called the Build Ashoka phase, where it is making major investments in the Sciences including biosciences, computer science and astrophysics, as well as undertaking cutting-edge research and aiming for genuine social impact.