NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has announced that Associate Professor Karthikeyan Lanka has been selected for the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI) Young Scientist Award 2026. The institute shared the announcement on its official social media handle, congratulating the faculty member on the recognition.Prof. Lanka is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at IIT Bombay. He has been serving in the role since February 2025, after joining the institute as an Assistant Professor in January 2019.• IIT Roorkee hydrologist Prof. Ankit Agarwal receives NASI Young Scientist Award 2026: Complete listAcademic and research backgroundProf. Lanka completed his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, between 2013 and 2018. During his doctoral studies, he received the Department of Science and Technology (DST) International Travel Grant to participate in the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) Training Session and the Second SMOS Conference in Madrid, Spain, in 2015.He also received a travel grant from the Indian Society of Remote Sensing (ISRS) to attend the ISPRS Technical Commission VIII Symposium held in Hyderabad in 2014.Before pursuing his doctoral studies, he completed a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from IISc between 2011 and 2013. His master’s thesis received the Prof. P.S. Narayana Medal for the Best M.Sc. (Engineering) Thesis Award.Earlier academic achievementsProf. Lanka earned his Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology and Research Academy (SASTRA), Thanjavur, graduating with a cumulative grade point average of 9.41 out of 10.During his undergraduate studies, he received multiple merit scholarships for academic performance and was awarded the Lord Renganatha Swamy Award for securing the highest marks in GATE 2010 among final-year and pre-final-year Civil Engineering students at the university.His undergraduate dissertation on groundwater level prediction in tropical coastal riparian wetlands was later published in the journal Water Resources Management in 2013.About the awardThe NASI Young Scientist Award is conferred by the National Academy of Sciences, India, to recognise outstanding contributions by early-career researchers across scientific disciplines.IIT Bombay said the selection recognises Prof. Lanka’s research contributions and academic achievements in the field of civil engineering.
NASI Young Scientist Award 2026 recipients
• Dr. Akanksha Singh (CSIR-CIMAP): Her award-winning research focuses on crop protection and production. At the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), she works on biological solutions to agricultural stress, improving crop yield, and enhancing the resilience of economically important medicinal plants.• Dr. Anindita Das (IACS Kolkata): Recognized in the Applied and Interdisciplinary Sciences domain, her research focuses on smart materials and molecular assemblies. She combines chemistry and materials science to develop functional molecular structures with potential applications in energy and bio-interfacing technologies.• Prof. Ankit Agarwal (IIT Roorkee): A faculty member in the Department of Hydrology, his research addresses hydro-climatic extremes and multi-scale climate complexities. He uses data-driven models, wavelets, and complex networks to improve predictions of extreme weather events such as floods and droughts.• Dr. Antara Banerjee: Her research emphasizes scientific leadership and translational biology. She focuses on niche therapeutic applications and biomedical innovations, bridging laboratory-scale cellular biology with impactful public healthcare solutions.• Dr. Akshay Singh (IISc Bengaluru): Based in the Department of Physics, his research explores the fundamental properties of two-dimensional (2D) quantum materials. He uses ultrafast optical spectroscopy to study excitons and spin dynamics, advancing next-generation quantum computing and nanoscale optics.• Dr. Ashutosh K. Singh (CeNS): At the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS), his research bridges nanomaterials and soft matter engineering. His work focuses on responsive optoelectronic materials and functional thin films for energy-harvesting applications.• Dr. Shubham Sahay (IIT Kanpur): A faculty member in the Department of Electrical Engineering, his research centers on nanoelectronics and semiconductor devices. He develops hardware architectures for neuromorphic computing, enabling low-power memory arrays for artificial intelligence.• Dr. Vishal Govind Rao (IIT Kanpur): Based in the Department of Chemistry, his research advances single-molecule spectroscopy and photochemistry. His laboratory studies how nanocrystals interact with light, opening new possibilities for solar energy conversion and chemical sensing.• Dr. Soumya Prakash Dash (IIT Bhubaneswar): Affiliated with the School of Electrical and Computer Sciences, his research focuses on wireless communications and signal processing. His work contributes to optimizing architectures for 5G-Advanced and future 6G communication networks.
