IIT Bombay Professor Wins NASI Young Scientist Award’26

Associate Professor Karthikeyan Lanka from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has been selected for the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI) Young Scientist Platinum Jubilee Award 2026 in the Earth Sciences category. The announcement was made today, 6 August 2026, recognizing his significant contributions to earth sciences and climate studies.

This accolade highlights Prof. Lanka’s pioneering work in satellite remote sensing, hydrological research, and building practical solutions for sustainable agriculture and water resource management. Prof. Lanka is one of the 10 recipients of the NASI Young Scientist Award 2026.

Nasi Young Scientist Award 2026: Recognition for Earth Sciences Contributions

Prof. Karthikeyan Lanka, an Associate Professor at IIT Bombay’s Centre of Studies in Resources Engineering (CSRE) and the Centre for Climate Studies, received the NASI Young Scientist Platinum Jubilee Award 2026 for his impactful research. His work spans ecohydrology, satellite remote sensing, and land-atmosphere interactions, with a specific emphasis on developing advanced algorithms for soil moisture estimation using low-frequency microwave satellite observations, including data from NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission.

His research group has notably developed methods to enhance soil moisture retrieval accuracy over India’s agricultural landscapes by accounting for seasonal vegetation changes. Also, his studies have demonstrated the critical influence of soil moisture on the intensity and development of heatwaves across the Indo-Gangetic Plains, providing crucial insights for climate resilience strategies.

NASI Young Scientist Platinum Jubilee Award 2026: Award Benefits

The NASI Young Scientist Platinum Jubilee Award recognizes outstanding research contributions by young scientists and provides recipients with a medal, citation, and monetary reward.

Award Component	Details
Medal	Recipients are awarded the NASI Young Scientist Platinum Jubilee Medal in recognition of their scientific achievements.
Citation	Awardees receive an official citation highlighting their research contributions and achievements.
Cash Prize	Each awardee receives a cash prize of ₹25,000.
Recognition	The award provides national-level recognition from the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI) for impactful research work.
Award Presentation	The medal and citation are presented during NASI’s Annual General Meeting ceremony.

Prof. Lanka’s Pioneering Work in Agricultural Drought Forecasting

A significant achievement of Prof. Lanka’s group is the growth of one of India’s first operational subseasonal agricultural drought forecasting systems. This new system, created in collaboration with the Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre (MNCFC) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, provides weekly agricultural drought forecasts across India. The system offers predictions at a spatial resolution of 9 kilometres, with lead times of up to four weeks, empowering farmers and policymakers with vital information for proactive agricultural planning and disaster mitigation.

Expressing his gratitude, Prof. Karthikeyan Lanka stated, “I am humbled and deeply honored to share that I have been selected for the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI) Young Scientist Award 2026. I see this recognition as a reflection of the collective efforts of the past and present members of the Ecohydrology Group. Their curiosity, hard work, perseverance, and commitment to rigorous research have made this possible.”

Professor Lanka’s Academic Journey

Prof. Lanka’s academic and professional journey spans leading institutions in India and the US, along with significant contributions to scientific research and academic publishing.

Academic Position at IIT Bombay: Joined IIT Bombay as an Assistant Professor in January 2019 and was promoted to Associate Professor in February 2025.
Doctoral Research: Completed PhD in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, and received the Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellowship for research at Princeton University, USA.
Postdoctoral Experience: Conducted postdoctoral research at Clemson University, USA, before joining IIT Bombay.
Master’s Degree: Earned an MTech/Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from IISc Bengaluru and received a Gold Medal.
Bachelor’s Degree: Completed Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from SASTRA University, Thanjavur.
Editorial Contributions: Serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Hydrology and the IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing (JSTARS).
Awards and Recognition: Received IIT Bombay’s Early Research Achiever Award and the C1973 Research Excellence Award for research contributions.

Other Nasi Young Scientist Awardees 2026

The NASI Young Scientist Award 2026 honored researchers from leading institutions across diverse scientific disciplines, including nanotechnology, biology, agriculture, and engineering.

Awardee	Institution	Research Area
Dr. Ankit Agarwal	IIT Roorkee	Scientific research contributions
Dr. Akanksha Singh	CSIR-CIMAP	Crop protection and production research
Dr. Anindita Das	IACS Kolkata	Applied and interdisciplinary sciences
Dr. Antara Banerjee	ICMR-NIRRCH, Mumbai	Scientific leadership and translational biology
Dr. Akshay Singh	IISc Bengaluru	2D quantum materials
Dr. Ashutosh K. Singh	CeNS	Nanomaterials and soft matter engineering
Dr. Shubham Sahay	IIT Kanpur	Nanoelectronics and semiconductor devices
Dr. Vishal Govind Rao	IIT Kanpur	Single-molecule spectroscopy and photochemistry
Dr. Soumya Prakash Dash	IIT Bhubaneswar	Electrical and computer sciences

Written by Nishit Kumar

Nishit Kumar is a senior EdTech industry leader with over a decade of experience in building and scaling education platforms, shaping their product, content, and growth strategy. At FindMyCollege, Nishit oversees content and editorial strategy, guiding topic selection and content frameworks to ensure accuracy, relevance, and student-first value across the website.

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