Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (2001 - 2010)

The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) was a science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, applied or fundamental, in six categories. It was the highest, most prestigious and coveted prize given in the area of multidisciplinary science in India.

The award is named after the founder Director of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) India, the late Dr (Sir) Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar and is known as the ‘Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) Prize for Science and Technology’. The Prize is given each year for outstanding contributions to science and technology.

Seven disciplines fall under the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize: biological science, chemical science, earth and planetary science, engineering science, mathematical science, medical science, and physical science. Rather than a single annual winner, CSIR names laureates in each category every year, so the prize functions less as one award than a coordinated set of seven, unified by a common founding story, eligibility rule, and selection process. This breadth lets the honour track excellence across the full span of Indian scientific research rather than favouring any one field, a structure unchanged since 1958.