Odia Professor To Be Honoured With The Highest Award In Science And Tech

Odia Professor To Be Honoured With The Highest Award In Science And Tech

Odias have been leaving their mark in every field all over the world. Professor Jyotirmayee Dash has been awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award 2020 in Chemical Sciences. It is the highest award in India in the field of Science and Technology. Dash is the first Odia woman to get the honour. Currently, she is working at the School of Chemical Sciences, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Sciences in Kolkata. 

Dash hails from Jagatsinghpur district and is among 12 scientists to be conferred the award. The announcement was made during the 79th Foundation Day celebrations of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on Saturday. The award is given to Indian scientists below the age of 45 for outstanding research in Biology, Chemistry, Environment Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine and Physics.

Dash was nominated for the award for her work on new methodologies for the synthesis of diverse molecules that can be used to study the structure and function of therapeutic targets. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Governor Ganeshi Lal congratulated Dash via Twitter. 

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— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) September 27, 2020

Hon’ble Governor congratulates Prof Jyotirmayee Dash on being conferred with the coveted “Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize 2020”, India’s highest science award for her outstanding contribution to the field of chemical sciences.

— Governor Odisha (@GovernorOdisha) September 27, 2020

Dash has done her MSc in Chemistry from Ravenshaw University and received her PhD from IIT Kanpur. She joined the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Kolkata in 2009 as an Assistant Professor. She shifted to Indian Association for the Cultivation of Sciences (IACS), Kolkata in 2012. 

Here she started as an Assistant Professor in 2012 and since 2018 she has been serving as a Professor. She has won numerous recognitions and has many achievements to her credit. She has been an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow from 2004-2006 at Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. She did her Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2006-2007 from ESPCI-Paris, France after which she became Marie-Curie  Fellow in 2007-2009 at University of Cambridge, UK. She was a Visiting Fellow in May-July 2010 at University of Bristol, UK. 

Dash’s parents were elated upon getting the news of their daughter’s achievement. “I could not believe it after getting the news. I had tears of happiness in my eyes. I never thought my daughter would be conferred with the award one day,” said Dash’s proud father Basant Kumar Dash.

Dash’s mother Puspa Kumari Mishra said, “I am short of words to express my feelings. We are proud of her achievement. She has always been hard working from her very childhood. Because of her dedication and hard work she was able to win the award.”