Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (Annual Cycle)

Helps teams delivering high impact prototypes with milestone support for Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in biotechnology, materials science, and energy systems.

The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize is India's most prestigious recognition in science, awarded annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) since 1958. CSIR is an autonomous body under India's Ministry of Science and Technology, founded in 1942, and operates 39 research laboratories employing more than 14,000 personnel across the country. The prize is named after the founder-Director General of CSIR, Sir Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, and is administered from CSIR headquarters at Anusandhan Bhawan, New Delhi. It recognises outstanding contributions to natural and applied science made by researchers working in India.

Recipients receive a one-time cash award of ₹5 lakh (approximately the equivalent of the structured awardMin/awardMax of ₹500,000 INR) together with a monthly stipend that continues after the award. The prize is awarded to individual scientists only — organisations, teams, and companies cannot receive it. Eligible applicants must be researchers conducting their work at Indian universities or research institutions. The prize spans multiple scientific disciplines. Nominations and selection are managed through CSIR's annual prize cycle; the detailed nomination process, age eligibility ceiling, disciplinary category breakdown, and specific submission deadlines are published by CSIR directly at csir.res.in for each annual cycle.

The prize carries significant career recognition value in the Indian academic system and is widely regarded as a precursor to other national honours. Institutions that support potential nominees should ensure they are tracking CSIR's annual nomination call, as nomination windows are time-limited and require institutional endorsement. The award does not fund specific research projects; it recognises a body of completed scientific work and provides the ongoing stipend as sustained personal recognition.