Ashoke Sen became the first Indian physicist to receive the Oskar Klein Medal for 2026. The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser said, "He is the first Indian physicist to receive this prestigious honour." Sen is a professor at ICTS-TIFR, Bengaluru, and is widely known for his work on string theory.
Ashoke Sen is the first Indian physicist to get the Oskar Klein Medal, the previous recipients include Stephen Hawking, Peter Higgs and Kip Thorne. Sen, an ICTS-Infosys Madhava Chair professor at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS)-Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Bengaluru, is widely regarded as an architect of modern string theory.
The theory postulates that the elementary constituents of matter are tiny one-dimensional, string-like objects instead of point particles. It thus tries to put forth a unifying description for matter and forces between them. Established in 1988 and named after the Swedish theoretical physicist Oskar Klein, the medal is awarded annually by Stockholm University and the Nobel Committee for Physics of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Congratulating Ashoke Sen, Office of Principal Scientific Adviser to Govt of India in a post on X said, "The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India congratulates Ashoke Sen,
ICTS-TIFR-Infosys Madhava Chair Professor, Bengaluru, on receiving the Oskar Klein Medal for 2026. He is the first Indian physicist to receive this prestigious honour.
Sen is globally recognised for his pioneering contributions to string theory, particularly his work on S-duality, the precision counting of black hole entropy and string field theory. His research has played a significant role in advancing modern string theory and deepening our understanding of fundamental physics.
Jointly awarded by Stockholm University and the Nobel Committee for Physics of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Oskar Klein Medal recognises distinguished contributions to physics. This recognition adds to Prof. Sen’s distinguished achievements, which include the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2012), the Dirac Medal (2014), the Padma Shri (2001) and the Padma Bhushan (2013)."
Who is Ashoke Sen?
Born on July 15, 1956, Sen is an ICTS-Infosys Madhava Chair professor at TIFR, Bengaluru. He earned a BSc from Presidency College, Kolkata, MSc from IIT Kanpur and PhD from Stony Brook University. After completing his academic journey, he joined the Harish-Chandra Research Institute in 1995 and spent 26 years there before moving to ICTS, Bengaluru.
He obtained Padma Shri in 2001 and Padma Bhushan in 2013 for his contributions to Physics. He was awarded with various international prizes in Physics - Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2012), Oskar Klein Medal (2026). He was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society in 1998 and the Indian National Science Academy in 1995.