First Manmohan Singh Awards presented at IISER Mohali’s 15th convocation, 348 get degrees

The Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Mohali, on Tuesday conferred degrees on 348 students at its 15th annual convocation, with the ceremony’s centrepiece being the presentation of the first Dr Manmohan Singh Awards for Academic Excellence, instituted earlier this year to honour the late Prime Minister’s enduring association with the Institute.

The four inaugural awardees — Kaustubh Purohit (Biological Sciences), Nandana K.K. (Chemical Sciences), Pahul Arora (Mathematical Sciences) and Amitesh Gupta (Physical Sciences) — were felicitated with a cash prize of Rs 50,000 each in the presence of Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Trustee of the Dr Manmohan Singh Trust and former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, and Dr Vijay Tankha, son-in-law of Dr Singh.

The Trust had instituted the awards, along with fellowships to be launched from the 2026-27 session, in recognition of Dr Singh’s role in founding IISER Mohali and the IISER system nationally.

Of the 348 graduating students, 215 completed the Integrated BS-MS programme, 107 received PhDs, 10 completed the BS programme, 9 the Integrated MS-PhD programme, 5 the MS programme, and 2 the BS Honours programme.

The convocation was presided over by Prof J.S. Yadav, Chairperson of the Board of Governors, while Director Prof Anil Kumar Tripathi presented the annual report.

Chief guest A.S. Kiran Kumar, former ISRO Chairman, urged graduates to harness science for national development, drawing on his experience with missions that advanced communication, navigation, weather forecasting, and disaster management.

Kaustubh Purohit, who also won a Manmohan Singh Award, additionally received the President’s Gold Medal for the highest academic standing. Deep Sehgal was conferred the Professor S.N. Kaul Medal for Best Overall Performance.

In his report, Prof Tripathi said IISER Mohali faculty published over 500 papers in leading journals and secured 49 externally funded projects worth nearly Rs 25 crore over the past year.

The institute’s incubator, i-RISE, has supported more than 50 startups spanning biotechnology, healthcare, AI, and sustainability.