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The Government of India has announced in a press note on January 25, 2023 that our Founder Director Prof. K. N. Ganesh will be conferred with Padma Shri Award in the field of Science and Engineering.

The Padma Awards are one of the highest civilian awards of India, and are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day (January 26) every year.

Prof. K.N. Ganesh’s research is in the area of the chemistry and biology of nucleic acids. He is internationally recognised for his original and creative contributions to design of Peptide Nucleic Acid (PNA) analogues for effective cell permeation. Prof. Ganesh obtained his BSc (1970) and MSc (1972) degrees in Chemistry from Bangalore University and did his PhD (1976) in Chemistry at Delhi University. He was awarded a Commonwealth Fellowship to pursue higher studies at University of Cambridge, U.K. which resulted in the award of a second PhD degree to him in 1980. Prof. Ganesh worked at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad during 1981-1986 and at the CSIR- National Chemical Laboratory (1987 to 2005) before taking on the role of the founder Director of IISER Pune from 2006 to 2017 and that of IISER Tirupati in November 2017. He now has the rare and unique distinction of being the Founder Director of two IISERs – Pune and Tirupati.

Our hearty congratulations to our Director Prof. K.N. Ganesh on this great honour conferred upon him by the Government of India.