IIIT-Delhi Professor Debarka Sengupta Wins Prestigious Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar 2025 in Biological Sciences, ETEducation
New Delhi, 28th October 2025: Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (IIIT-Delhi) is pleased to announce that Prof. Debarka Sengupta from the Department of Computational Biology at the Institute has been selected for the prestigious ‘Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar: Vigyan Yuva- Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar’ for the year 2025 in Biological Sciences.
The Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar: Vigyan Yuva- Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award, which comes with a Medallion and Sanad is presented by the President of India, and is the highest national honor in the field of science, technology, and innovation in India. Established to acknowledge and inspire the exceptional contributions of scientists, technologists, and innovators, this award recognizes those who have made groundbreaking discoveries and advancements that have a profound impact on society.
This prestigious award has been presented to Prof Sengupta for his extraordinary research that has advanced large-scale analysis of tissue heterogeneity and the discovery of rare cell populations through single-cell transcriptomics. By integrating genomics with artificial intelligence models, his work has enabled accurate prediction of cancer drug responses and the identification of circulating triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells in patient blood samples. These scientific contributions have also catalyzed the creation of biotechnology startups, strengthening India’s innovation ecosystem. Speaking on this accomplishment, Prof Debarka Sengupta says, “ This award is a recognition of how data, biology, and artificial intelligence—when combined thoughtfully—can transform the way we understand and treat complex diseases like cancer. It reinforces my belief that India stands at the forefront of a new era of innovation, where the convergence of AI and life sciences will define the future of healthcare and strengthen our growing biotech industry.”
Congratulating the Professor on this wonderful news, Prof Ranjan Bose (Director, IIIT-Delhi) says, “Prof Debarka Sengupta’s selection for the prestigious Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar: Vigyan Yuva–Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar is a very proud moment for IIIT-Delhi. This recognition, earned purely on research conducted at the Institute, marks a historic first for IIIT-Delhi, reflecting our growing strength in world-class scientific research.”
This award is a rare distinction conferred upon young scientists who have demonstrated outstanding potential in the field of science and technology. This achievement highlights his dedication and extraordinary work in making cancer detection more accurate and the treatment more personalised, with the help of AI and genomics. IIIT-Delhi is extremely proud of this distinction, the first of its kind and the highest recognition received by the Institute, further strengthening its legacy of academic excellence and contribution to society.
Apart from being a full-time Professor at IIIT-Delhi, Prof Debarka is also an honorary Associate Professor at the Queensland University of Technology-Brisbane and carried out his doctoral and post-doctoral research in the Machine Intelligence Unit of the Indian Statistical Institute and Genome Institute of Singapore, respectively. His group has been among the first to introduce big data algorithms in the field of single-cell genomics. He also received INSPIRE faculty Award in 2015 by the Government of India. His lab invented and commercialized a panel of eleven platelet genes to track the early onset of cancer.
Below are some of Prof Debarka’s notable achievements throughout his career:
- 2025: Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar: Vigyan Yuva – SSB
- 2025: Fellow, Indian Academy of Sciences
- 2024: Humboldt Research Fellowship (Experienced Researcher)
- 2023: Institute Chair Professor (Inaugural), IIIT-D
- 2023: MERCK Young Scientist Award (Winner in Biological Sciences category), Merck India
- 2023: Elected Fellow, The National Academy of Sciences, India
- 2023: Adjunct Professor, QUT Brisbane
- 2022: Young Innovator and Entrepreneur Award, INAE
- 2015: INSPIRE Faculty Fellowship, DST
KEY INDUSTRY AFFILIATION
- Cofounder and Chief Science Officer, GeneSilico.ai, INDIA, USA
- Chief Scientific Advisor, CareOnco Biotech Pvt. Ltd., INDIA
- Chief Scientific Advisor, podhealth.ai, INDIA, USA
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