The government of India has announced names of 33 awardees of the inaugural Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar (RVP) Awards 2024.

Renowned biochemist and former director of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru Prof. Govindarajan Padmanabhan has been honoured with the Vigyan Ratna Award, recognising his lifetime achievement and immense contribution to the field of biological sciences. Prof. Padmanabhan is best known for his pioneering work on the malaria parasite. 

13 scientists have been awarded the Vigyan Shri Award and 18 scientists have been awarded the Vigyan Yuva Award for their outstanding achievements in various fields of science and technology.

In the Vigyan Shri category, Prof. Umesh Varshney, from IISc; and Prof. Jayant Bhalchandra Udgaonkar from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune (IISER), Pune, have been recognised in the Biological Sciences segment; while Prof. Rohit Srivastava, from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-B), Mumbai has won in the Technology and Innovation segment; and Prof. Dr Sanjay Behari from Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, in the Medicine field.

For the Vigyan Yuva category, Prof. Radhakrishnan Mahalakshmi, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bhopal; and Prof. Aravind Penmatsa from IISc, have been selected in the Biological Sciences segment; Prof. Jitendra Kumar Sahu from Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, and Dr Pragya Dhruv Yadav from ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune in the medicine field; and Prof. Prabhu Rajagopal from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-M), in the Technology and Innovation segment.

The team from ISRO - Indian Space Research Organization who successfully led the Chandrayaan-3 mission has been awarded the Vigyan Team Award for their exceptional contribution to the mission's success.

All 33 awardees will be felicitated on August 23, 2024 at the Rashtrapati Bhawan Cultural Centre presided by the Honourable President of India.