Gautam Bhatia among six researchers awarded Infosys Prize for 2026

The Infosys Prize 2026 winners were announced in Bengaluru on 12 November 2026. Gautam Bhatia received the award in Humanities and Social Sciences for legal scholarship spanning constitutional law and its relationship with social and political thought. He is a Green Fellow at the University of New South Wales and an Adjunct Professor at Jindal Global Law School. Each prize category carries a gold medal, a citation and USD 100,000 or its equivalent in rupees.

The other laureates represent several research disciplines. Karthik Sastry won Economics for work including climate adaptation, technological innovation and business cycles. Swarun Kumar won Engineering and Computer Science for advances in low-power wireless systems. Isha Jain received Life Sciences for discoveries in oxygen biology. Riddhipratim Basu won Mathematical Sciences for work in probability and statistical physics, while Manoj Kumar Joshi won Physical Sciences for trapped-ion quantum simulation. These are separate category awards within one annual announcement, rather than a single ranking of the six recipients.

Facts to remember

• Announcement: 12 November 2026, Bengaluru; six award categories.
• Humanities and Social Sciences: Gautam Bhatia; Economics: Karthik Sastry.
• Engineering and Computer Science: Swarun Kumar; Life Sciences: Isha Jain.
• Mathematical Sciences: Riddhipratim Basu; Physical Sciences: Manoj Kumar Joshi.
• Each category: gold medal, citation and USD 100,000 or its rupee equivalent.

Background

Established in 2009, the prize recognises contributions to research and scholarship. Since 2024, it has focused on researchers under 40 years of age. Bhatia's books include Offend, Shock, or Disturb and The Transformative Constitution, connecting the award with free expression and constitutional transformation.

Why it matters for exams

For CLAT current affairs and UGC-NET Law, match laureates with disciplines and connect Bhatia's recognition with constitutional scholarship rather than a judicial appointment.