NRI Shrinivas Kulkarni, 'Professor of the California Institute of Technology' Honoured with UK Royal Astronomical Society’s Top Gold Medal
Los Angeles/Jan 12, 2026
NRIpress.club/Ramesh/ A.Gary Singh
NRI Shrinivas Kulkarni,Professor of the California Institute of Technology wins the Gold Medal in Astronomy. He has also received the 2024 Shaw Prize in Astronomy.
He got awarded for his tansformative discoveries in time-domain astronomy and his sustained.
He made ground-breaking research in multi-wavelength transient astrophysics, ground-breaking discoveries about millisecond pulsars, gamma-ray bursts and supernovae and an "exemplary" mathematical geophysicist specialising in Earth's magnetic field have each been awarded the Royal Astronomical Society's Gold Medal for 2026.
Professor Kulkarni said:
- I was very surprised to hear the news, especially given the stellar list of past winners.
- I would like to thank my long-term collaborators and the engineering crew and members of the Palomar Transient Factory and the Zwicky Transient Facility for their immense contribution to the projects.
- The most fun achievement in my life was when "I was a graduate student when I made the discovery. I could not sleep for several days about discovery of the first millisecond pulsar.
The Royal Astronomical Society annually celebrates major achievements in astronomy and geophysics by presenting multiple awards that acknowledge diverse talents, from scientific research to educational and outreach efforts.
RCS (Royal Astronomical Society) added:
- Professor Kulkarni has also been highly influential in the field of high energy transients, having demonstrated that gamma-ray bursts were cosmological in origin, identified the neutron star origin of short gamma-ray bursts, discovered the first millisecond pulsar, and showed that some fast radio bursts arise from highly magnetized neutron stars.
- He has also been instrumental in the development of upcoming ultraviolet space missions ULTRASAT and UVEX.
- Professor Kulkarni has mentored dozens of students and postdocs, who have gone into successful careers in science, technology or engineering. His achievements have previously been recognised by election as a Fellow of the Royal Society, US National Academy of Sciences and receiving the 2024 Shaw Prize in Astronomy.
|
