New Delhi: In a major development, Shrinivas R Kulkarni, a US professor of Indian descent, will be awarded the prestigious Shaw Award for his contributions in the field of astronomy. Kulkarni’s groundbreaking discoveries about millisecond pulsars, gamma-ray bursts, supernovae, and other variable or transient astronomical objects have earned him this prestigious annual prize.
The Shaw prize is an international prize awarded in only three fields-Astronomy, Life Science and Medicine, and Mathematical Sciences. The Shaw Award, also known as the Noble for the east was established in 2002.
Who is Shrinivas R Kulkarni?
Srinivas R Kulkarni is the Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Science in the divisions of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology. He was also the director of Caltech Optical Observatory from 2006 to 2018.
According to his bio posted on Caltech’s Division of Physics, Kulkarni was born in a small town of Maharashtra called ‘Kurundwad’ and grew up in ‘Hubbali’, Karnataka. He completed his MS from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, in 1978, then moved to the US to complete his PHD from University of California.
In 1987, Kulkarni joined California Institute of Technology and remained a loyal servant to the institute till now.
Shrinivas R Kulkarni: Key Discoveries
- Srinivas R Kulkarni kicked off his career as a radio astronomer, studying Milky Way Galaxy using HI absorption. He observed the four arms of the milky way.
- Srinivas R Kulkarni also discovered the first millisecond pulsar, a magnetized neutron star whose rotation is less than 10 millisecond, called PSR B1937+21.
- Srinivas R Kulkarni, in collaboration with NRAO (National Radio Astronomy Observatory) and ISAS (Institute of Space and Astronautical Science), discovered that soft gamma-ray repeaters are neutron stars.
- Srinivas R Kulkarni recently identified new groups of optical transients like superluminous supernovae, calcium novae, and luminous red novae.
Shrinivas R Kulkarni: Honours
Srinivas R Kulkarni has received significant accolades in his life.
- Srinivas R Kulkarni was honoured with the National Science Foundation’s Alan T. Waterman Award in 1992.
- Srinivas R Kulkarni was awarded Helen B. Warner Prize from the American Astronomical Society in 1991.
- Srinivas R Kulkarni received an honorary doctorate from Radboud University in the Netherlands in 2015.
