Prof Vikrant Jain from the Earth Sciences discipline at the institute has been awarded the prestigious National Geoscience Award 2018, in the category of Applied Geosciences by the Ministry of Mines, Government of India (GoI). Shri Pralhad Joshi, Cabinet Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines, presented the award to Professor Jain on September 19 in New Delhi.

The annual awards are given to geoscientists/ engineers/ technologists/ academicians to honour their extraordinary achievements and outstanding contributions in the field of fundamental/ applied geosciences, mining and allied areas. This award is in recognition of Professor Jain’s significant contributions in the area of river science, a relatively new research field within Applied Geosciences.

Professor Jain is a geomorphologist/ geoscientist working in the area of River Science, its applications in stream management, and Earth Surface Processes.  He has worked extensively on the Himalayan rivers and recently started working on the Peninsular rivers also. His current research aims at developing the fundamental understanding of variability in river appearance and behaviour through a quantitative framework, and at applying this knowledge for sustainable stream management practices.

I feel extremely honoured that my work in this area has been recognised. River science is an emerging research area of Geoscience. This award to my research lab signifies that river studies as an important component of Geoscience studies in India.

Prof Vikrant Jain