He is the brother of Philanthropist Sudha Murty

Bengaluru: Srinivas R. Kulkarni, an Indian-origin US Scientist and brother of Philanthropist Sudha Murty of Infosys Foundation, has been awarded the prestigious Shaw Prize in Astronomy for 2024.

Kulkarni is based at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the award citation describes “his ground-breaking discoveries about millisecond pulsars, gamma-ray bursts, supernovae and other variable or transient astronomical objects.” 

He is also cited for his “leadership of the Palomar Transient Factory and its successor, the Zwicky Transient Facility, which have revolutionised our understanding of the time-variable optical sky.”

The annual award is given by the Shaw Prize Foundation, which was founded in 2002 by the Hong Kong-based filmmaker, television executive and philanthropist Run Run Shaw (1907-2014). The Prize, comprising a reward of 1.2 million dollars,  will be presented to Kulkarni at a ceremony in Hong Kong on Nov.12. There are also Shaw Prizes for Life Sciences & Medicine and Mathematical Sciences.