Indian theoretical physicist Professor Ashoke Sen has won the prestigious 2026 Oskar Klein Medal, becoming the first Indian physicist to ever receive this honor. Past winners include renowned Nobel Prize laureates such as Chen-Ning Yang, Steven Weinberg, and Hans Bethe.
Born in Kolkata in 1956, Sen grew up in an academic family where his father was a physics professor. He studied physics at Presidency College in Kolkata and earned his Master’s degree from IIT Kanpur before moving to the United States to complete his Ph.D. and work at major research facilities.
In the world of science, Sen is a global leader in String Theory, a major scientific framework that attempts to connect gravity with quantum mechanics to explain how the universe works. His complex equations have helped scientists understand the inner workings of black holes and how the universe stays stable.
For India, his journey is deeply important because, instead of staying abroad, Sen chose to return to his home country to build his career and conduct his research. By working from Indian research institutes, he proved that world-class science can happen anywhere, serving as an inspiration to young Indian students that they can achieve global greatness while staying rooted at home.