Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: An academician of Indian origin was conferred the highest scientific recognition in the Netherlands. The Spinoza Prize is sometimes also referred to as the Dutch Nobel. Dr Joyeeta Gupta, an alumnus of Delhi’s Lady Shri Ram College, was awarded 1.5 million Euros (over Rs 13 crore) at an official presentation ceremony earlier this month.
The prestigious Spinoza Prize is the highest award in Dutch academia and is awarded each year to researchers working in the Netherlands who according to international standards belong to the “absolutely best” researchers worldwide.
The Dutch Research Council (NWO) selection committee was deeply impressed by the scientific impact of the 59-year-old academic and called her research “incredibly broad and interdisciplinary”. She shared the prize with evolutionary biologist Toby Kiers. Both are academics at the University of Amsterdam.
While Gupta is a faculty professor of Sustainability and professor of Environment and Development in the Global South, Kiers’ work focuses on microbial networks in plants and agriculture. Last year Gupta was the recipient of Piers Sellers Prize for her world leading contribution to solution focused climate research.
