Ashoke Sen Wins Oskar Klein Medal, First Indian Physicist Honored

UPDATE - follow-up to Ashoke Sen becomes first Indian physicist to receive Oskar Klein Medal: Professor Ashoke Sen has been awarded the 2026 Oskar Klein Medal, becoming the first Indian physicist to earn the honor. The International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS) announced the award on Saturday, October 24, 2026, noting Sen’s role as ICTS‑Infosys Madhava Chair Professor. ## Lecture Sen delivered the 2026 Oskar Klein Memorial Lecture, titled “Gravity from Strings and Strings from Gravity,” at Stockholm University’s AlbaNova Centre on October 22. ## Past Honours His earlier recognitions include the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2012) for unifying string theory, the Dirac Medal (2014), the Infosys Prize in Mathematical Sciences (2009), the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (1994), the ICTP Prize (1989), the Padma Shri (2001) and the Padma Bhushan (2013). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1998. ICTS Director Rajesh Gopakumar praised Sen, saying, “It has been no less than wonderful having Ashoke with us and setting the tone for excellence here at ICTS.” ## Context The Oskar Klein Medal, created in 1988 and named after the Swedish physicist, honors distinguished contributions to physics and is awarded annually by Stockholm University and the Nobel Committee for Physics of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Early recipients were Nobel laureates Chen‑Ning Yang, Steven Weinberg and Hans Bethe.