Dr. T. R. Bhaskaran Memorial Award for Excellence in Academic Research

Pratibodh Foundation, through an endowment to IISc (https://www.iisc.ac.in/), Bangalore, has instituted an annual award with a cash prize of Rs. 1,00,000 for excellence in academic research for the students of the department of Biochemistry in memory of Dr. T. R. Bhaskaran, a distinguished alum of the department. Ms. Latha Mani, the founder of Pratibodh Foundation has instituted this award in remembrance of her father.

Eligibility and Selection

PhD students in the department of Biochemistry, who are preferably in their fifth year, are eligible to apply for this award. The student will send a short research proposal, either in basic or applied sciences, and will spend about six months performing research based on the proposal under the mentorship of their research supervisor. Each year, an external committee of experts will review the students’ proposal and the research work conducted and select one outstanding student for this award. As an exception, if the committee decides to select two equally outstanding students for the award in a year, Pratibodh Foundation will award an added special prize of equal value in that year.

Dr. T. R. Bhaskaran Memorial Award will comprise of a citation and cash prize of Rs. 1,00,000.

Starting from 2021, every year, the selected student(s) will receive the coveted award on September 12, the birth anniversary of Dr. Bhaskaran.

About Dr. T. R. Bhaskaran

Dr. Bhaskaran obtained his MSc, AIISc, and DSc degrees in Biochemistry in 1936, 1937 and 1940 respectively from IISc. He worked as a research assistant in the department of Biochemistry, IISc during 1939-40.

Dr. Bhaskaran was able to go to college and study only because of scholarships he received all through. He also received several awards and prizes during his college days and the significant being – the Arni gold medal for Chemistry in 1933 (Dr. Sir C. V. Raman got this prize in 1905 and Astrophysicist Dr. S. Chandrasekhar got the same in 1930), the Sir Willian Wedderburn prize for best MSc thesis in 1936 and the Curzon Prize for excellence in Research in Biochemistry in 1937. The Rockefeller Foundation awarded Dr. Bhaskaran a fellowship to study in Harvard University, USA where he received an MS degree in Sanitary Engineering, in 1946.

Dr. Bhaskaran’s lifelong contribution to public health in India started immediately after his graduation from IISc in 1940, when he started working as a Research Officer for the Rockefeller Foundation Project in Singur, West Bengal, India. Following that, he had an illustrious teaching and research career at the All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata in the field of Environmental Hygiene and Sanitation. Dr. Bhaskaran prepared the report for monitoring and control of water pollution due to domestic and industrial waste which formed the basis for the Indian Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. During his long professional career, he received innumerable prestigious awards for his research contributions, leadership, and guidance in the areas of rural water supply, ground water pollution, sewage treatment, hygienic handling and disposal of night soil, methods for treatment of industrial waste, and other related areas. He held eminent positions in various advisory committees of ICMR, CSIR and WHO. As Technical Director in Geo Miller and Company, he handled the installation of over thirty modern treatment plants for sewage and industrial waste all over India.