Merck invites application for Young Scientist Award 2023; winner to get Rs 3.5 lakh

NEW DELHI : Merck has announced the launch of the third-edition of the Merck Young Scientist Award 2023 for young scientists in India. The application process for the Merck Young Scientist Award began on June 26, 2023, and the last date to register is August 16, 2023. Interested candidates can register themselves at the official website – mpoweringlifescience.com

To be eligible for the young scientist award, applicants must be associated with a research institute and have less than ten years of post PhD research experience, and reside in India. The winners will be announced on November 24, 2023.

The 2023 award programme will honour 10 individuals for their scientific achievements and research. Two winners will be chosen from the fields of biological and chemical sciences and one winner from the sustainability research category. In addition, five runner-up recipients will also be rewarded. The winners will receive a prize of Rs 3,50,000 while the runners-up will receive Rs 1,00,000. Ten individuals will be awarded with prizes totalling Rs 22,50,000, it said.

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The award programme will have three categories this year – biological sciences, chemical sciences, and sustainability research. According to the company, the sustainability research category has been added to increase environmental consciousness in scientific research and focus on green chemistry, renewable or alternative energy, sustainable materials, and manufacturing.

The jury for the 2023 Merck Young Scientist Award will be led by Anurag Agrawal, dean of Ashoka University; Radha Rangarajan, director of CSIR-CDRI; and Srinivas Reddy, director of CSIR-IICT.

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The applications will be reviewed by a panel of ten academics from various institutes including Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), BITS-Pilani, IIT Kharagpur, CSIR-IGIB.

“This year, we have chosen to focus on sustainability apart from the disciplines of chemistry and biology since we believe as an organization that sustainability is a key pillar of scientific research. Bringing this up as a highlight will also make it evident to the industry and academics how central sustainability is as a theme as we all work towards human progress,” Dhananjay Singh, head of Science and Lab Solutions, at Merck Life Science said.