Speaker
Where does great science begin?
This lecture explores how excellence in scientific research begins with the individual; with curiosity, rigour, and imagination, growing outward into the institutions and cultures that sustain it.
Drawing on decades spent at the frontier of theoretical physics, Rajesh Gopakumar turns to a more urgent question: how can India nurture and nourish scientific excellence at every level, from the solitary researcher to the institutions built to support them? Great science, he argues, is never possible alone.
This lecture is a part of Azim Premji University’s Public Lecture Series.
Presented by:
Venue: Gallery
Speaker
Rajesh Gopakumar
Professor Rajesh Gopakumar is an eminent theoretical physicist whose work helps decode the nature of quantum gravity. He serves as Director of the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS-TIFR), Bengaluru, where he is a Distinguished Professor. He obtained his integrated M.Sc. in physics from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur in 1992 and his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1997, under Nobel laureate David Gross. He later held positions at Harvard University and the Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad, before moving to ICTS. His research, at the intersection of string theory and quantum field theory, led to the Gopakumar–Vafa duality and invariants. His honours include the ICTP Prize and the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award.
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