Ashoke Sen becomes first Indian physicist to receive Oskar Klein Medal

Professor Ashoke Sen has been awarded the Oskar Klein Medal for 2026, becoming the first Indian physicist to receive the honour, the Bengaluru-based ICTS said on Saturday (October 24, 2026).

Mr. Sen, an ICTS-Infosys Madhava Chair Professor, is internationally recognised for his pioneering work on S-duality, the precise counting of black hole entropy and string field theory, which have helped shape modern string theory, the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences said in a post on its website.

Mr. 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, the institute said.

He received the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics in 2012 for his contributions to establishing the unifying structure of string theory and the Dirac Medal in 2014, the ICTS said.

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His other honours include the Infosys Prize in Mathematical Sciences in 2009, the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in 1994, the ICTP Prize in 1989, the Padma Shri in 2001 and the Padma Bhushan in 2013.

Mr. Sen was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1998, it added.

ICTS Director Rajesh Gopakumar congratulated Mr. Sen, saying, “On behalf of all of us, very warm congratulations to Ashoke. It has been no less than wonderful having Ashoke with us and setting the tone for excellence here at ICTS.”

Named after Swedish theoretical physicist Oskar Klein, the medal recognises distinguished contributions to physics. It was established in 1988, and previous recipients include Nobel laureates Chen-Ning Yang, Steven Weinberg and Hans Bethe, who received the medal in its first three years, respectively, the ICTS said.

The medal is awarded annually by Stockholm University and the Nobel Committee for Physics of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, according to the ICTS.