NRN Murthy says all is well at Infosys, announces Infosys Prize for researchers and scientists

All is well at Infosys. NR Narayana Murthy, Co-founder of Infosys, who persuaded his Co-founder Nandan Nilekani to return at the helm of Infosys as the non-executive chairman after the controversial exit of Vishal Sikka, today told the media that “all is well at Infosys” under the Chairmanship of Nandan Nilekani.

Interacting with the media after the announcement of the Infosys Prize, Murthy said, “I had earlier said, now that we have Nandan as the chairman, we can all sleep well."

Nilekani, who joins as the trustee of Infosys Science Foundation, announced the award for Life Sciences that went to Prof Upinder S Bhalla. He, however, refused to comment on his role as Chairman of Infosys.

Speaking to YourStory, Murthy said,

“Today’s entrepreneurs are dreaming bigger and bigger. They are tackling a variety of problems in retail, health, education, and more. However, Murthy felt that what they need to work on was identifying the problem that needs to be solved, and express it in a simple sentence particularly their differentiated business plan. The second thing that they should do is find inexpensive ways of testing their products."

Talking about the Infosys Prize, Murthy said there was an urgent need for research and science to be recognised in the country.

In a panel session with YourStory, titled: ‘Science jargon and society – need to bridge this gap’, Murthy felt that only when we are able to translate the output of research to less esoteric language can other research groups or corporations understand and apply this wonderful work in meaningful ways. Even today, simplified yet impactful communication of science still remains a challenge.

Among the six winners across an equal number of fields that include Engineering and Computer Science, Humanities, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Social Sciences, three were awarded to women.

The winners include a neuroscientist using computers to map the human brain, a computer scientist studying biological systems, and a chemist trying to make DNA machines to study living cells, among others. The six winners include Prof Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay of Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata, Prof Ananya Jahanara Kabir, professor of English Literature, King’s College London, Prof Upinder Singh Bhalla of National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru, Prof Ritabrata Munshi of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, and ISI, Kolkata, Prof Yamuna Krishnan of Dept of Chemistry, University of Chicago, and Prof Lawrence Liang of School of Law, Ambedkar University, Delhi.

Now in its ninth year, the Infosys Prize for each category consists of a purse of Rs 65 lakh, a 22-karat gold medallion, and a citation certificate.

The winners were shortlisted from over 236 nominations by a scholarly jury panel, including Prof Amartya Sen, (Harvard University), Prof Kaushik Basu (Cornell University and former SVP, World Bank), among others.