Oskar Klein Medal 2026: Ashoke Sen becomes first Indian winner
Why in the news
Theoretical physicist Ashoke Sen has been awarded the 2026 Oskar Klein Medal, becoming the first Indian physicist to receive it. The International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS) announced the honour on 22 October 2026.
Key facts
- Awarded by: Stockholm University and the Nobel Committee for Physics of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences; given every year.
- Established: 1988; named after Swedish theoretical physicist Oskar Klein.
- Work recognised: S-duality, precise counting of black-hole entropy and string field theory.
- Lecture: Sen gave the 2026 Oskar Klein Memorial Lecture, ‘Gravity from Strings and Strings from Gravity’, at the AlbaNova Centre, Stockholm University, on 22 October 2026.
- Earlier winners include Chen-Ning Yang, Steven Weinberg and Hans Bethe.
About Ashoke Sen
Sen holds the ICTS-Infosys Madhava Chair Professorship at ICTS, Bengaluru. His earlier honours include:
| Award | Year |
|---|---|
| ICTP Prize | 1989 |
| Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize | 1994 |
| Fellow of the Royal Society | 1998 |
| Padma Shri | 2001 |
| Infosys Prize (Mathematical Sciences) | 2009 |
| Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics | 2012 |
| Padma Bhushan | 2013 |
| Dirac Medal | 2014 |
Exam angle
- Oskar Klein Medal: Stockholm University plus Nobel Committee for Physics, since 1988.
- Ashoke Sen: string theory; first Indian recipient.
- Pair with his Breakthrough Prize (2012) and Dirac Medal (2014).