DBT secretary K Vijay Raghavan inducted into US National Academy of Sciences

Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Professor K Vijay Raghavan, has been formally inducted as a foreign associate of the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) at a ceremony at Washington on Saturday. He was elected as a foreign associate of NAS last year for his distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

NAS membership is a widely accepted mark of excellence in science and is considered one of the highest honours that a scientist can receive. NAS has a total membership of approximately 2,250, of which nearly 440 are foreign associates, of whom approximately 200 are Nobel Prize winners.

Professor Vijay Raghavan who was appointed as the secretary, DBT, Government of India, in January 2013, had been the director of the National Centre for Biological Sciences before that. He is a fellow of the Indian Science Academies, an associate member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation and a fellow of the Royal Society. He was awarded the 'Padmashri' in 2013, by the Government of India. He is a JC Bose Fellow of the Department of Science and Technology. He was awarded the inaugural Infosys Prize in Life Sciences 2009 and the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in 1998.