ASI AstroSat Prize

1. About the award

The aim of this award, instituted by the Astronomical Society of India, is to motivate young Indian scientists to make outstanding contributions (science and/or instrumentation) in Astronomy and Astrophysics using Indian Space missions and to publish the results in any refereed journal of astronomy and astrophysics. The award, to be given annually, consists of a cash prize of Rs.10,000/- and a citation of honour that mentions the name/s of the author/s and the title of the winning research article. For this award, ASI has received a contribution of Rs. One Lakh from Team ASTROSAT. In addition, a contribution has been made by Dr. S. Seetha, PI AstroSat (ex-ISRO). 

2. Nomination Criteria

The nominees will be young researchers who have made outstanding contributions in the area of astronomy and astrophysics primarily using Indian space mission facilities (high-impact instrumentation and/or science). The contribution should be published in any refereed journal. The nominee should have an Indian affiliation for the bulk of the work done. Only those research articles may be considered for the award, whose first author is an Indian National and whose age does not exceed 35 years. The paper should have been published / accepted for publication (with proof) in any refereed journal in the period between 01 Oct 2024 and 30 Sept 2025 (both dates included) for the award of the year 2025, to be presented in the ASI meeting of 2026. In case the article is written by more than one author, the prize money will be divided equally among all those authors who are eligible in the sense defined above. Renominations for the same paper will not be considered.

3. Application

All nominations for the award must be received by the ASI, by the deadline as indicated on the website of the ASI. Nominations must be submitted via the online interface on the ASI website. Nominations can be made by the heads of the institutions and other eminent members of the ASI. A nominator can submit only a single application for the award.

For the award year 2025, the nominations must be received by 5th January 2026. The paper should have been published / accepted for publication (with proof) in any refereed journal in the period between 01 Oct 2024 and 30 Sept 2025 (both dates included). The nominee should be 35 years of age or less as on 31 Dec 2025. The date of birth of the nominee should be on or after 1st Jan 1990.

Nominations must include the following material:

1. Name of Nominee
2. Details of Nominee
   
   1. Affiliation
   2. Address
   3. email id
   4. Mobile phone number
   5. Date of Birth
3. Academic qualifications
4. Nomination letter with signature and date
5. Major scientific result of the publication on which the nomination is based
6. Reprint relevant to the recommendation (include hyperlinks only)
7. Citations of relevance (if any)
8. Details of Proposer
   
   1. Name
   2. Designation and Affiliation (If retired, then details at the time of retirement)
   3. Address for correspondence
   4. Email id
   5. Phone number

Online form for application

4. Selection Process

An Award Selection Committee (ASC) constituting at least 3 members by the ASI ensuring technical and gender representation, with at least 2 members working in the area of Instrumentation. Each member of the ASC receives all nominations along with the supporting material. The ASC will communicate the result of its deliberations to the ASI council within three months following the submission deadline.

5. Announcement of the Award

The successful nominee will be informed of the decision of the ASI council and be asked to receive the award during the following ASI meeting.