1. Description of the Award

The Laxminarayana & Nagalaxmi Modali Award for Astronomy and Astrophysics is awarded annually by The Astronomical Society of India. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 50,000/- (Rupees Fifty thousand only), and a plaque.

2. Nomination Criteria

The award is given for notable and outstanding research contributions made by a scientist primarily in India during the 10 years preceding the year of the award in the area of astronomy and astrophysics. The nominee must have carried out the work in an Indian institute and be not more than 45 years of age at the time of nomination. There is an age relaxation of 2 yrs for women candidates, with an upper age limit of 47 years.

3. Application

All nominations for the award must be received, annually, 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.

For the award year 2024, the nominations must be received by 18th Nov 2024. The date of birth of the nominee should be on or after 1st Jan 1979. For women candidates the date of birth of the nominee should be on or after 1st Jan 1977.

Nominations must include the following material:

  1. Name of Nominee
  2. Details of Nominee
    1. Affiliation
    2. Address
    3. Date of Birth
    4. email id
    5. Mobile phone number
  3. Nomination letter with signature and date
  4. A statement clearly outlining the merits of the work of the nominee
  5. A short biography and CV of the nominee
  6. A list of the  five  most  important  publications with hyperlinks.
  7. A short citation which could be used in case the nominee is selected for the award
  8. Details of Proposer
    1. Name
    2. Designation and Affiliation
    3. Address for correspondence
    4. Email id
    5. Phone number

Online form is closed.

4. Selection Process

A five member Award Selection Committee (ASC) is constituted by the ASI ensuring technical and gender representation. 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 month following the submission deadline.

5. Announcement of the Award

The successful nominee should be informed of the decision of the ASI council and be asked to receive the award and deliver a lecture during the following ASI meeting.

The following is the list of awardees:

Name of the Awardee Year
Dr. Ajith Parameswaran 2023
Dr. Prateek Sharma 2022
Not awarded 2021
Dr. Poonam Chandra 2020
Dr. Abhishek Kumar Srivastava 2019
Dr. Dibyendu Nandi 2018