Ravi Maruthachalam, assistant professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, was presented the DuPont 2014 Young Professor Award at a function here recently.
One of the top 10 international young faculty members to be selected this year, he received the award from Ranjan Patnaik, director, DuPont Knowledge Center, Hyderabad, a press release said.
The interests of Prof. Maruthachalam, a Ph.D from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, are in the area of agricultural biotechnology, plant biology and reproduction. “His group is working on cutting edge technologies to expedite plant breeding… to dramatically reduce the breeding time and resources required for hybrid seed production,” the release said.
Mr. Patnaik said the award was one of DuPont key initiatives to encourage academic research that helps develop innovations to address the global challenges of food, energy and protection.
During the three-year grant award period, the recipient is invited to present a seminar on his or her work to the DuPont research community. While Prof. Maruthachalam said he was excited and honoured to receive the award, IISER Director V. Ramakrishnan described him as “an exceptionally talented young scientist with potential to develop into a world leader in the field of plant genetics.”
