CSIR–NGRI Director Prakash Kumar elected Fellow of World Academy of Sciences
HYDERABAD: Dr Prakash Kumar, Director of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research–National Geophysical Research Institute (CSIR–NGRI), Hyderabad, has been elected a Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), an international body under the aegis of UNESCO. The fellowship recognises his outstanding contributions to the field of geophysics and deep Earth studies.
Career in advancing Earth science research
An accomplished Earth scientist, Dr Kumar holds an M.Sc. Tech in Applied Geophysics from the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, and a Ph.D. from Osmania University, Hyderabad. His pioneering research spans seismic and seismological instrumentation, theoretical and computational seismology, anisotropy studies, subsurface imaging using converted waves, and deep Earth structure analysis. His work also extends to hydrocarbon and gas hydrate exploration and earthquake source dynamics—areas vital to understanding Earth’s interior and mitigating seismic hazards.
International recognition and academic contributions
Dr Kumar has received several notable honours, including the CSIR Young Scientist Award, Krishnan Gold Medal from the Indian Geophysical Union, National Geoscience Award, and the Anni Talwani Memorial Prize. He has also served as visiting scientist at institutions such as GeoForschungsZentrum (Germany), Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo (Japan), Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (France), and the Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow).
Mentoring future generations of geoscientists
A prolific researcher with more than 65 papers published in journals such as Nature, Science, Nature Geoscience and PNAS, Dr Kumar has guided several doctoral theses and contributed to scientific committees in India and abroad. He is already a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India, Geological Society of India, and Telangana Academy of Sciences. The scientific community recognizes his election to TWAS as a recognition of his leadership and India’s growing role in global geoscience research.
