Associate Professor Karthikeyan Lanka of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has been selected for the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI) Young Scientist Award 2026, one of the country’s most respected honours for early-career researchers. He is among 16 scientists chosen this year, recognised for his work in the earth sciences, specifically for predicting agricultural droughts from satellite data. The award will be formally presented during NASI’s 96th Annual Session at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi in December 2026.
Who Is Karthikeyan Lanka?
Karthikeyan Lanka is an Associate Professor at the Centre of Studies in Resources Engineering (CSRE) at IIT Bombay, where he leads the Ecohydrology Group. He also serves as associate faculty in the institute’s Centre for Climate Studies, teaching courses on remote sensing, water resources and space technology.
His academic journey began with a BTech in Civil Engineering from SASTRA University, followed by a Master’s and a PhD in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. During his doctoral research, he held the prestigious Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellowship and worked as a visiting researcher at Princeton University in the United States. He also received the Prof. P. S. Narayana Medal for the best M.Sc. (Engineering) thesis at IISc.
After stints as a research associate at IISc and a postdoctoral researcher at Clemson University, Lanka joined IIT Bombay as an Assistant Professor in 2019 and rose to Associate Professor in February 2025. Along the way, he has received IIT Bombay’s Early Research Achiever Award (2022) and the C1973 Research Excellence Award (2023), and he now serves as an associate editor for leading international journals on hydrology and remote sensing.
The Research That Earned the Honour
Professor Lanka’s Ecohydrology Group works on remote sensing, land-atmosphere interactions and agricultural droughts. Put simply, his team studies how satellites can help scientists understand processes unfolding on the ground.
Instead of waiting for crops to fail, satellite observations can detect early changes in soil moisture, vegetation health and land-surface conditions. These signals let researchers forecast agricultural droughts much sooner, giving governments and farmers valuable preparation time. The group also develops better methods to estimate soil moisture from microwave satellite observations and studies how heatwaves and droughts evolve under a changing climate. The common thread running through all this work is soil moisture, the water content held in soil that directly governs how much water crops can draw during a season.
Why Predicting Droughts Early Matters
Drought is one of the greatest threats to India’s food security, since a large share of the population depends on rain-fed farming. When a drought sets in, crop yields fall, rural incomes shrink, prices rise and pressure mounts on the government to intervene. An early warning system built on satellite science therefore has real economic and strategic value, allowing the district administration, relief agencies and insurers to act before the crisis becomes an emergency.
The group has also moved its findings toward practical use, working toward weekly forecasts of agricultural drought at lead times of one to four weeks to support proactive decision-making. This is exactly the kind of research that helps connect a laboratory insight to a working tool for protecting food security.
About the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI)
The National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI) was founded in 1930 and is the oldest science academy in the country, located at Prayagraj (previously Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh. It was conceived as the Academy of Sciences of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, with the celebrated astrophysicist Prof. Meghnad Saha as its founder and first president, and it was later renamed the National Academy of Sciences, India.
The academy’s objectives are to cultivate and promote science and technology in all its branches, to provide a national forum for the exchange of views among scientists, and to publish research work carried out across the country. It operates under the patronage of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, and counts thousands of scientists and members among its ranks. Its monthly journal, National Academy Science Letters, and its Proceedings of the Academy are well-known scientific publications.
The Young Scientist Award and Its Criteria
The NASI Young Scientist Award recognises promise, creativity and excellence in early-career researchers working in any branch of science and technology. It is highly competitive because awardees are drawn from different disciplines, and only a limited number of scientists are honoured each year.
To be considered, a nominee must be an Indian citizen or an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) working in India and be below 35 years of age at the time of nomination. Nominations can come from a Fellow of NASI, a scientific society of national standing, a university faculty, a postgraduate department or a research institution. The award carries a citation, a medal and a cash prize, and winners are honoured by the President of NASI during the academy’s annual session. This year, Professor Lanka was among the 16 recipients of the award across its various categories.
Significance of the Recognition
The honour carries weight on several counts. First, it highlights India’s growing strength in earth observation and climate science, fields that are central to tackling the twin challenges of water stress and extreme weather. As climate extremes become more frequent, research that turns satellite data into practical warnings is no longer an academic exercise, but a tool for protecting agriculture, water resources and food security.
Second, the citation of an early-career scientist from an IIT recognises the talent flowing through India’s research institutes. By selecting Professor Lanka, NASI has drawn attention to the discipline of hydrology and remote sensing, which often stays in the shadows of other science fields. The recognition also strengthens IIT Bombay’s standing as a leader in climate and water research through its CSRE and its Centre for Climate Studies.
Finally, the award is a quiet signal to policymakers and funding agencies that investments in climate monitoring and early warning systems can pay off, in both scientific advances and practical disaster preparedness.
Key Takeaways
- Associate Professor Karthikeyan Lanka of IIT Bombay received the NASI Young Scientist Award 2026, among 16 scientists recognised this year.
- He works at the Centre of Studies in Resources Engineering (CSRE) and leads the Ecohydrology Group, focusing on remote sensing, land-atmosphere interactions and agricultural droughts.
- The National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI), founded in 1930, is the oldest science academy in the country and is headquartered in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.
- NASI was founded by astrophysicist Prof. Meghnad Saha, who served as its first president.
- Nominees for the Young Scientist Award must be Indian citizens or OCIs working in India and below 35 years of age.
- The award will be presented during NASI’s 96th Annual Session at Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi, in December 2026.
