Professor Ashoke Sen has been awarded the Oskar Klein Medal for 2026, marking the first time an Indian physicist has received the prestigious honor, as announced by the Bengaluru-based International Centre for Theoretical Sciences on Saturday, October 24, 2026.
Mr. Sen serves as an ICTS-Infosys Madhava Chair Professor and has earned international renown for his groundbreaking contributions to S-duality, string field theory, and the exact counting of black hole entropy. These theoretical advancements have played a critical role in shaping contemporary string theory, according to an update shared on the ICTS website.
As part of the recognition, Mr. Sen delivered the 2026 Oskar Klein Memorial Lecture, titled 'Gravity from Strings and Strings from Gravity,' at Stockholm University's AlbaNova Centre on October 22.
Throughout his distinguished career, Mr. Sen has received numerous accolades, including the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics in 2012 for his role in establishing the unifying framework of string theory, and the Dirac Medal in 2014. His prior honors also include the Infosys Prize in Mathematical Sciences in 2009, the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in 1994, the ICTP Prize in 1989, the Padma Shri in 2001, and the Padma Bhushan in 2013. Additionally, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1998.
ICTS Director Rajesh Gopakumar offered praise for the milestone, extending warm congratulations on behalf of the institute and noting the exceptional standard of excellence Mr. Sen has established.
Established in 1988 and named in honor of the Swedish theoretical physicist Oskar Klein, the medal honors exceptional contributions to the field of physics. The annual award is jointly conferred by Stockholm University and the Nobel Committee for Physics of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Past recipients include notable Nobel laureates such as Chen-Ning Yang, Steven Weinberg, and Hans Bethe, who were honored during the award's first three years.