Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar

What is the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar?

Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar (RVP) is India's highest set of national science awards, instituted in 2024 by the Government of India to recognise outstanding achievements in science, technology and innovation. According to the Department of Science and Technology, the RVP was created to rationalise and replace several earlier science awards: including the long-running Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, under a single, prestigious national framework, on the lines of civilian honours.

The awards honour scientists, technologists and innovators of Indian origin, including Persons of Indian Origin (PIO), whether they work in India or abroad, across all fields of science and technology, including in government departments, public-sector undertakings, private organisations and academia. The award is an honour, not a welfare scheme: there is no cash benefit to apply for, and recognition comes through a medal and a Presidential citation.

The RVP is announced each year on 11 May, National Technology Day, and the award ceremony is held on National Space Day.

What are the categories of the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar?

According to the official notification, there are four categories:

• Vigyan Ratna (VR), for lifetime achievement and distinguished contributions in any field of science and technology. Up to 3 awards a year.
• Vigyan Shri (VS), for distinguished contributions in any field of science and technology. Up to 25 awards a year.
• Vigyan Yuva-Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (VY-SSB) — for exceptional young scientists, up to 45 years of age, who have made an exceptional contribution. Up to 25 awards a year.
• Vigyan Team (VT), for a team of three or more scientists, researchers or innovators who have made an exceptional contribution through collaborative work. Up to 3 awards a year.

What does a winner receive?

The Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar consists of a medal and a certificate / citation issued on behalf of the President of India, together with published recognition through citations and photographs. Posthumous awards may be conferred in exceptional cases, with the decoration handed to the next of kin. The official notification confirms the medal and certificate; it does not specify a cash prize, so the RVP is best understood as a national honour rather than a monetary benefit. Readers should not assume a cash amount unless it is stated in the current-year notification.

Who is eligible for the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar?

Eligible nominees:

• Scientists, technologists and innovators of Indian origin, including Persons of Indian Origin (PIO), working in India or abroad.
• Those who have made distinguished or exceptional contributions in any field of science and technology, basic or applied.
• For the Vigyan Yuva-SSB category, nominees must be up to 45 years of age as specified in the notification.
• For the Vigyan Team category, a group of three or more who worked collaboratively.

Who cannot get it as a personal benefit: The RVP is not an application-based welfare scheme. A member of the public cannot apply for a personal cash grant. The award is conferred only through a nomination-and-selection process, and the outcome is an honour, not a payment. Individuals seeking research funding or a scholarship should look at grant and fellowship schemes instead.

What is needed for a nomination?

How to apply for (nominate for) the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar

1. When nominations open, go to the Rashtriya Puraskar Portal (awards.gov.in) and select the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar.
2. Choose the category; Vigyan Ratna, Vigyan Shri, Vigyan Yuva-SSB or Vigyan Team, that fits the nominee.
3. Complete the nomination form, entering the nominee's biodata and a citation describing their scientific contributions and impact. Self-nomination is permitted.
4. Submit the nomination online before the deadline announced by the Department of Science and Technology.
5. Nominations are then screened and evaluated by the National Science Awards Committee, and selected awardees are announced on National Technology Day.

Where to get help

The Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar is administered by the Department of Science and Technology under the Ministry of Science and Technology, and nominations are handled through the Rashtriya Puraskar Portal (awards.gov.in). Because the number of awards, the categories and the nomination window are notified afresh each year, confirm the current details from the official DST notification before nominating. As this is an honour and not a monetary benefit, be cautious of any site claiming a cash prize that is not in the official notification.

How to check your application status

Because the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar is a nomination and selection process rather than a personal benefit application, there is no individual "track my application" dashboard for a nominee to log into. What a nominator or nominee can realistically do is:

• Confirm the nomination was recorded. After submitting on the Rashtriya Puraskar Portal (awards.gov.in), check for a submission acknowledgement or reference number generated by the portal itself; this is the only direct confirmation that the entry went through.
• Watch the official announcement date. Selected awardees are announced on 11 May, National Technology Day, through a Department of Science and Technology press release and PIB notification. There is no earlier stage-by-stage status (such as "under review" or "shortlisted") published for individual nominations.
• Check the DST website and PIB.gov.in directly around that date for the list of names, rather than waiting for a personal notification, since not every nominee or nominating institution receives an individual communication if not selected.
• Contact DST through dst.gov.in if a portal-level technical issue is suspected (for example, the nomination form did not submit or no acknowledgement was received), since this is an administrative query the department can verify, not a substantive review status.
• Do not expect SMS or email updates on selection progress. Unlike welfare schemes with payment or application tracking, RVP nominations move through an internal screening by the National Science Awards Committee, and that internal deliberation is not exposed to nominees while it is underway.

Common reasons for rejection

Since the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar has no cash disbursal, "rejection" here means a nomination is not shortlisted or selected, not that a claim or payment is denied. The recurring, documented reasons nominations fail to progress are:

• Nominee does not meet the Indian-origin requirement. The award is restricted to scientists, technologists and innovators of Indian origin, including Persons of Indian Origin (PIO). A nomination for someone outside this category cannot be considered regardless of scientific merit; the nominator should verify origin status before submitting.
• Wrong category chosen for the nominee's profile. Vigyan Yuva-SSB is capped at nominees up to 45 years of age; a nomination for an older scientist under this category will not fit the eligibility band. Similarly, Vigyan Team nominations require a genuine collaborative team of three or more, so nominating a single individual under the team category is a mismatch. The fix is to match the nominee's career stage and the nature of the contribution (individual lifetime achievement, individual distinguished work, young achievement, or team achievement) to the correct one of the four categories.
• Weak or generic citation of contributions. The citation is the core evidence of "distinguished" or "exceptional" contribution the National Science Awards Committee evaluates against. A citation that lists designations or job history without specifically describing the scientific contribution, its originality and its impact is unlikely to stand out; the fix is a focused, evidence-backed citation tied to specific work, publications or outcomes, not a general resume summary.
• Incomplete biodata or missing supporting details. Since the nomination form requires a full biodata alongside the citation, gaps in career record, publications or documented major contributions weaken the nomination; nominators should ensure the biodata is complete and consistent with the citation before submission.
• Nomination submitted after the window closes. The nomination period is notified afresh each year with a specific deadline set by DST; a nomination submitted after that date is not entertained for that year's cycle. The only fix is to resubmit in the next year's nomination window once it opens.
• Sheer competitiveness of a capped, honour-based selection. With only up to 3 Vigyan Ratna, up to 25 Vigyan Shri, up to 25 Vigyan Yuva-SSB and up to 3 Vigyan Team awards conferred nationally each year, many well-qualified nominations will not be selected simply because the numbers are capped; this is not a defect in the nomination and does not carry an appeal process, since it is a discretionary honour rather than an entitlement-based benefit.