India has another reason to be proud in mathematics. Professor Mahesh Kakde of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, has won the 2026 Ramanujan Prize.
The prize was announced on September 30, 2026 by the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) and the International Mathematical Union (IMU). Kakde has been honoured “for his important contributions to algebraic number theory.”
What Is the Ramanujan Prize?
The Ramanujan Prize is named after the legendary Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. It has been given every year since 2005.
Here are the key facts:
- Given by: ICTP and the International Mathematical Union (IMU)
- Prize money: US$10,000
- Who can win: A mathematician from a developing country, under 45 years of age on December 31 of the award year
- What it rewards: Outstanding research done in a developing country, in any branch of mathematics
- Ceremony: The winner is invited to ICTP to receive the prize and give a lecture
From 2014 to 2023, the prize was funded by India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST).
Don’t confuse it with the SASTRA Ramanujan Prize. That is a different award, given by SASTRA University in Tamil Nadu to mathematicians aged 32 or younger.
Why Did Mahesh Kakde Win?
According to ICTP, the prize recognises Kakde’s:
- Fundamental results on noncommutative Iwasawa theory
- Work on the Gross-Stark and Brumer-Stark conjectures, which ICTP says has implications for Hilbert’s 12th problem
In simple words: Kakde works in algebraic number theory, the branch of maths that studies the deep properties of numbers and equations. Iwasawa theory looks at how these number patterns behave as systems grow larger and more complex.
Hilbert’s 12th problem is one of the 23 famous problems that the mathematician David Hilbert listed in 1900 to guide 20th-century mathematics. More than 125 years later, mathematicians are still working on it. Work that moves this problem forward is considered very important.
Who Is Mahesh Kakde?
Kakde’s journey took him from India to some of the world’s top universities, and then back to India:
- Bachelor of Mathematics: Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Bangalore
- Master of Mathematics and PhD: University of Cambridge. He completed his PhD in pure mathematics in 2008.
- Career abroad: Instructor at Princeton University, Research Associate at University College London, then King’s College London
- Back to India: Joined IISc Bengaluru as a Professor in 2019
His Earlier Achievements
- 2022: Infosys Prize in Mathematical Sciences
- 2022: Invited speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), one of the highest honours for a mathematician
- 2023: Named in the Asian Scientist 100 list
IISc congratulated him on X on October 7, 2026: “Congratulations to Prof Mahesh Kakde on being awarded the Ramanujan Prize 2026.”
Indians Who Won the Ramanujan Prize Before
According to ThePrint, Kakde is the fifth Indian to win this prize. The earlier winners were:
- Sujatha Ramdorai (2006)
- Amalendu Krishna (2015)
- Ritabrata Munshi (2018)
- Neena Gupta (2021)
Why This Matters for Students
Kakde’s story carries a strong message for Indian students:
- World-class research can happen in India. He came back from the UK and is doing prize-winning work at IISc.
- Pure maths is a real career path. Institutions like ISI, IISc, TIFR, IISER and CMI offer strong programmes in mathematics.
- The basics start early. Number theory begins with the same ideas students meet in school: primes, divisibility and patterns.
More than a century after Ramanujan, Indian mathematicians are still making the world pay attention.
Students are watching, observing and learning.
Disclaimer: This article is based on official announcements and public reports available as of October 9, 2026.
Sources
Want stories like this?
Get the latest from campuses across India — join the TSC community.
