Recognition for public-facing science
Four science communicators of Indian origin have been recognized in the 2026 Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications, an American program that honours work connecting scientific knowledge with the public. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine announced the recipients on Oct. 26, 2026, in partnership with Schmidt Sciences.
The awards recognize science journalists, research scientists and other communicators who help explain science, engineering and medicine to people without specialized training. This year's recipients — Aatish Bhatia, Harini Bhat, Anand Varma and Rupsa Chakraborty — work through different formats, including written journalism, video, photography and digital tools.
The recognition reflects a central challenge in public science: discoveries may be technically important but difficult to understand without explanation, context and visual presentation. The awards' stated purpose is to honour people who make those subjects more accessible, and the four winners represent several approaches to that work.
| Recipient | Category | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| Aatish Bhatia | Science Journalist: Early Career | $40,000 |
| Harini Bhat | Science Communicator: Organizational | $40,000 |
| Anand Varma | Science Communicator: Organizational | $20,000 |
| Rupsa Chakraborty | Science Journalist: Freelancer | $20,000 |
Interactive reporting takes top early-career prize
Bhatia received the top award in the early-career science journalism category for his work with The New York Times. His reporting combines charts, images and interactive graphics, allowing readers to explore scientific information rather than relying only on conventional text.
According to the award account, Bhatia has worked across physics, education, programming and journalism. Those areas are brought together in projects covering subjects such as infectious-disease transmission, the COVID-19 pandemic and astronomy. His approach uses interactive tools to help audiences examine information directly while following the explanation provided by the journalist.
Different formats, shared purpose
Harini Bhat won the top prize in the organizational science-communication category for her work with Today I Learned Science, also known as TIL Science. Her work includes videos explaining health and medicine, making those subjects available in a format intended for audiences who may not have a scientific background.
Varma was also recognized in the organizational category, while Chakraborty received the award for freelance science journalism. The source account identifies their fields and prize amounts but does not provide further descriptions of their individual projects. It does, however, place all four recipients within a broader group of communicators using accessible methods to share scientific information.
The awards therefore span both established organizational work and independent journalism, as well as different stages and forms of communication. Their common feature is an effort to reduce the distance between specialized scientific subjects and the people who encounter those subjects as readers, viewers or users of digital media.
