Indian-American selected for US national science award

WASHINGTON: Indian-American computer scientist Subhash Khot, well known for his ‘Unique Games Conjecture’ has been selected for a prestigious USD 500,000 national science award.

Khot, a theoretical computer scientist, works in an area called “Computational Complexity” which seeks to understand the power and limits of efficient computation.

The Indian-American will receive the prestigious Alan T Waterman Award of the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the year 2010 for his outstanding research.

Khot is an associate professor at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. He will be presented the Waterman Award on the evening of May 4 at a dinner ceremony to be held in Washington, at the US Department of State.

Alan T Waterman Award is given annually to an outstanding researcher under the age of 36 in any field of science and engineering supported by NSF.

The honour includes a grant of USD 500,000 over three years for scientific research or advanced study in the recipient’s field of science.

“Subhash Khot is a gifted and ambitious young scientist,” said NSF Director Arden L Bement, Jr.

“He courageously tackles some of the most challenging computational problems, all the while advancing computer security, with vast consequences for the broader security of our personal identities, commercial interests, societal institutions, even for national security as a whole.”