BENGALURU: Merck, a leading science and technology company, is back with its fourth edition of the Merck Young Scientist Award 2025. Staying true to its mission of empowering the next generation of researchers, the Award continues to honour exceptional young scientists across India whose groundbreaking work is pushing the boundaries of life sciences.

Announcing the return of India’s most prestigious honour for the academic scientific community, Dhananjay Singh, Managing Director – Life Science and Head of Science and Lab Solutions, India at Merck Life Science, said, “India’s future in life sciences will be defined by the strength of its research ecosystem and the scientists driving it. At Merck, we believe scientific progress is driven by those who dare to think big and pursue transformative solutions. The Merck Young Scientist Award 2025 honours this spirit, celebrating early and mid-career scientists shaping the future of life sciences in India. Our vision—“Sparking Discovery to Elevate Humanity”—resonates deeply with India’s aspirations. As the country accelerates its journey toward becoming a global R&D powerhouse, Merck remains steadfast in its commitment to empower changemakers, support cutting-edge research, and contribute meaningfully to India’s growth story. We look forward to welcoming a new cohort of changemakers.”

Nominations for the 2025 edition of the Merck Young Scientist Award will be accepted between 1 July and 15 August 2025. The award will recognise 16 outstanding young researchers from across India, selected from the fields of Biological Sciences and Chemical Sciences.

This year’s edition also introduces two distinct categories, Emerging Talent, for early-career scientists (Within five years of completing their PhD), and Scientific Excellence, for mid-career researchers (With five to ten years of post-PhD experience). Eligible applicants must be affiliated with a recognised academic or research institution in India. Winners will be felicitated at a formal award ceremony scheduled for November 2025.

Each category will honour four winners and four runners-up in both Biological Sciences and Chemical Sciences. Winners in the Scientific Excellence category will receive a cash prize of INR 3,50,000 (Including a travel grant of INR 1,00,000), and runners-up will be awarded INR 1,25,000 each. In the Emerging Talent category, winners will receive INR 2,50,000, and runners-up will be awarded INR 1,00,000 each.

Over the last three editions, the Merck Young Scientist Award has received widespread acclaim from the scientific community, attracting thousands of applicants from institutions across India. The program has recognised over 40 promising scientists who are driven by curiosity and whose work is contributing to human progress and societal wellbeing.

For more information about the Merck Young Scientist Award Program and the application process, please visit the company’s website https://www.mpoweringlifescience.com/mysa/.

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With more than 30,000 of the world’s top technical experts representing 140 countries, ASTM practices support industries and governments worldwide. Being awarded the ASTM Award of Merit, the highest society award granted to an individual member, is a rare honor, accompanied by the title ASTM Fellow.  Dr. Shah was overwhelmed and humbled to receive this honor from his peers, and he thanked his mentors, his company, and his family for all their support. He reminisced on his 30-year journey, talking about his first ASTM meeting as a rookie and now being presented with this honor 60 meetings later, and offered words of appreciation to his colleagues and mentors who helped him these last 3 decades.

Dr. Raj Shah currently serves as the Director at Koehler Instrument Company in Holtsville, NY. He was earlier felicitated as a Fellow of the American Oil Chemists Society. AOCS’ mission is to advance the science and technology of oils, fats, proteins, surfactants, and related materials, thus enriching the lives of people everywhere. The AOCS Fellow Award recognizes achievements in science and those who have made exceptional achievements in their field and their profession, including areas of research, industrial achievement, leadership, and education. It is one of the highest and most prestigious AOCS awards, and Dr. Shah was awarded the Fellow medal and plaque at the annual meeting in Montreal.

At the NLGI International meeting, Dr. Raj Shah was felicitated with two prestigious awards by his peers. NLGI is a professional society that, primarily composed of companies that manufacture and market all types of lubricating greases and companies that work closely with these organizations. Membership is by company rather than by individual and is selective. Along with grease and oil manufacturers are companies that serve them with equipment, supplies, and services, such as Koehler Instrument Company, which has served on NLGI ‘s board for over 30 years.  The Institute is one of the largest organizations for grease manufacturers worldwide and has been around for over 70 years.

Dr. Shah was awarded the Clarence E. Earle Memorial Award at the annual meeting This prestigious honor was in recognition for his outstanding contribution to the technical literature relating to lubricating greases during the year, especially the Grease guidebook that Bill Tuszynski and he edited which will serve as the handbook for the grease industry for many years to come.

In addition, he, along with the authors in the new grease handbook, was also awarded the Golden Grease Gun Award, which acknowledges his valuable work within the Grease Industry in the development of grease technology, manufacturing, testing, application,s and better understanding of grease behavior or the promotion of grease usage. These two honors put together have never been given to the same individual in the same year before this annual meeting. Becoming a recipient of the Clarence Earle Memorial Award is an unparalleled honor, and when Dr. Shah was awarded the award, he said he was extremely humbled to be chosen along with his esteemed colleague, Mr. Tuszynski. Mr. Bill Tuszynski and Dr. Raj Shah, with the help of several authors,  helped publish the new NLGI grease handboo,k which Petro industry reviewed (https://www.petro-online.com/article/biofuel-industry-news/22/unassigned-independent-article/nlgi-publishes-updated-grease-handbook-a-must-have-for-producers-marketers-and-users-of-grease/3181). Dr. Shah also published “ Grease “ in 2022, which discusses the latest research in this field, details of which can be found at https://www.petro-online.com/article/biofuel-industry-news/22/koehler-instrument-company/greases-the-new-frontier/3170

A few months back, Dr. Shah was honored by his elevation to a Fellow position at the IOP. The Institute of Physics (IOP) is one of the world’s largest professional bodies and learned societies for physics, inspiring people to develop their knowledge, understanding, and enjoyment of physics, headquartered in London.

The great challenges we face in the years to come, such as climate change and developing clean energy, are international in scope, and physics is the key to a lot of these societal problems. International collaboration is essential to tackling them; no individual country can solve them alone, and physicists have a fundamental role in leading the development of technologies to address these problems. The IOP has international reach and global connections, but is independent of government or any academic institution or business. This enables them to bring together scientists and organizations from around the world, building the cross-border links that fuel scientific discovery and technological innovation.

This honor for Dr. Raj Shah comes right after his recent elevation as a Fellow at the Institute of Chemical Engineers. The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) is a world-class professional society in its own right, a multi-national institution that advances chemical engineering’s contribution worldwide for the benefit of society. They have over 35,000 members in more than 100 countries and are the leading professional society for Chemical engineers in the world. IChemE applies its expertise and experience to make an influential contribution to solving major global challenges. To be elevated to a Fellow at IChemE is considered the pinnacle in any Chemical engineer’s career. Dr. Shah was inducted as a Fellow into this Society recently, and when contacted by us at that time, he was extremely grateful and said he accepted this honor with great humility on behalf of his colleagues and his family.

This year, Dr. Shah was also selected as an eminent engineer into Tau Beta Pi the oldest engineering honor society in the United States, which has over 600,000 members at 254 colleges and universities across the country an eminent engineer status is rare and is afforded only to one with remarkable and outstanding performance in their chosen engineering field as well as exemplary character. An extensive and significant contribution to the field of engineering is what got Dr. Shah this honor

Dr. Shah also received another accolade this year by being elevated as a Fellow at the Institute of Measurement and Control, an organization very familiar to the readers of Petro industry news

The Institute of Measurement and Control is recognized by the Royal Charter as the professional body for scientists and engineers working in measurement, automation, and control. Founded in 1944, its members’ original priority was to maintain the national infrastructure and support wartime logistics. During the post-war reconstruction years, attention shifted to developing new major infrastructure programs, including nuclear power, oil and gas, the transport network, and major industrial and chemical facilities. Dr. Shah was inducted into its hall of Fellows (its highest honor) this week. Currently, the members of INSTMC are still involved in all the above areas, but the digital age has opened a new sphere of involvement in the area of sensors linked to intelligence.  This includes the Internet of Things, cybersecurity, smart cities and transport networks, driverless cars, personal health monitoring, and astronomical exploration. It is indeed a very unique and singular honor for Dr. Shah to be honored as a fellow by this prestigious institute.

Dr. Shah is no stranger to distinction. He has been named a Fellow at the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK, which boasts such historical members as Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Albert Einstein.

The Royal Society of Chemistry has over 54,000 members and is one of the largest professional bodies for chemical scientists, supporting and representing our members and bringing together chemical scientists from all over the world. The Royal Society of Chemistry was founded in 1841 and incorporated by a royal charter in 1848, and its main patron is Her Majesty the Queen of England. A not-for-profit organization with a heritage that spans 175 years, The Royal Society of Chemistry has an ambitious international vision for the future. Around the world, they invest in educating future generations of scientists and partner with industry and academia, promoting collaboration and innovation. The Royal Society of Chemistry also advises governments on policy and promotes the talent, information, and ideas that lead to great advances in science.

Dr. Shah was also honored recently as well, by the Energy Institute with the title of a Chartered Petroleum Engineer. The Energy Institute (EI) is the largest professional membership body that brings global energy expertise together. The global energy industry, the people working in it, and wider society all benefit from the EI’s work. Election to the status of a chartered petroleum engineer so far has been limited to just 7 people in the United States. Dr. Shah is the first Indian American engineer to be conferred this honor.

Dr. Raj Shah is widely recognized worldwide for his contributions to the field of Fuels, Lubricants, and Greases. His specialization is in the development of laboratory analytical instrumentation used primarily in the petroleum laboratory. He has been recognized for his inventions and his efforts in creating standardized test methods for use worldwide by the American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM International) with three awards of Excellence and an ASTM Eagle award (a sui generis distinction).  He is the currently the Director at Koehler Instrument Company, Inc. based in Holtsville, NY and he currently serves, or has served on the Board of Directors/ Advisors of various institutions such as the Department of Material science and Chemical Engineering, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY, Farmingdale College ( Mechanical Technology ) , in Long Island NY,  Technology Management graduate program at SUNY Farmingdale,  Tribology Minor in engineering at Auburn University, the Foundation Board at Developmental Disabilities Institute in  Smithtown, NY until 2009, and he served on the board of directors of the National Lubricating Grease institute for almost 2 decades. With over 675 publications in journals worldwide, he is also an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering at State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY. ( https://bit.ly/3u2e6GY )

Dr. Shah is now an elected Fellow at STLE, IOP, CMI, NLGI, AIC, RSC, InstMC, IChemE, and EI, a singular honor that is indeed unprecedented worldwide. In addition to a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Penn State University, he also has a Fellow designation from the Chartered Management Institute in London. A recipient of multiple awards at ASTM over his career, more recently, he was awarded the PM Ku medal (the youngest recipient of this medal) from STLE and the prestigious John A. Bellanti Sr. Memorial Award from NLGI as well.

Dr. Shah has also been conferred the distinguished alumni award from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai (ICT).  In conferring him this honor ICT Mumbai, stated “Dr. Raj Shah, a professional par excellence due to his high degree of integrity, commitment and professionalism has been responsible for the high esteem in which his alma mater, the Institute of Chemical Technology is recognized “More recently National Certification Commission in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in Washington, DC honored Dr. Raj Shah with inducting him as a Certified professional chemist and Certified Chemical engineer.

Dr. Shah is also an elected Chartered Engineer from the Engineering Council in the UK, a Chartered Chemist from the Royal Society of Chemistry, and a Chartered Scientist from the Science Council; all of these combined are exceptional honors within the scientific community. Dr. Shah is the only person in the chemical industry worldwide who now holds all 6 of these elected certifications, namely CPC, CCHE, CEng, CSci, CChem, CPEng)

Dr. Shah’s other interests include kayaking, mentoring engineering students, and mobile photography. He lives currently in Long Island, NY, with his wife of 28 years, Dr. Niloufar Farid, and their son Kian. They are active in the special needs community, and they enjoy participating in various Indian American philanthropic community events

The post Indian American Scientist Receives ASTM’s Highest Recognition appeared first on NRI News.

At the NLGI annual meeting in Toronto earlier, Dr. Raj Shah, Director at Koehler Instrument Company was felicitated with two prestigious awards by his peers. NLGI is a professional society that, is primarily composed of companies who manufacture and market all types of lubricating greases and companies that work closely with these organizations. Membership is by company rather than by individual and is selective. Along with grease and oil manufacturers are companies who serve them with equipment, supplies, and services, such as Koehler Instrument Company which has served on NLGI ‘s board for over 30 years.  The Institute is one of the largest organizations for grease manufacturers worldwide and has been around for over 70 years.

Dr. Shah was awarded the Clarence E. Earle Memorial Award at the annual meeting  This prestigious honor was in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the technical literature relating to lubricating greases during the year, especially the  Grease guidebook that Bill Tuszynski and he edited which will serve as the handbook for the grease industry for many years to come.

In addition, he along with the authors in the new grease handbook was also awarded the Golden Grease Gun Award which acknowledges his valuable work within the Grease Industry in the development of grease technology, manufacturing, testing, applications, and a better understanding of grease behavior or the promotion of grease usage. These two honors put together have never been given to the same individual in the same year before this annual meeting. Becoming a recipient of the Clarence Earle Memorial Award is an unparalleled honor and when Dr. Shah was awarded the award he said he was extremely humbled to be chosen along with his esteemed colleague Mr. Tuszynski. Mr. Bill Tuszynski and Dr. Raj Shah with the help of several authors helped publish the new NLGI grease handbook which Petro industry reviewed (https://www.petro-online.com/article/biofuel-industry-news/22/unassigned-independent-article/nlgi-publishes-updated-grease-handbook-a-must-have-for-producers-marketers-and-users-of-grease/3181). Dr. Shah, also published “ Grease “ in 2022, which discusses the latest research in this field, details of which can be found at https://www.petro-online.com/article/biofuel-industry-news/22/koehler-instrument-company/greases-the-new-frontier/3170

Earlier a few months back,  Dr. Shah was honored by his elevation to a Fellow position at the IOP. The Institute of Physics ( IOP ) is one of the world’s largest professional bodies and learned society for physics inspiring people to develop their knowledge, understanding, and enjoyment of physics, headquartered in London.

The great challenges we face in years to come, such as climate change and developing clean energy are international in scope and physics is the key to a lot of these societal problems. International collaboration is essential to tackling them; no individual country can solve them alone and physicists, have a fundamental role in leading the development of technologies to address these problems. The IOP has international reach and global connections but is independent of government or any academic institution or business. This enables them to bring together scientists and organizations from around the world, building the cross-border links that fuel scientific discovery and technological innovation.

This honor for Dr. Raj Shah comes right after his recent elevation as a Fellow at the Institute of Chemical Engineers. The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) is a world-class professional society in its own right, a multi-national institution that advances chemical engineering’s contribution worldwide for the benefit of society. They have over 35,000 members in more than 100 countries and are the leading professional society for Chemical engineers in the world. IChemE applies its expertise and experience to make an influential contribution to solving major global challenges. To be elevated to a Fellow at IChemE is considered the pinnacle of any Chemical engineer’s career. Dr. Shah was inducted as a Fellow into this Society recently and when contacted by us at that time, he was extremely grateful and said he accepted this honor with great humility on behalf of his colleagues and his family.

This year, Dr. Shah was also selected as an eminent engineer into Tau Beta Pi the oldest engineering honor society in the United States, which has over 600,000 members at 254 colleges and universities across the country An eminent engineer status is rare and is afforded only to one with remarkable and outstanding performance in their chosen engineering field as well as exemplary character. An extensive and significant contribution to the field of engineering is what got Dr. Shah this honor.

Dr. Shah also received another allocation this year by being elevated as a Fellow at the Institute of Measurement and Control an organization very familiar to the readers of Petro industry news.

The Institute of Measurement and Control is recognized by the Royal Charter as the professional body for scientists and engineers working in measurement, automation, and control. Founded in 1944, its members’ original priority was to maintain the national infrastructure and support wartime logistics. During the post-war reconstruction years, attention shifted to developing new major infrastructure programs including nuclear power, oil and gas, the transport network, and major industrial and chemical facilities. Dr. Shah was inducted into its Hall of Fellows (its highest honor ) this week. Currently, the members of INSTMC are still involved in all the above areas, but the digital age has opened a new sphere of involvement in the area of sensors linked to intelligence.  This includes the Internet of Things, cyber security, smart cities and transport networks, driverless cars, personal health monitoring, and astronomical exploration. It is indeed a very unique and singular honor for Dr. Shah to be honored as a fellow by this prestigious institute.

Dr. Shah is no stranger to distinction. He has been named a Fellow at the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK which boasts such historical members as Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Albert Einstein.

The Royal Society of Chemistry has over 54,000 members and is one of the largest professional bodies for chemical scientists, supporting and representing our members and bringing together chemical scientists from all over the world. The Royal Society of Chemistry was founded in 1841 and incorporated by a royal charter in 1848, and its main patron is Her Majesty the Queen of England. A not-for-profit organization with a heritage that spans 175 years, The Royal Society of Chemistry has an ambitious international vision for the future. Around the world, they invest in educating future generations of scientists and partner with industry and academia, promoting collaboration and innovation. The Royal Society of Chemistry also advises governments on policy and promotes the talent, information, and ideas that lead to great advances in science.

Dr. Shah was also honored recently as well, by the Energy Institute with the title of Chartered Petroleum Engineer. The Energy Institute (EI) is the largest professional membership body that brings global energy experts together. The global energy industry, the people working in it, and the wider society all benefit from the EI’s work. Election to the status of a chartered petroleum engineer so far has been limited to just 7 people in the United States. Dr. Shah is the first Indian American engineer to be conferred this honor.

Dr. Raj Shah is widely recognized worldwide for his contributions to the field of Fuels, Lubricants, and Greases. His specialization is in the development of laboratory analytical instrumentation used primarily in the petroleum laboratory. He has been recognized for his inventions and his efforts in creating standardized test methods for use worldwide by the American Standard of Testing Materials ( ASTM International )  with three awards of Excellence and an ASTM Eagle award (a sui genres distinction).  He is currently the Director at Koehler Instrument Company, Inc. based in Holtsville, NY and he currently serves or has served on the Board of Directors/ Advisors of various institutions such as the Department of Material Science and Chemical Engineering, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY, Farmingdale College ( Mechanical Technology ), in Long Island NY,  Technology Management graduate program at SUNY Farmingdale,  Tribology Minor in engineering at Auburn University, the Foundation Board at Developmental Disabilities Institute in  Smithtown, NY until 2009, and he served on the board of directors of the National Lubricating Grease institute for almost 2 decades. With over 675 publications in journals worldwide, he is also an Adjunct Professor at the Dept. of Material Science and Chemical Engineering at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY. ( https://bit.ly/3u2e6GY )

Dr. Shah is now an elected  Fellow at STLE, IOP, CMI, NLGI, AIC, RSC, InstMC, IChemE, and EI a singular honor that is indeed unprecedented worldwide. In addition to a Ph.D in Chemical Engineering from Penn State  University, he also has a Fellow designation from the Chartered Management Institute in London. A recipient of multiple awards at ASTM over his career, more recently he was awarded the PM Ku medal ( the youngest recipient of this medal ), from STLE and the prestigious John A. Bellanti Sr. Memorial Award from NLGI as well.
 Dr. Shah has also been conferred the Distinguished Alumni award from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai (ICT).  In conferring him this honor ICT Mumbai, stated “ Dr. Raj Shah, a professional par excellence due to his high degree of integrity, commitment, and professionalism has been responsible for the high esteem in which his alma mater, the Institute of Chemical Technology is recognized “ More recently National Certification Commission in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in Washington, DC honored Dr. Raj Shah with inducting him as a Certified professional chemist and Certified Chemical engineer.

Dr. Shah is also an elected Chartered Engineer from the Engineering Council in the UK, a Chartered Chemist from the Royal society of Chemistry, and a Chartered Scientist from the Science Council, all of these combined are exceptional honors within the scientific community. Dr. Shah is the only person in the chemical industry worldwide who now holds all 6 of these elected certifications namely CPC, CCHE, CEng, CSci, CChem, and CPEng)

Dr. Shah’s other interests include kayaking, mentoring engineering students, and mobile photography. He lives currently in Long Island, NY with his wife of 28 years Dr. Niloufar Faridi, and their son Kian. They are active in the special needs community and  they enjoy participating in various Indian American philanthropic community events

The post Dr. Raj Shah Wins AOCS’s Top Award appeared first on NRI News.

One of his numerous accomplishments includes serving as the director of Caltech Optical Observatories from 2006 to 2018. Kulkarni’s pioneering work in time-domain astronomy, notably through the Palomar Transient Factory and the Zwicky Transient Facility, has significantly enhanced the understanding of the dynamic sky. The Shaw Prize Foundation stated, “The Shaw Prize in Astronomy is awarded to Shrinivas R. Kulkarni for his ground-breaking discoveries about millisecond pulsars, gamma-ray bursts, supernovae, and other variable or transient astronomical objects.”

Developed by the late Hong Kong philanthropist Run Run Shaw, the Shaw Prize consists of three annual awards in Astronomy, Life Science and Medicine, and Mathematical Sciences, each with a monetary award of USD 1.2 million.

This year marks the 21st time the prize has been awarded. Run Run Shaw, who is known for his philanthropy in education, scientific research, healthcare, and the arts, established the Shaw Prize, sometimes called the “Nobel of the East,” The Shaw Foundation Hong Kong and The Sir Run Run Shaw Charitable Trust continue to support these areas.

Kulkarni’s career is distinguished by numerous notable achievements. As detailed in his biography on Caltech’s website, he received his Master of Science degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in 1978 and his PhD from the University of California in 1983. He led the Caltech Optical Observatories as director from 2006 to 2018, significantly advancing the field of observational astronomy. Kulkarni has received many awards, including the National Science Foundation’s Alan T. Waterman Award and the Dan David Prize. He has also authored or co-authored more than 60 papers in the journal Nature by the age of 60.

Under Kulkarni’s guidance, the Palomar Transient Factory made several discoveries in astronomy. The Zwicky Transient Facility has continued this work and helped astronomers study, and understand transient cosmic events. These projects have allowed scientists to observe and analyze short-lived astronomical phenomena, greatly expanding our knowledge of the universe.

Photo source from Caltech

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