International Centre for Theoretical Sciences professor Deepak Dhar has been awarded the prestigious 2026 Dirac Medal for his contributions to statistical mechanics and complex systems, the institute said on Monday.
Dhar, an Indian National Science Academy distinguished professor at ICTS, shares the honour with Bernard Derrida, Marc Mezard and Haim Sompolinsky. The award recognises their pioneering work in equilibrium statistical mechanics and the extension of its concepts and methods to non-equilibrium systems, optimisation problems, theoretical neuroscience and artificial intelligence.