Prof. Sandip P. Trivedi is an Indian theoretical physicist who is known for making seminal contributions to the field of string theory. Currently, he serves as the Director of the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai. In 2010, IIT Kanpur conferred upon him the Distinguished Alumnus Award. Recently, he has been elected as a Fellow of 'The World Academy of Sciences' (TWAS) 2016 for the advancement of science in developing countries.
Prof. Sandip Trivedi completed his master's in Integrated Physics in 1985 from IIT Kanpur. In 1990, he completed his Ph.D. in theoretical Physics from California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA. From 1990 to 1992, he worked as a post-doctoral research associate at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey, USA. From 1992 to 1994, he was a John A. McCone post-doctoral research fellow in the Department of Physics at California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA. Later, he joined the Department of Theoretical Physics at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, Illinois, USA, as an Associate Scientist and worked there till 1999.
In February 1999, he returned to India and joined the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, as a Reader. As a theoretical physicist, he specializes in string theory, cosmology, and particle physics. He has made important original contributions to several areas of theoretical physics. He is credited with finding the first models of accelerated expansion of the universe in low energy supersymmetric string along with other fellow researchers. He is also well known for his pioneering contribution in the proposal of cosmology with a small positive cosmological constant, within the framework of a consistent theory of quantum gravity.
Prof. Trivedi's work has won him several prestigious awards and recognitions. In 2010, he was awarded the Infosys Prize in Physical Sciences category for finding an ingenious way to solve two of the most outstanding puzzles of Superstring Theory simultaneously: What is the origin of dark energy of the Universe? And Why is there no massless scalar particle? He is a fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (2012) and the Indian Academy of Sciences (2006). He is now a member of the program advisory board of the International Center for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS).
Since January 2015, Prof. Trivedi has been serving as the Director of TIFR.
