Ten Indian American researchers have been elected 2026 Fellows of the American Physical Society (APS), recognizing their contributions to physics and its applications in photonics, materials science and emerging technologies.
The APS Fellowship is a distinction awarded by peers for outstanding contributions to physics through original research, technological innovation, education or service. Each year, no more than one half of one percent of APS members, excluding student members, are elected Fellows.
The 2026 APS Indian American fellows are:
Sukanya Chakrabarti, University of Alabama, Huntsville, received Division of Astrophysics Fellowship for novel and sustained contributions to the understanding of dark matter based on the development of extreme-precision dynamical measurements, as well as pioneering considerations of binaries hosting compact objects.
Sujit Datta, California Institute of Technology, received Division of Soft Matter Fellowship for bridging soft matter physics and biology in realistic settings to advance the quantitative understanding of the dynamics of complex fluids and bacterial suspensions in complex environments.
READ: Six Indian American students named 2026 Davidson Fellows (September 19, 2026)
Bharat Jalan, University of Minnesota, received Division of Materials Physics fellowship for pioneering contributions to the synthesis and fundamental understanding of complex oxide thin films and heterostructures, enabling advances in quantum materials and oxide electronics.
Deep Jariwala, University of Pennsylvania, received Forum on Industrial & Applied Physics Fellowship for pioneering contributions to the physics and technology of ferroelectric nitrides — advancing them from newly discovered materials to commercially viable memory technology — and for creating excitonic metamaterials from van der Waals semiconductors, which have applications in nanophotonics.
Abhishek Kumar, University of Wisconsin, Madison, received the Forum on International Physics Fellowship for advancing optical microscopy through novel physics in light-sheet, polarization, line-scan fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, total internal reflection fluorescence/structured illumination microscopy, bioluminescence, and metasurface optics, and for broadening access through open instrumentation, global training, and APS service.
Ramakrishna Podila, Clemson University, received Topical Group on Energy Research and Applications Fellowship for fundamental contributions to defect- and interface-controlled transport physics in low-dimensional energy materials — enabling advances in thermoelectric conversion, triboelectric nanogenerators, supercapacitors, batteries, and photonic diodes.
READ: 7 Indian American sophomores win Wisconsin University research fellowships (
Laxminarayan L. Raja, University of Texas, Austin, received Division of Plasma Physics Fellowship for contributions to the development of high-fidelity computational models of chemically reactive plasmas spanning low-pressure semiconductor processing to atmospheric-pressure glow discharges, and for the application of these models to fundamental studies and industrial-scale reactor simulations.
Venkat Raman, University of Michigan, received Division of Fluid Dynamics Fellowship for fundamental insights into and the development of novel computational methods for rotating detonation engines and high-speed propulsion.
Sujoy Roy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, received Topical Group on Magnetism and Its Applications Fellowship for leadership in developing coherent soft X-ray scattering tools and fast detectors to probe the structure, motion, and orbital angular momentum in quantum materials, and for dedicated efforts to expand community access and mentoring future scientists.
Ranjan Singh, University of Notre Dame has received Forum on Industrial & Applied Physics Fellowship for pioneering contributions to terahertz device technologies that enable next-generation communications and scalable superconducting quantum systems.