At a felicitation ceremony held on campus, Prof. Ch Satish Kumar, Vice-Chancellor of SRM University–AP, and the university leadership felicitated the recognised faculty members for their scholarly contributions across multiple research disciplines.
The World’s Top 2% Scientists list is a global database compiled by researchers at Stanford University in collaboration with Elsevier. It is based on Scopus citation metrics and recognises researchers for their scholarly contributions across fields including engineering, environmental sciences, mathematics, physics, chemistry, energy engineering and interdisciplinary research.
The inclusion of 20 faculty members reflects SRM University–AP’s growing research footprint and its ambition to strengthen its position as a research-intensive institution with global relevance.
Drawing on his own experience as a researcher, Prof. Ch Satish Kumar emphasised the effort involved in every scientific publication and urged faculty members to prioritise research quality and long-term impact over numerical metrics alone. He encouraged the awardees to build on their achievements, pursue focused research agendas and contribute to the university’s long-term ambition of significantly increasing the number of globally recognised scientists.
During the ceremony, Prof. Soumitra Datta, Advisor, SRM Group, highlighted the importance of knowledge creation in defining a university’s identity. “A university is about knowledge creation,” he said, noting that recognising researchers celebrates their dedication and encourages colleagues to pursue higher levels of academic and research excellence. He added that a strong intellectual core is fundamental to building an excellent university.
Dr Karthik Rajendran, Associate Dean of Quality Assurance and Rankings (QAR), outlined the significance of the achievement in strengthening the university’s global standing. He noted that research impact contributes to institutional rankings and stressed the importance of international collaborations, globally relevant research and translating academic work into meaningful outcomes while upholding academic integrity.
Representing the research leadership, Prof. Ranjit Thapa, Dean-Research, highlighted the increase in recognised faculty members from seven last year to 20 this year. He acknowledged the university leadership’s support in strengthening research and attracting academic talent, expressing confidence that the number of recognised researchers would continue to grow in the coming years.
The recognised faculty members represent a range of research domains. In Earth & Environmental Sciences, the honourees are Prof. Rangabhashiyam Selvasembian, Dr Akash Balakrishnan, Dr Deblina Dutta and Prof. Meththika Suharshini Vithanage.
The Information & Communication Technologies category includes Dr Aditya Kumar Sahu, Dr Randhir Kumar, Dr Kshira Sagar Sahoo, Dr Prabhujit Mohapatra and Prof. Saraju Mohanty.
In Enabling & Strategic Technologies, the recognised researchers are Prof. Karthik Rajendran, Dr Vinodkumar Etacheri, Gunda Mohanakrishna, Prof. Lakshminarayana Polavarapu and Prof. Upadrasta Ramamurty.
The Physics & Astronomy category includes Dr Sumit Kumar Mehta, Dr Basabendu Barman and Prof. Yoshiyuki Kawazoe. In Chemistry, the recognised faculty members are Prof. Corrado Di Natale and Dr Sudip Pan, while Dr Pintu Bhunia represents Mathematics & Statistics.
Dr Vinayak Kalluri, Registrar, noted that the recognition spans diverse research areas and encouraged the academic community to appreciate the distinct contributions researchers make within their respective disciplines. Deans, Directors and university leadership congratulated the honourees, emphasising that institutional recognition can motivate researchers to continue making meaningful contributions to their fields.
The achievement forms part of SRM University–AP’s broader efforts to promote interdisciplinary collaboration, strengthen research infrastructure and create an environment in which faculty members can pursue ambitious research questions. Through its emerging focus areas, including artificial intelligence and quantum technologies, the university continues to expand opportunities for innovation while advancing its research ambitions on the global stage.
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