Tata Transformation Prize 2025 ($230,000 Prize)

The Tata Transformation Prize leverages the exceptional potential of scientists in India to address critical national challenges in three categories—Food Security, Sustainability, and Healthcare—and generate improved quality-of-life outcomes across India and beyond.

Applicants must propose technologies that address one of the three categories with a focus on digital and technological transformation: innovations that re-imagine traditional practices and business models, transform technological paradigms, improve public trust, and enable an open and connected world.

Innovation knows no bounds. Technologies that may address these challenges include, but are not limited to:

Food Security

Innovations that improve productivity and efficiency or reduce waste and resource-intensity, such as

1. Supply chain management
2. Crop sensing
3. Genetic modification
4. Crop management
5. Climate change-resistant agriculture practices
6. Food distribution
7. Food processing
8. Precision agriculture
9. Soil health management
10. Aquaculture
11. Smart irrigation systems

Sustainability

Innovations that enable large-scale reduction, reuse, and recycling of resources or protection of the natural environment, such as:

1. Clean energy technologies
2. Battery and energy storage technologies
3. Green chemistry
4. Sustainable materials
5. Circular economy technologies
6. Environmentally friendly infrastructure
7. Recycling and waste disposal technologies
8. Climate change modeling and prediction
9. Technologies to mitigate the impacts of climate change
10. Ecology technology & technologies for conserving biodiversity
11. Electric vehicles and other energy-efficient devices
12. Technology solutions for water management
13. Innovations to estimate, measure, and track emissions

Healthcare

Innovations that improve accessibility, affordability, accountability, and efficacy in healthcare, such as:

1. Sensing and wearable technologies
2. Telemedicine/telehealth
3. Health informatics
4. Electronic health records
5. Bioprinting
6. Augmented reality
7. Robotics
8. Personalized healthcare technologies
9. Medical training strategies
10. Biocomputation & bioinformatics
11. Public/community health infrastructure
12. Drug Development
13. Precision Medicine

Proposed innovations will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

1. Quality: The extent to which the proposed innovation is coherent, credible, and supported by scientifically rigorous design and preliminary data.
2. Vision: The extent to which the proposed innovation will 1) challenge existing paradigms or practices and/or pursue an original approach, and 2) generate measurable, lasting, and wide-scale changes that address national needs and societal changes for underserved populations in India.
3. Feasibility: The extent to which the applicant 1) offers a realistic approach and implementation plan to achieve tangible, impactful results and 2) is well-positioned and capable of executing the proposed plan, and 3) the extent to which the proposed innovation is scalable in India.

Summary

1. Application Deadline: July 2, 2025
2. Sponsor: TATA Sons
3. Category: Contest
4. Opportunity Location: India
5. Eligible Locations: India

Eligibility Criteria for Tata Transformation Prize 2025 ($230,000 Prize)

The applicant must:

1. Hold a doctoral degree (PhD, DPhil, MD, DDS, DVM, etc.)
2. At the time of application, hold a position as a Postdoctoral Researcher, Faculty, or Researcher/Scientist, with at least 50% full-time effort devoted to research, at an eligible institution within India
3. Be a resident in India or a person of Indian origin residing in India
4. Receive pre-approval from their institution in the form of an Eligibility Verification Form. See below for more details.

Applicants may only submit one application per annual Prize cycle.

Applicants must be employed by an eligible university, institute, or other research organization in India at the time of application. Eligible institutions may be found here.

Institutions not listed may contact TataTransformation@nyas.org to request inclusion on the list of eligible institutions.

Benefits of Tata Transformation Prize 2025 ($230,000 Prize)

1. The Tata Transformation Prize awards one Winner in each of the three categories, with INR 2 crores (approximately US$230,000) for each Winner. Funds will be disbursed directly by Tata Sons upon the conclusion of Prize events in December 2025.
2. All Winners will receive a lifetime membership to the New York Academy of Sciences. Membership provides Winners with access to our Global Member Directory, a deep archive of digital content, and access to free or significantly discounted registrations for over 100 in-person and virtual symposia, webinars and conferences annually.

How to Apply

Required information includes the applicant’s name, title, terminal degree, email address, phone number, and category of submission, as well as the name, title, and contact information for the institutional leadership submitting the Eligibility Verification Form.

Applicants must use the CV template available for download here and precisely follow the included instructions. Remove all instructions and sample information before finalizing. Please save your CV as a pdf before uploading it to the application portal.

CV must include:

1. Applicant name, current institution(s), and position title.
2. Education and training: including undergraduate, doctoral and postdoctoral training, with names of previous research advisor(s)/mentor(s).
3. Employment history and dates.
4. Honors and awards, including granting organizations and years received.
5. Peer-reviewed publications from entire research career.
6. Include separate sections for primary research and reviews/commentaries.
7. Use a citation format that includes the names of all authors, with the applicant's name in bold and the journal title underlined. Include citation ID if available.
8. Do not include manuscripts submitted or in preparation.
9. Conference abstracts and proceedings should only be included if they are the primary way of disseminating new results in the applicant’s field, such as in computer science and mathematics.
10. Patents and patent applications: include patent title, patent number, 1-2 sentence synopsis and year submitted/approved
11. Research Support:
12. List funding for ongoing and completed projects on which the applicant is named as either Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-Investigator (co-PI).
13. Include funding agency, name of funding mechanism, grant #, title of the grant, and 2-3 sentence summary of the aims of the grant.
14. Specify whether the applicant is PI or co-PI and the total amount (direct cost) of the award. If there are multiple PIs, specify the amount (direct cost) awarded to the applicant.
15. Scientific leadership (e.g., any significant roles in the greater academic community). This includes major editorial responsibilities, service on external committees, conference organization, technology licensing (or company start-up), public outreach activities, and institutional administrative responsibilities (e.g., departmental or student committees).
16. Invited talks and lectures. Include the year and inviting organization/institution.

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Application Deadline

02 July, 2025

Application Link(s)

• Apply for Tata Transformation Prize 2025 ($230,000 Prize)