Prof Rohini Godbole, who works at the Centre for High Energy Physics at IISc, has been awarded the Ordre National Du Merite, or National Order of Merit — an award that is considered to be among the highest distinctions bestowed by France.
The 68-year-old physicist and a 2019 Padma Shri awardee has had a long collaboration with the scientific community in France and is well-known for her commitment to promote women in science.
IISc took to Twitter to congratulate Prof Godbole. The tweet read, ”Congratulations to Prof Rohini Godbole (CHEP) on being awarded the Ordre National du Mérite, among the highest distinctions bestowed by France! She has been recognised for contributions to collaborations b/w France & India and commitment to promoting enrolment of women in science.”
Rohini has a Bachelor’s in Physics, Mathematics, and Statistics from Sir Parshurambhau College of Pune and Master’s in Physics from IIT, Mumbai. She is also a JC Bose Fellow, currently teaching at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru.
Rohini completed her PhD in Theoretical Particle Physics from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook University in 1979. She has also worked as a Lecturer at the University of Bombay in 1982 and then became an Associate Professor at IISC in 1995.
In a career spanning three decades, she has worked on different aspects of physics phenomenology and published over 280 research papers.
Rohini is best known for her work at CERN, the European organisation for Nuclear Research, as well as for her suggesting innovative ways to search for the top quark, Higgs Boson, and other new particles at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and at the International Linear Collider (ILC).
In addition to speaking at various national and international events for women in science, Rohini co-edited Lilavati's Daughters: Women Scientists of India (2005) that chronicles the story of about 100 women scientists of India, and A Girls' Guide to a Life in Science (2014) which is about 25 celebrated Indian women in science.
(Edited by Kanishk Singh)
