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Kulkarni earned his master’s degree from IIT Delhi and his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley
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His journey stands as a testament to India’s enduring contribution to global science and the ever-expanding exploration of the universe
Indian-origin astronomer Professor Shrinivas Kulkarni has been awarded the prestigious Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), one of the world’s highest honours in astronomy. The London-based society recognised Kulkarni for his “field-defining” and transformative contributions to time-domain astronomy, a branch of astrophysics focused on studying cosmic objects and events that change over time.
Born in Maharashtra, Kulkarni is currently the George Ellery Hale Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Science at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in the United States. Over a career spanning more than four decades, he has played a pivotal role in reshaping how scientists observe and understand the dynamic universe. His research has led to the discovery of a wide range of astronomical phenomena, including brown dwarfs, distant gamma-ray bursts, and other fast-evolving cosmic events.
The RAS citation praised Kulkarni’s “sustained, innovative and ground-breaking contributions to multi-wavelength transient astrophysics,” highlighting the global impact of his work.
By receiving the Gold Medal—an award instituted in 1824—Kulkarni joins an illustrious list of past recipients that includes Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Edwin Hubble, and Jocelyn Bell Burnell
Reacting to the honour, Kulkarni said he was surprised to be named among such legendary figures. He credited his long-standing collaborators, engineers, and research teams, particularly those involved with the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) and its successor, the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). These projects, developed under his leadership, have revolutionised optical time-domain astronomy by detecting thousands of transient cosmic events as they flare, fade, and explode across the night sky. The ZTF, based at Caltech’s Palomar Observatory, continues to survey the entire northern sky every two nights.
Among his many achievements, Kulkarni has often cited the discovery of the first millisecond pulsar during his graduate student days as one of the most thrilling moments of his life. He also made a landmark breakthrough in 1997 by demonstrating that powerful gamma-ray bursts originate beyond the Milky Way.
In addition to his recent RAS recognition, Kulkarni was awarded the 2024 Shaw Prize in Astronomy. He remains deeply involved in future-focused projects, including NASA’s upcoming Ultraviolet Explorer (UVEX) mission, scheduled for launch around 2030, and the development of advanced instruments such as the Z-Shooter spectrometer for the W. M. Keck Observatory.
