The International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS-TIFR) proudly announces the creation of the Sujata & Tatineni Prem Kumar Travel Grant Fund. On December 27, 2024, ICTS signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Shri Tatineni Prem Kumar and Smt. Sujata Kumar, formalizing an endowment with a corpus of Rs 4.5 crores.
This fund is dedicated to supporting students and postdoctoral researchers at ICTS by providing financial assistance for international travel. The grants will facilitate participation in conferences, workshops, and collaborative research engagements, fostering global academic interaction and the exchange of ideas.
The donors, Shri Tatineni Prem Kumar and Smt. Sujata Kumar, are deeply committed to advancing education and research. Smt. Sujata Kumar is the daughter of Padma Bhushan Moturi Satyanarayana, a freedom fighter and prominent member of India’s Constituent Assembly, who played a pivotal role in shaping modern India. Additionally, the donors have established the Moturi Satyanarayana Center for Advanced Study in Humanities and Social Sciences at Krea University and an endowment at Chennai Mathematical Institute, Chennai to support post doctoral research and to provide travel grants, as testaments to their dedication to promote higher education. To help cancer treatment and prevention, the donors created separate endowments at Cancer Institute, Chennai to provide free medicines and free HPV vaccinations to girls to prevent cervical cancer.
The signing ceremony took place at ICTS in Bengaluru and was attended by ICTS Director, Prof. Rajesh Gopakumar and several ICTS faculty members. "This fund reflects the donors' visionary dedication to promoting education and scientific collaboration. We are profoundly grateful for their generosity and foresight," remarked Prof. Gopakumar.