HWNI member Karthik Shekhar, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, has won the 2026 Philomathia Prize. The annual prize is awarded to an early-career UC Berkeley faculty member, from any discipline, who demonstrates great distinction and promise in their academic field. Established through a generous endowment gift from the Philomathia Foundation, the prize provides a monetary award of $200,000 for use at the recipient's discretion over a three-year period.
Shekhar works at the interface of neuroscience, genomics, and biophysics, and his research uses theory, computation, and data-driven approaches to understand the organization and dynamics of neuronal systems. He received the Philomathia Prize to advance his research into the bioelectric basis of neural activity. The prize will be presented during the Philomathia Day symposium on November 5, 2026, which will be on the topic of "Bioelectricity at the Interface: Molecules, Membranes, and Models."
