The annual awards ceremony, NSF Awards 2017 was held on 25 July 2018 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH). The Hon. Minister of Science, Technology, Research, Skills Development & Vocational Training and Kandyan Heritage, Dr Sarath Amunugama graced the occasion as the Chief Guest and Dr Sanjiva Weerawarana, Founder, Chairman and Chief Architect of WSO2 delivered the keynote address.

A total of 53 awards were conferred under the following schemes:

• NSF Research Awards
• NSF Technology Awards
• Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS)/ NSF Young Scientist Award
• Support Scheme for Supervision of Research Degrees (SUSRED)

NSF Research Awards

The NSF Research Awards are given annually to researchers who have made outstanding contributions for the advancement of science through NSF funded research projects. This year, one NSF Research Award under the discipline of Engineering Sciences was made at the ceremony.

NSF Technology Awards

NSF Technology Award is intended to motivate grant recipients of “Support for Technology Development” and “Support for startup businesses based on new technologies” to maintain high standards and develop partnerships with the public and private sectors leading to socio-economic development of the country. Two Awards and three Certificates of Commendation were conferred at this year’s ceremony.

The World Academy of Sciences/ National Science Foundation (TWAS/ NSF) Young Scientist Award 

The Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) / NSF Young Scientist award is another annual prize for talented young scientists who have attained a high level of excellence in their research work, in the fields of Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics. Awards are granted by The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), Trieste, Italy. One scientist in the field of Physics was awarded the TWAS/ NSF Young Scientist Award 2017.

Support Scheme for Supervision of Research Degrees (SUSRED)

The awards for the Support Scheme for Supervision of Research Degrees (SUSRED) was implemented to motivate, support and recognize scientists/engineers engaged in supervising postgraduate students conducting research in all areas of Science and Technology. 46 supervisory teams have been successful in securing awards (PhD - 23 awards, MPhil – 23 awards) for 2017 under this scheme.