IISc Bengaluru professor Mahesh Kakde has won the 2026 Ramanujan Prize for young mathematicians from developing countries.

The prize is awarded jointly by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) and the International Mathematical Union. It honours mathematicians under 45 from developing countries and carries a $10,000 award.

Kakde was recognised for his contributions to algebraic number theory. The award cites his fundamental results on noncommutative Iwasawa theory and his work on the Gross-Stark and Brumer-Stark conjectures, with implications for Hilbert's 12th problem.

Algebraic number theory studies hidden patterns in numbers and their structures. Iwasawa theory examines how mathematical patterns change when number systems are extended.

Kakde earned his doctorate in pure mathematics from the University of Cambridge in 2008. He worked at Princeton and King's College London before joining IISc as a professor in 2019.

He won the Infosys Prize in Mathematical Sciences in 2022. The Ramanujan Prize, established in 2005, is named after the legendary Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.