Bengaluru, 10 August

The International Centre for Theoretical Sciences announced on Monday that Professor Deepak Dhar has received the prestigious 2026 Dirac Medal in recognition of his contributions to statistical mechanics and complex systems. Prof Dhar, an INSA distinguished professor at ICTS, shares the honour with three eminent scientists – Bernard Derrida, Marc Mezard, and Haim Sompolinsky. The award acknowledges their pioneering work in equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, optimisation problems, theoretical neuroscience, and artificial intelligence. 

The Dirac Medal is awarded annually by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in honour of physicist Paul Dirac. ICTP Director Atish Dabholkar said, "The work of the 2026 Dirac Medallists has contributed to establishing theoretical physics, especially statistical mechanics, as a powerful framework for addressing questions beyond its traditional scope, including biology, computer science, and AI." 

The award highlights Prof Dhar's work on how simple interactions can generate complex behaviour in large systems. His sandpile model demonstrates how adding grains can cause small or large avalanches, used to simulate earthquakes, traffic jams, and financial market fluctuations.