# ICTS professor Deepak Dhar wins 2026 Dirac Medal 2026-08-10T17:45:34+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Theoretical physicist Deepak Dhar has been awarded the 2026 Dirac Medal by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) for his pioneering contributions to statistical mechanics. Dhar, an INSA Distinguished Professor at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences in Bengaluru, shares the honour with Bernard Derrida, Marc Mezard and Haim Sompolinsky. The award recognises their work extending statistical mechanics into non-equilibrium systems, optimisation problems, theoretical neuroscience, and artificial intelligence. Dhar is best known for developing the Abelian sandpile model, which describes how small triggers can cause large, unpredictable events in complex systems, from earthquakes to financial markets. Born in Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh in 1951, he earned his PhD from Caltech, where he was a teaching assistant to Richard Feynman, before returning to India. He is the second India-based winner of the Dirac Medal after Ashoke Sen in 2012. Dhar had previously won the Boltzmann Medal in 2022 and the Padma Bhushan in 2023. ## Coverage - thehindu.com - thehindu.com Tags: Deepak Dhar, Dirac Medal, ICTS, Indian science, statistical mechanics, theoretical physics Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/deepak-dhar-wins-2026-dirac-medal-for-statistical-mechanics/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/deepak-dhar-wins-2026-dirac-medal-for-statistical-mechanics/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.