This is a rare honour conferred on scientists in recognition of their leadership and technical contributions to the field of catalysis, an NCL press release said. Dr Ratnasamy is the first Indian to receive the honour, the release added.

Dr Ratnasamy is already on the editorial boards of Microporous and Mesoporous Materials (Butterworths, USA), Zeitschrift Fur Physikalische Chemie (Leipzig, Germany) and Applied Catalysis (A Elsevier, USA) and president of the Indo-Pacific Catalysis Association.