ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
NAS honors Subhash Khot with 2026 Held Prize award
The prize carries an award of $100,000 and is presented annually for outstanding research in combinatorial and discrete optimization and related areas of computer science.
-
Pranavi Sharma - Mon, 27, Apr 2026
- 00:38 EDT
- 9
Subhash Khot / McArthur Foundation
Subhash Khot of New York University, an Indian-origin computer scientist, was named one of a recipient of the 2026 Michael and Sheila Held Prize, with winners honored April 26 at the National Academy of Sciences’ 163rd annual meeting.
Khot was recognized alongside Irit Dinur of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, and the Weizmann Institute; Guy Kindler of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Dor Minzer of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Muli Safra of Tel Aviv University. The prize carries an award of $100,000 and is presented annually for outstanding research in combinatorial and discrete optimization and related areas of computer science.
ALSO READ: MIT biological engineering alumna wins Gates Scholarship for Cambridge PhD
The group was cited for its work on the 2-to-2 Games Theorem, which has advanced theoretical computer science. Their research, developed over several years of collaboration and new mathematical techniques, led to a proof described as the strongest evidence to date for the Unique Games Conjecture, a central open problem in the field.
According to the academy, the result has reshaped understanding of hardness of approximation and Probabilistically Checkable Proofs, while contributing insights into combinatorics and discrete analysis. The theorem also has implications for problems including vertex cover and graph coloring.
The Michael and Sheila Held Prize was established in 2017 through a bequest from Michael and Sheila Held. It recognizes recent work, defined as research published within the past eight years. The inaugural award in 2018 went to Prasad Raghavendra and David Steurer for work on optimization and complexity.
Khot is the Julius Silver Professor of Computer Science at New York University’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in 1999 and a doctorate from Princeton University in 2003 under Sanjeev Arora.
His previous honors include the Alan T. Waterman Award, the Rolf Nevanlinna Prize for work on the Unique Games Conjecture, and a MacArthur Fellowship. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2017 and to the National Academy of Sciences in 2023.
Discover more at New India Abroad.
Related
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
E Paper
Video
Comments
Start the conversation
Become a member of New India Abroad to start commenting.
Sign Up Now
Already have an account? Login