Awards, Medals & Eligibility

Awards / Medals open only to specific age groups

Certificate of Merit, Cash Prizes and Medals

In order to encourage young scientists below the age of 30 years as on 31st December, 2026, the society awards 'Certificate of Merit' and medals instituted in honour of Senior Botanists (Prof. Jafar Nizam, Prof. Y.D. Tyagi, Prof. L.P. Mall, Prof. O.P. Mall, Prof. C.P. Malik, Prof. S.N. Chaturvedi, Prof. Y.S. Murty and Prof. H.C. Arya) for the Best Paper presented (if recommended by experts) in each section. The first/presenting author should not be over 30 years old. At least three papers should be presented for the award of a medal in each section.

Date of birth of each author/co-author must be given below his/her name, failing which the paper/poster shall not be considered for the contest (name of supervisor may be included as the co-author irrespective of age, but only the presenting author within the age group shall be considered for the certificate/medal). No member shall be eligible to receive the certificate and/or medal for a second time in the same section or in another section in the same category. The same applies to the Society's awards. A certified copy of the High School certificate/proof of age must be produced by the contestant.

Members intending to participate should send a soft copy of the full manuscript along with the illustrations and an abstract (limited to 100 words). The abstract should be prepared in MS Word in "Times New Roman" 12 font and 1.5 spacing, mentioning the Scientific section*. The soft copy should be sent by e-mail to the Organizing Secretary, 48th AIBC, Organizing Secretary, Dr. Giridhar Parvatam, at aibc02026@gmail.com with a copy to Prof. Seshu Lavania, Secretary IBS, at: secretaryibs2017@gmail.com by 31st July, 2026.

No member is allowed to submit more than two submissions, including as a co-author. The papers received after 31st July, 2026, and the abstracts not accompanied by full papers, or the papers sent by non-members or by those who have not paid membership dues for 2026 will not be entertained. All the authors must be members of the Society. The abstract, if accepted after scrutiny, will be published in the book of abstracts of the All India Botanical Conference.

The following awards are restricted only to the Life Members of the Society and are specific to different age group category. The cut-off date for the age limit is 31st December, 2026. If more than one medal/award is available for the contest in a given age group, the contestant may receive only one award in that category.

Young Botanist Award Contest

A separate session will be held for young botanists below the age of 35 years as on 31st December, 2026, for presenting their paper in the section of the Young Botanist Award. Applications submitted under this category shall be scrutinised by an expert committee, and only the three best-selected papers shall be allowed to be presented during the conference for final selection. Each participant will be given 15 minutes for a paper presentation, followed by a discussion. The best presentation shall get the Young Botanist Award 2026 (Dr Bahadur Singh Gold Medal) of the Indian Botanical Society.

Applicant should submit a soft copy of the full paper for this contest by 31st July, 2026, along with other required information as per the given proforma, to the Secretary, Indian Botanical Society.

Poster Award Contest

There shall be two medals for the best posters:

• Prof. K.S. Bilgrami Gold Medal (author below the age of 35 years)
• Prof. S.N. Dixit Gold Medal (author below the age of 50 years)

The age limit restriction shall not apply to the PhD supervisor if he or she is a co-author but cannot be a participating contestant. Applicant should submit a soft copy of the full paper for this contest by 31st July, 2026, along with other required information as per the given proforma, to the Secretary, Indian Botanical Society.

Prof. Y.S. Murty Memorial Gold Medal

A medal will be awarded to an outstanding plant morphologist/taxonomist up to the age of 50 years for his/her research contributions in any group of the plant kingdom. Applicant should submit a soft copy of the full paper for this contest by 31st July, 2026, along with other required information as per the given proforma, to the Secretary, Indian Botanical Society.

Prof. S.V.S. Chauhan Gold Medal

A medal will be awarded to one of the youngest participants (from all the sections) up to the age of 25 years as on 31st December, 2026, who has presented his/her research paper in any group of the plant kingdom.

Medal / Award for Women Scientists

There are two separate medal/award for the Woman Scientist below the age of 50. Applicant should submit a soft copy of the full paper for this contest by 31st July, 2026, along with other required information as per the given proforma, to the Secretary, Indian Botanical Society.

1. Woman Scientist Medal: A medal for Women Scientists up to the age of 50 years is instituted by the society to recognise lady botanists. Applications as per the given proforma, providing a list of publications and reprints of the 10 best papers published, will be evaluated by the expert committee constituted for the purpose.
2. Woman Botanist Award: A separate session will be held for Woman Botanist below the age of 50 years for presenting their paper in the section of the Woman Botanist Award. Applications submitted under this category shall be scrutinized by an expert committee, and only three best selected papers shall be allowed for presentation during the conference for final selection. Each participant will be given 18 minutes for a paper presentation, followed by a discussion. The best presentation shall get the Woman Botanist Award 2026 of the Indian Botanical Society.
3. Prof. S.C. Dixit Cash Prize: This award carries a cash prize of Rs. 1000/- and is awarded for the best article published by a woman candidate (single author) in the Journal of Indian Botanical Society for the year, i.e., published in 2025 (vol. 105).