Established in 1935, the Academy was recognised as the premier scientific society representing all branches of science in India in October 1945. Varinder is one of 12 Foreign Fellows elected this year, with this status taking effect from 1st January 2026.
The Indian National Science Academy's citation for this honour reads:
Professor Aggarwal has developed iterative homologation of boronic esters in a process that resembles a highly effective molecular assembly line. He has developed (i) new methods for making boronic esters, including using modern photoredox processes (ii) created a suite of reagents which insert into bonds generating new bonds with exceptionally high fidelity and stereocontrol (iii) new transformations of boronic esters into other functional groups so that the products of the assembly line can be utilised (iv) automation of the assembly line process. Each of these are major areas in their own right, but when combined, their power for synthesis is truly transformative.
For Professor Aggarwal, this award follows on from his election as a Foreign Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Sciences in 2024.