Mriganka Sur, the Sherman Fairchild Professor of Neuroscience and head of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, has been elected a fellow of the Royal Society.
The Royal Society, the United Kingdom's national academy of science, is one of the world's most prestigious scientific societies. Its origins date to 1660, and it counts among its elected fellows Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Francis Crick and Stephen Hawking.
Sur studies the brain's cerebral cortex, the outer mantle or grey matter of the brain, which processes sensations, actions, emotions, language and higher cognitive functions. His research has shaped the field of brain plasticity, now recognized as one of the most remarkable features of the human brain.
Sur is one of only 41 scientists of Indian origin who have been elected to the Royal Society. The list includes scientists such as S. Ramanujan, J.C. Bose, M.N. Saha and the Nobel Prize-winning physicists C.V. Raman and S. Chandrasekhar.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on May 24, 2006 (download PDF).
