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Newsmakers of the Week MARCH 21, 2025 | The Indian Eye 26

JAINENDRA JAIN

Professor honored with 2025

Wolf Prize in physics

ainendra K. Jain, Evan Pugh University Professor and Erwin W. Müller The U.S. scholars, along with 65 recipients from across the world who
Professor of Physics and holder of the Eberly Family Chair in the Penn will be announced in April, will begin their studies this fall, joining nearly 200
JState Eberly College of Science, has been awarded, along with two others, other scholars already in residence at the U.K. university.
the 2025 Wolf Prize in Physics for “groundbreaking contributions to quantum Agrawal-Hardin, who is studying how the effects of climate change are
matter and its topological potential” that revolutionized “our understanding of being litigated globally, will pursue a Master of Philosophy degree in the field
two-dimensional electron systems in strong magnetic fields.” of Anthropocene studies, with a focus on how climate change projections
The Wolf Prize acknowledges scientists and artists worldwide for their have historically been received by a wide range of actors, including within
outstanding achievements in advancing science and the arts for the better- government, the fossil fuel sector, and the general public.
ment of humanity. Jain was named the 2025 winner alongside fellow physicists “My research will inform the emerging field of transnational climate liti-
Mordehai “Moty” Heiblum and James Eisenstein as per the foundation. gation and sharpen debates about the distribution of responsibility for today’s
“I am immensely grateful to the Wolf Foundation for welcoming me into climate crisis,” she said.
this truly esteemed community of scientists for my introduction of composite
fermions. The honor truly belongs to my students, collaborators and numer- Agrawal-Hardin, who is from Ann Arbor, Michigan, has been
ous other researchers whose brilliant work transformed composite fermions
from an idea to reality,” Jain said. part of several research projects as a Yale student. In the sum-
“Looking back, it is hard to believe how incredibly fortunate I have been. mer of 2023, with support from Yale Law School, she worked
Growing up in a poor village in India, traumatized by an accident that left me
on crutches with a lifelong disability, I did not think I would ever walk again with research teams at New York University (NYU) Law School
or attend college, let alone pursue my dream of becoming a physicist. I don’t and the University of Oxford to study international climate
have words to express my profound gratitude to my family, friends, colleagues
and even strangers who have helped and supported me throughout my jour- change litigation.
ney to make this possible.”
In his early theory research, Jain introduced a class of exotic particles Last summer, with support from the Brady-Johnson Program in Grand
called composite fermions, explaining a new state of matter consisting of the Strategy at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs, she conducted a re-
intricate sequence of fractional quantum Hall states, now known as Jain states. search project on prospects for climate litigation in the Maldives, an archipel-
ago off the southwestern coast of India, traveling to the country to learn about
NAINA AGRAWAL-HARDIN island ecologies and local environmental advocacy.
She has also served as an intern at Earthjustice, a U.S. nonprofit law firm
Yale senior joins 2025 class of that specializes in environmental litigation, where she learned more about
domestic climate cases.
Her research in the Maldives confirmed an interest in expanding her hori-
Gates Cambridge Scholars zons globally, Agrawal-Hardin said. This, along with an interest in better un-
derstanding advances in climate litigation in the U.K. and Europe, informed
her decision to pursue the M.Phil. degree in Anthropocene studies at Cam-
aina Agrawal-Hardin, a Yale College senior has been selected as bridge. That the course is also based in the university’s Department of Geog-
a member of 35 US scholars who will join the 2025 class of Gates
NCambridge Scholars, a postgraduate scholarship program that pro- raphy, which will be a new discipline for her, was also appealing.
vides full tuition toward study and research in any subject at the University
of Cambridge. Continued on next page... >>

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