The Professor is one of the two scientists named for the prestigious Spinoza Prize
Our Bureau
Amsterdam
An Indian-origin professor Joyeeta Gupta has been bestowed with the prestigious Spinoza Prize, also known as the Dutch Nobel Prize, for her outstanding research work. She was awarded for her pioneering and inspiring scientific work in the area of a just and sustainable world, the Dutch Research Council said.
At the University of Amsterdam, Gupta is a faculty professor of Sustainability and professor of Environment and Development in the Global South. She will receive 1.5 million euros to work on scientific research and activities related to knowledge utilization. Gupta will be officially presented with the highest distinction in Dutch science on October 4, the council said.
“The scientists who have received this award in the past represent the absolute best of Dutch academia, so I’m honored to be considered alongside them,” Gupta said.
The Spinoza Prize is the highest award in Dutch academia dedicated to researchers working in the Netherlands and is awarded to the researchers who display international standards and belong to the absolutely best researchers worldwide.
Gupta’s research focused on how to resolve issues arising from climate change through good governance. “At the core of her research is an attempt to unravel the connections between the climate crisis, global water challenges, possible solutions, and justice. To this end, her work brings together various scientific disciplines, from international law and economics to political science, development studies, and environmental studies,” the council said.
“Justice for both people and the planet is the common thread in Joyeeta’s work. She is relentlessly committed to climate justice, always looking beyond the boundaries of disciplines, realizing that this is the only way to approach the climate issue,” said Peter-Paul Verbeek, Rector Magnificus of the University of Amsterdam.
Gupta, the co-chair of the Earth Commission founded by Future Earth and supported by the Global Challenges Foundation, said she would work towards implementing her ideas on sharing ‘eco-space’ (environmental utilization space) globally that aims to protect environmental conditions in an equitable manner worldwide and would be a fitting way to bring global environmental and developmental issues together.
