Professor Mahbubul Alam Majumdar, dean of the School of Data and Sciences at BRAC University, has received the 2026 Spirit of Abdus Salam Award, a press release said.
This year the award was also posthumously presented to Karim Aoudia, a geophysics researcher and former acting head of the Earth System Physics section of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP).
The family of Abdus Salam, the founder of ICTP who had won the 1979 Nobel Prize in physics, made the announcement during a special Salam centennial event on 29 January 2026.
For over 60 years, ICTP has been a driving force behind global efforts to advance scientific expertise in the developing world.
Announced annually on Abdus Salam’s birthday, the award recognizes those who, like Salam himself, have worked tirelessly to promote the development of science and technology in disadvantaged parts of the world.
The award acknowledges Professor Majumdar’s “efforts to strengthen Bangladesh’s scientific and educational foundations”.
With an education from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and the University of Cambridge, Mahbubul Majumdar “has consistently put nation-building and public benefit at the center of his work”, said ICTP.
He serves on the advisory board of BigganChinta, the most widely circulated monthly science magazine in Bangladesh, and collaborates with ICTP’s Physics Without Frontiers program to organize educational conferences in his home country, it said. This includes the 2025 Jamal Nazrul Islam Memorial Winter School in Mathematical & Theoretical Physics that attracted world renowned experts as lecturers, said ICTP.
Professor Majumdar has played a transformative role in nurturing mathematical talent in Bangladesh, serving as a long-time coach and mentor of the national Mathematics Olympiad team. His efforts led to Bangladesh achieving historic successes at the International Mathematical Olympiad, including becoming the only country outside India in South Asia to win a gold medal.
This recognition also advances BRAC University’s endeavors towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 (Quality Education), 10 (Reduced Inequalities), and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
