New York City, USA: Viraj Pandya, an Indian-origin postdoctoral scientist at Columbia University and NASA Hubble Fellow, has been named a finalist for the 2025 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists. He was honored for groundbreaking research on early galaxy evolution, which challenges existing theories about the universe’s formation.

Pandya’s academic journey shifted from economics at Rutgers to a PhD in Astronomy at UC Santa Cruz, supported by an NSF fellowship.

Alongside him, Columbia colleagues Yunjia Lai (environmental health sciences) and Prof. Samuel H. Sternberg (biochemistry and molecular biophysics) were also recognized for their innovative work.

This year, 18 national finalists were chosen from 310 nominees across 42 U.S. states, with winners to be announced on October 7, 2025, at the American Museum of Natural History, New York.