Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, the 4th Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, was felicitated at the Conference on Complexity in Matter and Policy (CMP26) in recognition of his five decades of distinguished contributions, from pioneering research in condensed matter physics to providing strategic leadership in advancing India's research and innovation ecosystem. The conference was organised by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), the Raman Research Institute (RRI), and the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) on 7 August 2026. Dr (Mrs.) Parvinder Maini, Scientific Secretary, Office of the PSA, joined other scientific leaders in sharing their wishes and remarks for Prof. Sood. She was also joined by Prof. (Vijay) K VijayRaghavan, NCBS; Prof. G. Rangarajan, Director, IISc; Prof. Umesh Waghmare, Secretary, DST; Prof. Hulikal Krishnamurthy, Emeritus, IISc; Dr Rahul Pandit, National Science Chair, IISC; Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, IIT Kanpur; Dr Suman Chakraborty, Director, IIT Kharagpur; Prof. Jacques Prost, Institute Curie-France & NUS; Prof. Tarun Souradeep, Director, RRI; Prof. S M Yusuf, Director, UM-DAE, CEBS; Prof. Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary, DBT; Prof. Dipankar Das Sarma, National Science Chair, IISc; Prof. arun kumar Grover, Emeritus at Panjab Engineering College and others. The team at the Office of the PSA, on behalf of the wider scientific community, extends its sincere appreciation and heartfelt tributes to Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood for his exceptional contributions to science and his visionary leadership in advancing India's research and innovation ecosystem. Dr Jainendra Jain | Prof. Chandan Dasgupta | Dr Chennupati Jagadish, AC | Mr Gerald Fuller | Prof. Prabal Maiti | Prof. P S Anil Kumar | Prof. Venkatesh Gopal | Prof. Chandrabhas Narayana