The Office of Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India congratulates Prof. Deepak Dhar, a globally renowned theoretical physicist and Indian National Science Academy - INSA Distinguished Professor at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), on being awarded the 2026 Dirac Medal by the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) for his pioneering contributions to statistical mechanics. The Dirac Medal is among the highest honours in theoretical physics, named in honour of Prof. Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, one of the greatest physicists of the 20th century, who fundamentally shaped modern physics as a pioneer of quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics. The 2026 Dirac Medal recognises pioneering contributions to equilibrium statistical mechanics and the extension of its concepts and methods to non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, optimisation, theoretical neuroscience and artificial intelligence. Prof. Dhar shares the honour with Prof. Bernard Derrida, Collège de France; Prof. Marc Mézard, Università Bocconi, Italy; and Prof. Haim Sompolinsky, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Harvard University, USA. Prof. Dhar showed how simple interactions can lead to complex and sometimes unpredictable behaviour in large systems. Through his pioneering work on the sandpile model, he demonstrated how a small change can sometimes trigger a much larger event, like a single grain causing a sandpile to collapse. The theory shows how complex systems can naturally reach a critical state, where small changes can sometimes trigger large, sudden events. This insight has been used to understand phenomena such as earthquakes, traffic jams and fluctuations in financial markets. This distinguished recognition of Prof. Dhar’s contributions to theoretical physics is a proud moment for India’s scientific community. Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India | परमाणु ऊर्जा विभाग | Department of Science & Technology, Government of India