Chemical and biomolecular engineering graduate student Prateek Bansal has received a 2025 American Chemical Society (ACS) Pride Merck Graduate Research Award. Bansal – one of seven individuals from across the country being recognized this year – will receive a $1,500 stipend to cover expenses to attend the 2025 Spring ACS Meeting in San Diego, Calif., where he will present his research at a special symposium. Bansal will also be paired with an industry employee for a one-year mentorship.
Bansal earned his BE in Chemical Engineering at the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai and received awards for academic excellence and gained research experience in labs of professor Ratul Dasgupta at Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. At the U. of I., he is a student in the Shukla Group working on computational methods to study the underlying biophysical mechanisms of various therapeutically interesting targets.
“I am extremely grateful to have won this award,” Bansal said. “The ACS Pride Merck Graduate Student Research Award underpins the importance of recognizing the often-forgotten minorities within our society. I believe that receiving this award will give hope to fellow queer students who come from countries where aspects of being queer are still outlawed.”
The ACS Pride Subdivision is a community within the Division of Professional Relations that promotes inclusion, advocacy, recognition, mentorship, networking and diversity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning chemical scientists.