During the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s (CSIR) Foundation Day celebration, on 26 September, the recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for 2020 were announced. Dr. Vatsala Thirumalai of the NCBS has been awarded this prize for her work in the biological sciences. 14 scientists from various fields received India’s highest science award this year.

A major project has been launched to indigenously manufacture, in bulk quantities and at much lower costs, all reagents needed for RT-qPCR-based and other molecular methods of diagnostics of Covid-19. The Rockefeller Foundation has provided financial support for the project executed by the Bangalore Life Science Cluster, which would improve access to Covid-19 diagnostics across the country. 

Dr. Deepa Agashe has been elected as the Vice President of the Amerian Society of Naturalists (serving 2021-2023). She has been on the diversity committee of the ASN since 2018, and received several national and international recognitions for her work in the biological sciences. 

Prof. Upinder S. Bhalla has been awarded the SASTRA-Obaid Siddiqi Award 2020 for his contributions to the Life Sciences. On National Science Day, 28th February 2020, he delivered a lecture to students at Sastra University titled: “Molecules, memory & math models”. He emphasised some of Prof Obaid Siddiqi's qualities of being positive and adventurous in his science and his career choices.

Dr Deepa Agashe was awarded the SERB Women Excellence Award by the President of India during National Science Day

The NCBS Annual Talks 2020 were held from 14th January to 17th January, 2020. Annual talks mark an important event in the campus calendar when everyone comes together, perhaps for the only time in the year, to hear fellow researchers talk about their science. The idea of looking back at the achievements, and the glimpses of the future has been consistent. However, the history of this event has been quite dynamic. The current form of the annual talks has evolved over the years.

On 18 December, 2019, the Bangalore Life Science Cluster was visited by a delegation from the French National Centre for Scientific Research, led by  Prof.  Antoine Petit, President, CNRS.

Chandni Gurusrikar has been awarded Sanctuary Asia's Wildlife Service Award 2019. The award recognises her work with the local communities, the forest department and various other stakeholders to protect and conserve the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary and the river Cauvery. 

Dr Dimple Notani of the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore has been selected as one of the first life scientists from India to join the European Molecular Biology Organization’s Global Investigator Programme.