Congratulations to Professor Dhruv Ranganathan from the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics (DPMMS), who has won a 2026 Pilkington Prize. The Prizes are awarded annually by the University of Cambridge to recognise outstanding contributions to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching.
Dhruv Ranganathan is Professor of Algebraic Geometry in DPMMS. His Pilkington Prize marks the fourth consecutive year in which academic staff within the Mathematics Faculty have been recognised for their exceptional teaching contributions across all levels of the student experience.
The awards were presented in June 2026 by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Deborah Prentice, who praised the winners for their transformative and visionary approach to teaching.
Creating a new strand of opportunities for students
The Pilkington Prize recognises Dhruv Ranganathan's outstanding work as the Director of the Faculty of Mathematics' Summer Research in Mathematics (SRIM) and Cambridge Mathematics Placements (CMP) programmes. These represent a major new strand of our undergraduate degree opportunities, involving up to 90 students annually.
The Summer Research in Mathematics programme gives participating students their first taste of research, their first time publicly presenting their work, and often their first experience working collaboratively. The Cambridge Mathematics Placement programme enables undergraduate students to have impact on real-world problems across a range of industries and other academic disciplines by importing their specific mathematical expertise.
In addition to his work developing and extending the Faculty's student placement programmes, Ranganathan is also an exceptionally gifted teacher in his own right. He won the Faculty Lecturing Prize in 2025, and is highly praised by both staff and students.
"My own path into mathematics was shaped by a summer research project – 15 years ago in a different part of the world – so it means a lot to me that we're able to give our students these opportunities in Cambridge,” says Ranganathan. "The Faculty of Mathematics has been wonderfully supportive and energetic as we’ve built this programme over the years."
Read more about the 2026 Pilkington Prize winners, and find out more about the Faculty’s student placement programmes.