BENGALURU, India (Diya TV) — A new analysis by Indian-origin venture capitalist Debarghya “Deedy” Das has sparked fresh debate about the movement of India’s brightest science students to the United States. The study found that nearly 70% of Indian medalists from the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) between 2001 and 2019 now live and work in the U.S.
The findings came just days after India celebrated one of its strongest performances at the International Physics Olympiad. This year, all five members of the Indian team won gold medals, helping the country finish in a tie for first place at the global competition.
Das shared his analysis on X after reviewing the careers of 87 unique Indian IPhO medalists from 19 Olympiad editions. He identified current career information for 69 medalists, which represented about 79% of the total group.
According to the analysis, 48 of those 69 medalists, or 69.6%, now work in the United States. Many joined leading technology companies, artificial intelligence research labs, and quantitative trading firms. The data has renewed discussion about the long-standing trend of highly skilled Indian students building careers overseas.
At the same time, Das found that 17 medalists, or 24.6%, continue to live and work in India. They serve in research institutes, government roles, and startup companies. Several work at respected organizations such as the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences. Others have taken leadership positions in the civil services and India’s growing technology sector.
Meanwhile, four former medalists now live in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Singapore.
Das highlighted several well-known names in his analysis. Prafulla Dhariwal, who won a gold medal at the 2013 International Physics Olympiad, now serves as a technical fellow at OpenAI. He contributed to major artificial intelligence projects, including GPT-4o and DALL-E 2.
Another prominent example is Parag Agrawal. He earned an IPhO gold medal in 2001 and later became the chief executive officer of Twitter.
The study also pointed to successful careers in India. Prudhvi Tej Immadi, a 2011 silver medalist, now serves as chairman and managing director of APEPDCL. Likewise, Piyush Srivastava, who won a gold medal in 2005, returned to India after completing a doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley. Today, he teaches as a faculty member at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai.
The timing of the study drew additional attention because India had just achieved a historic result at the 56th International Physics Olympiad. The event took place in Bucaramanga, Colombia, from July 4 to July 12.
According to the Press Information Bureau, India secured gold medals in all five individual events. As a result, the country finished joint first with China, Kazakhstan, Russia, South Korea, and Taiwan. A total of 381 students from 87 countries participated in this year’s competition.
India’s gold medal winners included Kanishk Jain of Pune, Riddhesh Anant Bendale of Indore, Rishit Garg of Delhi, Shresth Suraiya of Mumbai, and Svarit Joshi of Ahmedabad. Their achievement earned praise across the country and highlighted India’s strong talent in physics and science education.
Even so, Das’ analysis has shifted part of the conversation toward where many of India’s top young scientists eventually choose to build their careers. The data does not explain why many medalists moved abroad. However, it adds fresh numbers to a discussion that has continued for years among educators, researchers, and policymakers.
Das has built his own career in the global technology industry. Born in Kolkata, he studied at La Martiniere for Boys before earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science from Cornell University. He later worked at Google and Facebook and joined the founding engineering team at Glean.
In September 2025, Das became a partner at Menlo Ventures. There, he focuses on artificial intelligence and infrastructure investments. He also co-leads the firm’s $100 million Anthology Fund with Anthropic.
As India continues to produce world-class science students, the latest International Physics Olympiad results show the country’s growing academic strength. At the same time, Das’ analysis raises fresh questions about where many of those talented students eventually choose to shape their professional futures.
