Prof. Anil Bhardwaj is the Director of Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad. After PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Banaras Hindu University (BHU), he joined Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in 1993 at the Space Physics Laboratory (SPL) of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Trivandrum, and was subsequently the Director of SPLVSSC during 2014-2017. He initiated the research in planetary sciences at SPL and contributed to the planning of planetary missions of India in ISRO.

He was the Principal Investigator (PI) of SARA experiment on the first Indian Lunar mission Chandrayaan-1. He is the PI of MENCA experiment on the Indian Mars Orbiter Mission. His team have PI-lead experiments on Chandrayaan-2, and Chandrayaan-3 lunar missions of India, as well as on Aditya-L1 mission. His primary research field is planetary and space sciences, including solar system X-ray astronomy, and theoretical modelling of emissions and photochemistry in planetary upper atmospheres and ionospheres and comets, and solar system exploration. He has used space-based (Chandra and XMM-Newton, and Hubble), and groundbased Telescopes (Indian Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope). He has published more than 160 peer-reviewed research papers in international journals, and several Book Chapters including a chapter in “Encyclopedia of the Solar System”, and has supervised many research fellows/students.

Prof. Bhardwaj is an elected member of all three National Science Academies in India, and has received recognition at both national and international level. He has received, in addition to many, the two most coveted science awards in India – Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (Planetary Sciences) in 2007 and Infosys Prize (Physical Sciences) in 2016; and is a recipient of Distinguished Alumnus Award of IIT-BHU (2015), INSA-Vainu Bappu Memorial International Award (2016), Decennial Award of Indian Geophysical Union (2017), and Prof. M.G.K. Menon award of NASI (2021). ISRO has honored him with their highest award "Outstanding Achievement Award" in 2017. He is an elected Academician of International Academy of Astronautics (2018), member of International Astronomical Union, and is currently the J.C. Bose National Fellow.