Prof. Kulkarni' s primary interests are the study of compact objects (neutron stars and gamma-ray bursts) and developing new methodologies for astronomical research. He is known for the discovery of the first millisecond pulsar and the first brown dwarf and showing that gamma-ray bursts are of extra-galactic origin. His awards include the Alan T. Waterman Prize of the NSF, the Helen B. Warner award of the American Astronomical Society and the Jansky Prize of Associated Universities, Inc. Prof. Kulkarni was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1994), Fellow of the Royal Society of London (2001), Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2003), Honorary Fellow, Indian Academy of Sciences (2011), and Foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (2016).