Sampathkumaran was a Distinguised Professor in Natural Sciences Faculty at TIFR, Mumbai, and was also a Honorary Professor, JNCASR, Bangalore and Emeritus Professor at UGCDAE-CSR. After obtaining his Ph.D in 1982 at TIFR, he carried out his post-doctoral research at Free University of Berlin at the invitation of Humboldt Foundation. At early stages of his career after Ph.D, he received INSA medal for Young Scientists and was also an Associate of Indian Academy of Sciences. His prizes include Materials Research Society of India Award, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, and JC Bose Fellowship. He is an elected Fellow of all science academies in India (Indian Academy of Sciences, The National Academy of Sciences, and Indian National Science Academy) as well as an elected Member of Asia-Pacific Academy of Materials. His membership in the Editorial Board of journals include Solid State Communications, JMMM and Pramana. He was a JC Bose Fellow and is a DAE Raja Ramanna Fellow.

Borkar is Institute Chair Professor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai (IIT, Bombay). He obtained a PhD degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley (1980). He has held positions at TIFR Centre, Bangalore, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. He is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, National Academy of Sciences of India, Indian National Academy of Engineers, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, and the American Mathematical Society. He has received the S.S. Bhatnagar Award, Homi Bhabha and J. C. Bose Fellowships, P.C. Mahalanobis Medal and TWAS Award in Engineering, and has been an invited speaker to the International Congress of Mathematicians, Madrid, 2006.