Sergey Bobylev has been repeatedly awarded various prizes. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Human Development Report 2001. Russian Federation, which became the winner of the international UN competition for the best national Report (2002); winner of the USSR Government's competition for the best project to save the Aral Sea (1990); Laureate of the Moscow Government Prize in Environmental Protection (2013); Laureate of the USSR Academy of Sciences Prize for Young Scientists in Economics (1982); First Prize winner in the competition of works contributing to the objectives of the Moscow University Development Program (2016). Holds commendations from the State Council of the Russian Federation, the Civil Chamber of the Russian Federation, and the United Nations Development Program.

He visited leading universities in the U.S., was a visiting professor at the Dauphin University (Paris) and the Vienna University of Economics (Vienna).

He is the author of more than thirty monographs and textbooks. Among these books are the country's first publications on the economics of sustainable development, indicators and goals of sustainable development, the economics of biodiversity and ecosystem services.