Shortage of Math Ph.ds in India; current faculty situation at the IISERS and NISER
January 30th, 2010
I was discussing with several people associated with NISER Bhubaneswar. I was told that the NISERs and IISER are having difficulty finding good faculty in mathematics, especially in pure mathematics. (On the other hand they can find very good people in Physics, Chemistry and Biology.) I did a quick survey of the IISERs and NISER and indeed they have much more faculty in Physics, Chemistry and Biology than in Mathematics. Following is a rough count made on Jan 30, 2010.
|
Physics |
Chemistry | Mathematics | Biology | Others | Total | |
| IISER Kolkata | 20 | 19 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 56 |
|
(some have joint appointments) |
11.5 (includes 3 joint) |
14 |
7 (includes 2 joint) |
13.5 (includes 3 joint) |
0 | 46 |
|
(permanent + visiting) |
12 (7 + 5) | 15 (10 +5) | 9 (5 +4) | 15 (7+8) | 4 (0+4) | 55 |
|
(permanent + visiting) |
8 + 2 | 9.5 | 4 + 1 | 8.5 | 0+1 | 34 |
|
(Current + to join in June 2010) |
6 + 1 (includes 1 visiting) | 13+1 | 4 (includes 1 visiting) | 5+2 | 2 (includes 1 visiting) | 34 |
|
(Current + to join in June 2010) |
4+5 | 5 | 2 | 2+1 | 19 |
As evident from the above, all of the above institutes are struggling in hiring faculty in Mathematics. Also, while the young faculty in the other fields (Physics, Chemistry and Biology) mostly have post-doc experiences, most of the younger Math faculty do not have that experience.
One of the reasons behind the shortage of Math Ph.ds is that most people who love Mathematics in high school go on to pursue engineering and perhaps there is a mistaken impression that the career prospects in mathematics is not good. Thus there is a big need for institutions like
The Institute of Mathematics and applications, Bhubaneswar
which is making great efforts to popularize Math among youngsters.
I hope some of the people who loved Math in high school, and now are in other (say IT) jobs would consider pursuing Math. Some of the top places to pursue Ph.D in Mathematics in India are:
- TIFR, Mumbai
- Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai
- Chennai Mathematical institute, Chennai
- HRI, Allahabad
- ISI, Kolkata and Bangalore
- IISc Bangalore
- Various IITs
- the IISERs and NISER
- Some of the Universities
India could also consider hiring foreigners. At least in the USA many Math Ph.Ds from top schools do not get a tenure track faculty position and end up teaching in community colleges. Some of them may jump at an opportunity to be a faculty in IISERs, NISER and other institutions.
Entry Filed under: Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Puri- Khurda area (1),IITs, IISc, IISERs, NISER, IIMs,India,Institute of Mathematics & App., Bhubaneswar,NISER, Bhubaneswar,Science Initiatives
3 Writeup
1. SM | March 8th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
A comparison of Faculties in all new IITs will also be very useful and reflective.
A quick count shows, IIT Hyderabad has 50, IIT Gandhinagar has 34, IIT Patna has 33 faculties while IIT Bhubaneswar has only 17 faculty members.
2. Chitta Baral | March 9th, 2010 at 1:36 am
I talked to IIT Bhubaneswar people and they have many new hires in the pipeline. So I plan to wait till September to see who stands where.
3. Janardan | May 30th, 2011 at 6:43 pm
It is not at all true that there aren’t enough good Phd’s in pure mathematics. There are plenty and many even from abroad are willing to move. What the govt. or its trash appointed amla-managing body fails to understand is – Most pure mathematicians doesn’t care for the kind of chair or air-conditioning system you decorate the office with and the beauty of the campus all the other stuff you show. They care for a superb atmosphere of research – meaning a team of people with whom they can chat for hours. Research doesn’t happen alone, so most people doing mathematics tend to choose a place be it India or abroad so that they can hook up well with their collaborators even if their salary is low. First and foremost choice is a group, second salary and then comes the rest. People doing mathematics are of completely different mind and the best way to attract them is to allow them to move to other countries many times a yr for collaboration. A one lakh rs for a yr for participating internationally is just bullshit.