Odisha HRD

Standing advertisement for faculty positions at IIT Bhubaneswar

The following is from http://www.iitbbs.ac.in/admin/notice_board/1282304362WebAdvt-2010.pdf.

IIT Bhubaneswar invites applications for faculty positions at the level of Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor (on contractual basis) in the following five Schools:

Schools (Disciplines): School of Mechanical Sciences (Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering and Materials), School of Electrical Sciences (Electrical Engineering, Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering, Computer Science & Engineering), School of Infrastructure (Civil Engineering), School of Basic Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Bioscience) and School of HSS & Management (English, Economics, Philosophy and Psychology).

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION
Ph.D. with first class or equivalent in the preceding degree in appropriate branch with a very good academic record throughout and evidence of ability to pursue independent high quality research.

EXPERIENCE

Professor: A minimum of 10 years teaching / research / industrial experience of which at least 4 years should be at the level of Associate Professor in IITs, IISc Bangalore, IIMs, NITIE Mumbai and IISERs or at an equivalent level in any such other Indian or foreign institutions of comparable standards.

Associate Professor: At least 6 years teaching / research / industrial experience of which at least 3 years should be at the level of Assistant Professor, Senior Scientific Officer / Senior Design Engineer.

Assistant Professor: At least 3 years teaching / research / industrial experience excluding, however, the experience gained while pursuing Ph.D.

Assistant Professor (on contractual basis): May have less than 3 years teaching / research / industrial experience.

SCALE OF PAY:

(Position; Pay Band; Minimum Pay In the Payband; Academic Grade Pay)

• Professor; PB4: Rs. 37400 – Rs. 67000; Rs. 48000; Rs. 10500
• Associate Professor; PB4: Rs. 37400 – Rs. 67000; Rs. 42800; Rs. 9500
• Assistant Professor; PB3: Rs. 15600 – Rs. 39100 ; Rs. 30000; Rs. 8000 (On completion of 3 Yrs of service shall move to PB4: Rs. 37400 – Rs. 67000; Rs 9000)
• Assistant Professor (on contractual basis); PB3: Rs. 15600 – Rs. 39100; Rs. 20140;
  • With less than or equal to one year experience: Rs. 6000
  • With more than one year experience: Rs. 7000
  • In the above cases experience will be counted excluding that gained while pursuing Ph.D.

In addition to above pay, allowances as admissible to Central Government employees are applicable.

OTHER INCENTIVES

1. A cumulative Professional Development Allowance of Rs. 3 lakhs for every block period of 3 years on reimbursement basis to meet the expenses for attending international/national conferences, paying membership fees of professional bodies, covering book grant, paying telephone charges and meeting contingent expenses etc. as per Institute guidelines.

2. Initial seed grant up to Rs.5 lakhs for initiating research project in a chosen area.

3. Reimbursement of relocation charges at the time of joining up to a ceiling of Rs. 90,000/- as per Institute norm.

4. Honorarium of Rs. 15,000/- per month to the faculty members who have obtained Bhatnagar Award OR are Fellows of at least two National Academies. A faculty member is entitled for only one honorarium.

NOTES

• Reservation for SC/ST/OBC/PH as per Government of India rules.
• Minimum requirement of experience may be relaxed in respect of outstanding candidates.
• Mere eligibility will not vest any right on any candidate for being called for interview. The decision of the Institute in all matters of selection will be final.
• The Institute reserves the right to call only the requisite number of candidates for interview after shortlisting in terms of the candidates’ qualification, suitability and experience.
• For the post of Assistant Professor the candidates should be preferably below 35 years of age
• Canvassing in any manner would entail disqualification of the candidature.

NO INTERIM ENQUIRIES WILL BE ENTERTAINED.

HOW TO APPLY

Candidates possessing the requisite qualification and experience may submit their application in the prescribed form either in hard-copy or by e-mail to the Assistant Registrar (A&E), Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, Samantapuri, Bhubaneswar – 751013 (email: faculty.app@iitbbs.ac.in).

Application form can be downloaded from the Institute website (www.iitbbs.ac.in or www.iitbbs.gov.in).

Applicants desiring to apply for more than one School should send separate application for
each School.

The candidates applying from Government Organizations or Public Sector Undertaking should have their applications duly forwarded by their present employer.

The candidates may apply any time throughout the year. The Institute will consider the applications at any date in the year received up to that date depending on its requirements and/or the quality of the applications.

First round of selection process will start after 20th September, 2010.

Registrar
Advt. No : R/5/2010 Dated 20.08.2010

1 comment August 21st, 2010

IIT Bhubaneswar Research Park: Question in Rajya Sabha

1 comment August 19th, 2010

IISc Bangalore to start 4 year B.S program starting from 2011

(Thanks to Abi for the pointer.)

The web page for this program is http://www.iisc.ernet.in/ug/index.htm. Following are some excerpts from its main page.

The Indian Institute of Science, a leading institution of higher learning with a strong tradition of research for over a century, is opening its portals to undergraduate students by launching a four-year Bachelor of Science (BS) Programme. The programme is designed as a balanced blend of core science and interdisciplinary topics, to serve as a launching pad for research and doctoral studies in cutting-edge areas in science and technology. The graduates will also be ready for attractive career opportunities in academia and industry.

Major Disciplines offered: Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Materials, Mathematics and Physics.

Students majoring in any of the above disciplines will also take courses in engineering, humanities, and inter-disciplinary areas for a well-rounded learning experience.

The inaugural batch will begin classes from August 2011 and graduate in July 2015.

Admissions will be based on national examinations such as KVPY and through other channels to be announced soon.

Eligibility: 12th Standard or equivalent with Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics as main subject.

Applications will be accepted from January 1, 2011 till March 31, 2011.

August 19th, 2010

Getting a national institute to the Sambalpur area; upgrading VSSUT to an IIEST

I think the best possibility is to work on upgrading VSSUT, Burla (formerly, UCE Burla) to an IIEST.  UCE Burla alumni is fully supportive of this. In general, such a proposal has and will continue to have support from all circles of Odisha. Also, the CM has in the past written to Delhi about upgrading this.

To do this first  the state government needs to be pushed to give a one time allocation of a significant amount (say 100 crores) to improve the infrastructure. In addition the faculty size needs to be increased to be at the level of the colleges mentioned below. Simultaneously there should be a campaign to convince the central government to upgrade it to an IIEST.

The Congress MP from Sambalpur should do all he can for this.

For some background on IIESTs see http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/psearch/QResult15.aspx?qref=89897. Following are screen capture of that page.

4 comments August 18th, 2010

NISER Bhubaneswar seems to be designed to have 250 regular faculty plus 100 visiting faculty

I noticed that the fact that NISER currently has 43 regular faculty and 18 visiting faculty is not by accident or not because the institute is new and it needs visiting faculty to help in teaching, but is because NISER is designed to have additional 40% faculty as visiting faculty.

This comes out clearly in the design specs for the academic campus. For example, in https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/1820 it is clearly stated that there will be offices for 250 faculty and additional 100 visiting faculty. This is in addition to having space for 150 post-doctoral fellows. (IISERs talk about 200 faculty and do not mention visiting faculty.)

This feature of having about additional 40% visiting faculty is more of a feature of DAE institutes like TIFR and is in contrast to most MHRD institutions. For example, the IISERs do not have that many visiting faculty.

Having such a high percentage of visiting faculty will enrich NISER’s environment and will be one of its signature distinguishing features. It will also help in faculty recruitment in that it can take in some highly regarded prospective faculty immediately as visiting faculty while they go through the formal approval process of a regular faculty position.

NISER has not yet advertised or highlighted about this feature of having such a high percent of visiting faculty positions. It should. Also, it should spread the word about its visiting positions widely to attract visitors from all over the world.

Another design feature of NISER vis-a-vis IISERs is its lower faculty student ratio. Its target is to have 250 regular faculty plus 100 visiting faculty and 1750 students (including 150 post-docs); making it a target ratio of 1:7 (if one just counts the regular faculty). In comparison IISERs are designed to have 200 faculty and 2055 students (including post-docs); making it a target ratio of 1:10.

While NISER’s target faculty-student ratio is 1:7, its current regular-faculty-student ratio is about 1:4.6. That means NISER is ahead in its faculty recruiting. For this  all kudos go to the NISER director Prof. T. K. Chandrashekar.

1 comment August 16th, 2010

Sri Sri University (near Cuttack) to start classes in 2011 and ICFAI University Odisha to start in 2012

Following is an excerpt from a report in indiaeducationdiary.in.

Sri Sri Ravishankar University would start enrolling students for MBA and BBA courses for first batch from July 2011. This was announced by chairman of the Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir Trust of Governors Srinivasan on Thursday.

According Srinivasan, the work for the proposed university has already started and they would start to enroll students for 120 seats for common MBA programe, 30 seats each in Agro-MBA and Entrepreneurs MBA from next academic session. Similarly, there are 60 seats for the BBA programe.

The authorities of Sri Sri Ravishankar University have also informed that the courses in medical, engineering, vedic school and other courses would be launched subsequently.

The state government had signed MoU with Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir Trust in December 2006 for the university project pegged at Rs 350 crores. The proposed campus is likely to come up in approximately 200-300 acres of land in Naraj, 10 km from Cuttack. The campus will include academic buildings, recreational facilities, meditation halls, and a sports complex. It will be designed to cater to the needs of 1,500 faculty members, an equal number of non-academic staff members, and 15,000 students.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.

THE ICFAI Group, known for its chain of B-schools, is planning to set up eight universities in as many states in the next two years with an investment of Rs400 crore, says a senior official.

It has received the necessary approvals from the governments of Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab, said SK Sharma, director, planning and coordination, ICFAI. 

The universities are expected to be operational first in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh next year. “The construction work at these campuses is almost through. The state government has to inspect the facilities,” said Mr Sharma. The universities in Gujarat, Assam, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh will follow suit in 2012.

1 comment August 16th, 2010

Odisha higher education department seeks public opinion on its draft bill for establishing an Orissa State Open University

Following is from http://www.dheorissa.in/DHE/PDF/OOU-Notice.pdf.

Higher Education Department, Government of Orissa

Notice eliciting PUBLIC OPINION on establishment of Orissa State Open University

It has been felt that the National target of 30% Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) by 2020 is difficult to be achieved with the capacity of existing colleges and institutions. To have desired expansion for bridging the gap by providing higher education to large section of the population and to help disadvantaged sections of the society in making education available near their place of work or home, the Government of Orissa in Higher Education Department have decided to establish the Orissa State Open University, which will provide education in distance mode through its study centres. It will also impart skill education in the flexi mode to thousands of youth and provide the opportunity of training to the untrained teachers in distance mode.

A Preliminary Draft Bill is hosted in the Department Website: www.dheorissa.in for eliciting opinion of general public and eminent educationists of the State. They are requested to please go through the draft bill and to send their comments/opinion through e-mail: hedsec2010@gmail.com or in writing addressed to Sri S. K. Das, Joint Secretary, Higher Education Department on or before 26.08.2010.

S. K. Das

Joint Secretary to Govt.

Higher Education Department

3 comments August 16th, 2010

NIT Rourkela to be funded by Vedanta to develop a cost-effective method for neutralisation of red mud

Following is a from a PTI report in ibnlive.com.

National Institute of Technology-Rourkela and Vedanta Aluminium today signed an Mou to develop an environment-friendly technology.Vedanta will finance NIT-R to develop a cost-effective method for neutralisation of red mud and removal of poisonous heavy metals like arsenic, zinc and cadmium and to upscale the technology to industrial scale. …

Disposal of red mud, the waste product of aluminium manufacture had been bothering aluminium industries and governments and causing environment hazard. The disposal methods being followed has been creating problem of contamination of ground and surface water.Kumar said red mud mostly contain 50 per cent of iron ore and the aluminium industries want to reduce the level to zero.

August 12th, 2010

NISER IISER Campus comparison

August 11th, 2010

NISER Biology faculty reaches out to Chilika lake authorities for joint research on Chilika Development issues

Following is an item from the Biology Journal Club of NISER.

1 comment August 11th, 2010

Samaja op-ed advocating a Veterinary, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries University

The op-ed below advocates carving out a Veterinary, Animal Husbandry and Fishering University out of OUAT. It also mentions the following:

• A private organization is also planning a Veterinary University.
• OUAT management board has decided to establish the states second Veterinary and Animal husbandry college at Chipilima, near Sambalpur.
• It also has decided to establish a Diary Science College in Baripada.

Related postings from the past:

• January 2, 2009: Initial news on a Veterinary University.
• April 4th 2010: Number of seats in various OUAT Colleges.
• December 30 2009: College of Agriculture starts class in Bhawanipatna.
• June 23rd 2009: OUAT also offers MCA, MBA (Agri-business management), and MSc in Bioinformatics and Microbiology.
• May 11th 2009: OUAT plans a new college of Forestry.
• Nov 10th 2007: Horticulture college planned in Chipilima.

3 comments August 9th, 2010

Cabinet approves formation of societies for AIIMS-like institutions

Following is from PIB http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=64351.

The Union Cabinet today approved the proposal for formation of societies for each of the six AIIMS-like institutions being set up under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY). These societies will be functional till the AIIMS-like institutions are brought under an Act of Parliament.

Creating legal entities in the form of a society for these institutions will facilitate greater autonomy and faster execution of the projects and will expedite release of funds from the Government. Each of these institutions will be registered as a society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. 

Each society will have a two-tier Organization and Management structure. The Governing Council under the chairmanship of the Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare would have appropriate representation from concerned Ministries/Departments of the Government of India and other related organizations. This will be the apex body deciding all policy matters. 

There will also be a Board of Governors with Secretary (Health & Family Welfare) as chairperson with appropriate representation of State Governments. Persons with special knowledge in the field of science and medicine will be nominated by the Governing Council. 

Background: 

The Union Cabinet approved the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) in March, 2006 with the objective of correcting regional imbalances in the availability of affordable/reliable tertiary healthcare services and also to augment facilities for quality medical education in the country. Under Phase-I of PMSSY, six AIIMS-like institutions are being set up, one each in the States of Bihar (Patna), Chattisgarh (Raipur), Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal), Orissa (Bhubaneshwar), Rajasthan (Jodhpur) and Uttarakhand (Rishikesh) at an estimated cost of Rs. 840 crore per institution including nursing colleges. The formation of societies will give these institutions a governance structure, which is not there at present.

Related links from the past:

• Likely to be functional by December 2012.
• May 30 2010: Package II (Construction of Hospital Complex) call for tenders.
• March 9 2010: Latest cost estimates.
• March 5 2010: Detailed list of new institutions and upgrades; status of residential complex.
• Nov 2 2009: Call for tenders Package I (College Complex) and II (Hospital Complex).
• Oct 30 2009: Status until then.
• 3344 Faculty and staff positions.
• Bed distribution.
• Other specs.
• Housing complex tenders. (original Feb 17 2008; revised May 8 2008).
• Earlier links.

August 9th, 2010

NISER formalizes collaboration with KIDS and Institute of Life Sciences

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

The National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with two city-based institutes for analysing the origin and progression of stress and metabolic syndrome (SMS) and its links with diabetes. 

The NISER signed an MoU with the Kanungo Institute of Diabetes Specialities (KIDS) to carry out a collaborative project on clinical, behavioural and epidemiological data on SMS and diabetes yesterday.

It also roped in the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) to use the KIDS’ expertise in genomic studies, laboratory facilities and library for research.

… Chairman and managing director of KIDS Dr Alok Kanungo said: “While India has the highest prevalent diabetes – about 20 per cent of the total diabetic population in the world, there are 40 lakh diabetics in the state. As per statistics released by the state health department, the number of patients has been increased upto 5 lakh in the past five years.”

… “Currently more than 20 per cent of the adult population are suffering from stress related diseases due to change in lifestyle. This also leads to the pre-diabetes stage. However, we are yet to get the Indian database either on SMS or pre-diabetes. This collaboration is expected to let us know the role of Indian genetics in diabetes,” he added.

“The KIDS has a state-of-the-art super speciality diabetes centre with latest infrastructure,” he said.

“Our focus area of research will be SMS leading to diabetes and other physiological abnormalities at molecular level. The clinical, behavioural, epidemiological and susceptibility aspects of the patients of the KIDS will be studied to understand the link in Indian genetic perspective. The research is based on the private public entrepreneurship model of the NISER,” said Palok Aich, the chairperson of School of Biological Sciences, NISER.

“The ILS, being a leading centre of studies in genetics, will help our students and researchers regarding infrastructure and library use,” he said.

This is really great. Once the AIIMS-like institution gets operational it will further increase such collaboration the Biology, Life science and Human Health areas.These kind of collaborations is one of the motivation behind having clusters of institutions nearby. Their impact gets multiplied and the overall impact becomes many times the sum of their individual impact. However, Odisha needs multiple such clusters. Hence my suggestions on several tiers of clusters. See http://www.orissa2020.org/home/area-wise-plan. 

Some past relevant articles:

• Mathematics researchers in NISER and in the Bhubaneswar area.
• Status of AIIMS like institutions.
• NISER local collaboration plans.
• Ad for faculty positions at NISER.
• Faculty composition comparison across NISER and IISER.
• NISER campus layout (an older version).

August 9th, 2010

Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) Dhenkanal to be upgraded

Following is from the PIB http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=64336. The part relevant to Dhenkanal has been put in a different colour.

Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting Smt. Ambika Soni has said that under the new initiatives taken to position IIMC as an apex institution for providing quality education in the field on Media and entertainment, the endeavour was to establish facilities, curriculum and courses at par with Global Standards. A roadmap to initiate the process had already begun wherein classes at the four Regional Centres at J&K, Kerala, Maharashtra and Mizoram would commence from the next academic session at the facilities being provided by the State Governments. For this purpose, under the 12^th Plan, funds would be provided to establish the full fledged facilities at the four Regional Centres. The Minister stated this while delivering her address at the 43^rd Convocation of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication here today.

Elaborating on the details of the up-gradation being undertaken at Delhi and Dhenkenal, the Minister said that an up-gradation of the One-Year PG Diploma Course to Two-Year Advanced PG Diploma Course would be undertaken along-with seeking equivalence to Masters Degree for the Two-Year PG Diploma Courses from Ministry of Human Resources Development. As a new initiative, introduction of at least two new Two-Year PG Diploma Courses (one each in Development Journalism and Corporate Communication & Media Management) would be undertaken. For the infrastructural development, expansion of the existing buildings at Delhi and Dhenkanal and construction of new buildings for accommodating two batches of students at a time would be undertaken along-with procurement of latest technical equipment and filling up all vacancies in the teaching as well as non-teaching category. The Minister added that these initiatives would not only provide quality manpower to the industry, the training imparted would also ensure availability of skills, talent and professionalism with proper grooming at the inception level.

Smt. Soni further said that the growth of the media and entertainment industry had been one of the success stories of the Indian Economy.  The growth of the media and entertainment industry was expected to grow provisionally at Rs.652billion in 2010, culminating to Rs.1091 billion in 2014.  The CAGR was for the period was expected to be around 13%.  This growth rate was due to the development in regional markets as well as different media formats.    This growth, the Minister added  could be sustained only if talented and skilled persons added value to the sector through their professional inputs. Hence ,capacity building was a major challenge for any Government. As a consequence,  the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting had also  undertaken specific measures to look into the needs of the Human Resources and skill upgradation in the film and animation sector.

            The Minister further added that apart from IIMC, efforts were being made to reposition the Film and Television Institute of India at Pune as a world class Institute by upgrading and modernising its infrastructure and facilities. A Detailed Project Report was being finalised. An outlay of Rs.52 crore has been proposed for this scheme during the 11^th Five Year Plan. Similarly, in order to look into the growing demand of trained professionals in the sphere of Animation, Gaming and Visual Effects, it has been decided that a specialized National Centre for Animation, Gaming and Visual effects will be set up to provide training and upgrading skills. For this scheme also, a DPR is under preparation.  For the animation sector,Smt.Soni said, the ministry was open to the idea  of  developing a Public Private Partnership model with interested stakeholders.

            A total number of 259 students were awarded diploma for courses in Hindi & English Journalism, Advertising & PR, Radio & Television and Oriya Journalism. 44 students of IIMC, Dhenkanal were given diplomas in English Journalism.

3 comments August 7th, 2010

Centurion University of Technology & Management Bill 2010 passed on 5th August: A big boost to the extremely backward and tribal Gajapati district

Following are excerpts from a report in http://www.tathya.in/news/story.asp?sno=4397.

… the Odisha Legislative Assembly (OLA) passed the Centurion University of Technology & Management Bill 2010 on 5 August. 

The new University, which will be a self financed private university, will come up at Parlakhemandi in tribal zone of the state, Gajapati district. 

The Centurion University, which is being promoted by the Jagannath Institute of Technology & Management Trust (JITM Trust) which runs Jagannath Institute of Technology and Management will run the new University. 

… Minister said the new University aims to provide high quality education and will open the School of Engineering & Technology, School of Natural Science, School of Humanities & Social Science, School of Management & Law, School of Vocational Education & Training and School of Tribal & Development Studies. 

The University will have an endowment fund of Rs.3 crore, revealed the Minister Higher Education, shall be invested and kept invested until the dissolution of the University in long term securities issued or guaranteed by the State Government. 

2 comments August 5th, 2010

Mathematics faculty in institutes and universities in the Bhubaneswar area

Earlier we reported on the shortage of Math Ph.D’s in India. Slowly the Bhubaneswar area is emerging as a center for Mathematics starting from mentoring at the high school level (at IMA) to pursuing Ph.D at NISER, IIT, Utkal and Ravenshaw. There is also a good chance that one of the proposed 10 science magnet high schools will be established in this area. (The top Math center in India is Chennai which has IIT Madras, Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Chennai Mathematical Institute.) Below we list Math faculty (mostly with Ph.Ds) in institutes and universities in the Bhubaneswar area.

Related pointers from the past:

• Shortage of Math Ph.D’s in India.
• Postings on IIT Bhubaneswar.
• Postings on NISER Bhubaneswar.
• Postings on IMA Bhubaneswar.

August 4th, 2010