IIM Sambalpur

Update on August 22, 2015: IIM Indore has made a tentative web page for IIM Sambalpur.

Update on June 24, 2015: The Indian Cabinet has finalized Sambalpur as one of the 6 new IIMs. On other fronts: (i) the state government has proposed the center to upgrade VSSUT Burla to an IIEST and there are pronouncements by a central minister that the central government is positively inclined, and (ii) the upgradation of GM College to an university is progressing well (its new web page is functional and advertisement for admission to GM University has come out).

Update on March 2, 2015: With center inclined to relax some of the conditions on IIM locations that it apparently had suggested earlier, the state government has now recommended Sambalpur as the location for IIM. Sambalpur is the second largest knowledge hub of Odisha with 3 existing state universities and two new ones in works. The existing universities in Sambalpur are: Sambalpur University, Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology, Veer Surandra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences. The two new planned ones are the upgradation of GM College to a unitary university and an Open University.

Old message:

Since it will take some time before IIM Bhubaneswar has its own web page prospective IIM Bhubaneswar students may check the following pages for why they should chose IIM Bhubaneswar and Bhubaneswar. We will try to add some links and information there.

  • IIM Bhubaneswar link 1.
  • IIM Bhubaneswar link 2.
  • Bhubaneswar – a hub of and for Knowledge institutions and companies.

    February 1st, 2015

  • Excerpts from the IIT Bhubaneswar convocation brochure

    Following are excerpts from the IIT Bhubaneswar convocation brochure.

    Temporary Campuses

    The Institute is currently operating from a number of campuses which include IIT Kharagpur Extension Centre at Samantapuri, Toshali Campus at Satyanagar and Workshop cum laboratory complex at Samantapuri. The Government of Odisha has provided us about one (1) acre of land on which we have constructed the Workshop cum Laboratory complex (3,010 sq. meters). The Government of Odisha has also made available two towers at Toshali Bhawan (10,000 sq. meters) which we have renovated. We are also getting generous support, in more ways than one, from Institute of Minerals, Metallurgical and Materials Technology (CSIR-IMMT) and Central Tool Room and Training Centre (CTTC). I sincerely thank all the members of these institutions for their continued support.

    IIT Bhubaneswar is well equipped with modern class rooms and undergraduate/research laboratories. All the class rooms are fitted with multimedia projectors, internet facilities and wireless connectivity. The Institute has designed and developed three virtual class rooms (VCR) sponsored by National Knowledge Network (NKN). These virtual class-rooms are equipped with high end AV and teaching equipment and are connected to the NKN by means of a dedicated 1Gbps leased line. The VCR facilities provide real time interaction among the students and faculty members of our Institute and those from other institutions.

    IITs are known for the de rigueur to have a residential campus in order to facilitate one-to-one human interaction. The Government of Odisha has provided us 14 flats at Government Colony, Gajapati Nagar. We have found cooperation from the housing society in SBI Colony Kesura (10 km from city centre) wherein we have hired 65 HIG/ MIG flats for the accommodation of our students, few of our staff and faculty members. Another hostel at Madanpur (15 km from the city centre) has been provided for M. Tech. students and Ph. D. scholars. In addition, IIT Kharagpur has constructed a new 200 capacity Dr. A. N. Khosla Hall of Residence at Samantapuri for the students of this Institute. I take this opportunity to thank IIT Kharagpur for constructing the hostel which is of great convenience to us. I would also like to put on record my deep appreciation to the students, the staff and faculty members who have to commute regularly between their residence and the various academic campuses. I am aware that this is strenuous. But I am hopeful that our students, faculty and staff members would bear it and be a part of the history in the making.

    Permanent Campus

    The Foundation Stone of the permanent campus at Arugul (near Jatni) was laid on 12th February 2009. The Government of Odisha allotted 936 acres of land at Arugul for developing this IIT of which the Institute has already taken possession of 598 acres. The Government of Odisha has started construction of a 4-lane access road to the campus from the National Highway No. 5. The work on water and electric supplies to the campus is also in progress. The Government of Odisha has also agreed to provide 75 acres of land on the Puri–Konark coast line to set up an Innovation Centre for Climate Change for the School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences.

    Out of 19 km, construction of 13 km of boundary wall has been completed. More than 10 bore wells have been sunk to facilitate construction work. The Institute has also taken up tree plantation programme for its new campus.

    The master plan of the new campus at Arugul has been approved for 10,000 students, 1000 faculty and 1100 supporting staff and the total construction should be completed in 3-phases in next 12-15 years. The Ground Breaking Ceremony was organized on 14th August 2011. The work for land grading, road and other related construction have started. The Government of India has approved construction of 221,000 sq. meters of covered area in the 1st phase. Our consultant has completed the designing of 130,000 sq. meters of covered areas for various Schools, residential quarters, hostels and other service/administrative buildings for construction based on the availability of fund in the initial phase. Clearances for construction from various statutory bodies have been obtained. The tendering process for part of the construction is over and I am very happy to announce that CPWD has just started the construction of the hostel complex. Our consultant and CPWD are also ready for tendering for the remaining part of construction. The Institute plans to move to its permanent campus by the beginning of 2014.

    Academics

    Academic Schools We began our journey with a mission to promote a borderless academic environment with the concept of Schools, rather than Departments to enable and encourage the academic staff and students to work in an interdisciplinary environment. Initially the following five (5) schools were set up:

    ● School of Basic Sciences (Bioscience, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics)

    ● School of Electrical Sciences (Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics & Communication Engineering, Energy, Instrumentation, Learning Sciences)

    ● School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Management (Economics, English, Management, Psychology)

    ● School of Infrastructure (Architecture, Civil Engineering, Town Planning, Traffic & Transportation Engineering Urban Design)

    ● School of Mechanical Sciences (Aerospace Engineering, Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Naval Architecture)

    The state of Odisha and neighborhood including the vast coastline is rich in mineral resources and biodiversity. The region is also adversely affected by flood, cyclone and other natural calamities. In view of this, the Institute has set up the following two (2) Schools:

    ● School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences

    ● School of Mineral, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

    The Institute is also setting up an Innovation Centre for Climate Change on the Puri-Konark coast line. The following Schools are proposed to be set up in the second phase of expansion:

    ● School of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering (Biochemical, Biomedical and Chemical)

    ● School of Design and Creative Arts

    Academic Activities

    The Institute started its journey in 2008 with a total of 94 students in three (3) undergraduate programmes viz. Civil, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, with an intake of 40 students in each programme. The Institute has introduced Ph. D. programme from 2009. From July 2012 we have started postgraduate (Joint M. Tech. – Ph. D.) programmes in Electronics & Communication Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Climate Science & Technology, Applied Geoscience and Materials Science & Engineering. The Institute is going to start Joint M. Sc. – Ph. D. program in Chemistry, Earth Science, Physics and Mathematics from the next academic session.

    Currently the Institute has 571 students (B. Tech. 456; Preparatory 2; M. Tech. 41; Ph. D. 72), 70 full-time faculty members, 1 Chair Professor, 6 officers and 40 supporting staff.

    It is heartening to note that the pioneer batch of undergraduate students who are receiving their degree today are all placed. Many of the students have received offer of admission/scholarships from prestigious universities abroad: Stanford University, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Cornel University, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Texas, Imperial College of London to name a few.

    Research & Development

    Activities: In-house, Sponsored, Consultancy Our faculty members, research scholars and undergraduate students have been actively pursuing research in varying areas. The Institute has received a number of sponsored projects from various funding agencies like DST, CSIR, DBT and DRDO and consultancy from industries worth more than Rupees 480 lakhs. The faculty members are also engaged in various consultancy activities. Project proposals worth more than Rupees 700 lakhs have been submitted.

    IIT Bhubaneswar has been successful in its bid for the following UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) projects:

    Joint Masters and Split-Site Ph. D. Programme: An Integrated Doctoral and Masters Programme with the University of Warwick – To develop an integrated suite of postgraduate joint degree programmes.

    Thematic Partnerships Programme 1: UKIERI Thematic Partnership in Low Carbon Materials Technologies, Innovation and Application jointly with the University of Warwick – To enable the rapid and effective introduction of new steel and multi-material combinations, for new applications addressing the global imperative of carbon reduction.

    Thematic Partnerships Programme 2: UKIERI Thematic Partnership jointly with the University of Southampton and National Oceanography Centre and University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth – To establish the School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar and Marine Campus on the Bay of Bengal.

    I would like to highlight in brief the ongoing R&D activities in various Schools:

    The School of Basic Sciences is a cluster of disciplines namely Bioscience, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics. The School is carrying out research in the areas of multimetallic catalysis, organometallic chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, coordination chemistry, synthesis of natural products and intermediates. The research work in biosciences is focused on understanding the structure and function of various proteins of eye lenses, leprosy, and tuberculosis. The research in high energy physics is focused on understanding fundamental particles and their interaction using theoretical tools such as string theory, and experimental setup in collaboration with CERN, Geneva. Specific areas include conformed field theory, pure spinor formalism of superstrings, super symmetry and black holes. A number of projects have been undertaken in the area of the plasmonics, photonics, ion-surface interactions, design and development of sensors, magnetic grids, energy storage devices and optoelectronic devices. Multidisciplinary work is underway in the area of nanomaterial-based device design, assembling and clustering. On-going research in mathematics includes complex dynamics and fractals, variational inequalities and complementary problems, queuing theory, mechanics, computational fluid dynamics, algebraic graph theory, neural network and artificial intelligence.

    The major R & D activities of the School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences includes monitoring, prediction and providing mitigation solutions for natural disasters with sound and precise observational network of meteorological, oceanographic, geological and geophysical instruments combined with data-assimilative modeling in a multi-institutional framework and use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), thereby becoming a hub of such activities on the east coast of India with an international presence. The thrust areas are: Climate Modeling, Modeling of extreme events, Cloud Physics, Numerical Weather Prediction, Natural Resources-exploration and utilization, Climate Change and its Effects, Biological Oceanography, Application of the Space Technology for the Study of the Earth System Science, Soil Water Interactions, Waste Utilization, and Pollutant Pathways.

    The research activities in the School of Electrical Sciences includes the following: Antenna Design, Smart Antenna Techniques for MIMO Systems, Radio Frequency Identification System Design & Application, Non-Destructive Testing Methods, Digital Signal Processing, Speech & Real Time Interactive-Audio Processing, Active Noise Control, Cognitive Radio, Sensor Networks, Intelligent Instrumentation, OptoElectronic Devices, Long-haul Optical Communication System Design, Optical Sensor, Communication & Wireless Communication System Modeling & Design, Semiconductor Material & Device Characterization, Wide Band Gap Semiconductor Devices, MMICS, Decoupling & Robust Control, Periodic Feedback Control, Power Quality Analysis, Custom Power Devices, Renewable Energy Sources, Application of SoftComputing Techniques to Power Systems, Intelligent Protection to Transmission Systems-Facts, Micro & Smart Grids, Distributed Generation & Dynamic Security Assessment in Large Power Network, Structural Health, Integrity Analysis & Monitoring (SHIM).

    The School of Humanities, Social Science & Management is pursuing research in the areas of Environmental Economics, Natural Resources Economics, Macroeconomics, Development, Economics & Rural Development, Indian Writing in English, Post-Colonial Literature, Travel Writing, Business Communication, American Literature, Canadian Literature, ELT, Cross Cultural Communication, Autobiography, Consumer Behaviour, Cyber Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Psycholinguistics, Psychology of Personality, Marketing.

    The present research in the School of Infrastructure are in the thrust areas of Concrete Technology, Earthquake Engineering, Traffic Flow Modeling, Travel Demand Modeling, Travel Behaviour Analysis, Transportation System Planning & Policy Address, Energy Geotechnology, Soil-Structure Interaction, Fluvial Hydraulics, Waste Water Engineering, Water Resources Engineering, Study of Unsaturated Soils Behavior.

    The School of Mineral, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering is actively pursuing research in the areas of Solidification Processing, Metal Matrix Composites, Ti-Based Alloy, Automotive Applications, In-situ Metal Matrix Composites, Semi-solid Processing, StructureProperty-Processing Correlations in Metals, High Cycle Fatigue and Fracture in Metals, Friction Stir Welding/Processing, Modeling & Simulation, Structural & Magnetic Frustration of Materials, Synchrotron and Neutron diffraction, 3-D Atom probe (LEAP), Metallic Glasses, Process Modeling & Study of Diffusion in Solids.

    The School of Mechanical Sciences conducts R&D activities in the following areas: Computer-Aided Design & Manufacturing, Robotics & Controls, IC Engines, Multi-Phase Flow, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Conjugate Heat Transfer, High Reynolds Number Turbulence, Optical Flow Diagnostics, Turbulence Modeling & Simulation and Acoustics, Composite Materials, Sandwich Structures, Fracture Mechanics, Material Science, Green Supply Chain Management.

    Publications

    Within 3 years of existence in the city of Bhubaneswar, the faculty members and students have contributed to creating new knowledge by publishing 230 original research papers in National and International Journals of repute, and 20 books/book-chapters. Besides, 128 papers have been presented in various National and International Conferences in India and abroad. Our undergraduate students have also made technical presentations in conferences, nationally and internationally.

    Endowment

    Industries have come forward to join us in developing this new IIT. The MGM Minerals Group has established a perpetual “MGM Chair Professorship” in the School of Minerals, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering with an endowment of Rs 300 lakhs. In addition the MGM Minerals Group has instituted two awards for best B. Tech. theses (Electrical and Mechanical Engineering) in memory of Tejaswi and Dinesh, two budding students of our Institute, whom we lost in a tragic train accident in March 2011.

    October 10th, 2012

    Logos of national level institutes and universities of Odisha

    Below is a collage of the logos of national level institutes and universities of Odisha. (IIIT is trying to get there.) Note that except NIT Rourkela, which started as an REC in 1961 and became NIT in 2002, the rest have been established in the last 5 years:

    • IIIT and NISER in 2007,
    • IIT in 2008, NLUO in 2008-9,
    • CUO Koraput in 2009, and
    • AIIMS in 2012.

    See https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/6243 for a timeline of the establishment of various higher educational institutions of Odisha.

    See our collection of logos of Odisha higher education institutions and universities in facebook at here and here.

    3 comments September 2nd, 2012

    Artist’s conception of IIT Bhubaneswar’s main and iconic building

    The following is from pages 2-3 of http://www.iitbbs.ac.in/pdf/IITBBS_Profile_LZW.pdf. It is the artist’s conception of IIT Bhubaneswar’s main and iconic building. The hill to the right side of the background is the historic Barunei hills.

     

    7 comments August 1st, 2012

    Odisha government makes guidelines for new private universities; impact on the various applications

    The following bullet points about the guidelines are from this article in tathya.in.

    • The committee that will examine the proposals based on the guidelines will be headed by the Chief Secretary and Secretary of the Higher Education will be the Member Convener.
    • Each private university shall be established by a separate Act, which will be passed by Odisha Legislative Assembly.
    • Private university shall fulfill the minimum criteria in terms of programs, faculty, infrastructural facilities and financial viability.
    • Any college opting to establish a private university should have been in existence for at least 15 years in the state, however in deserving cases the State Government may relax the condition of 15 years for
      institutes of national and international repute.
    • In ‘De Novo’ university category, where no such institution belonging to the promoter exists within Odisha as on date of commencement of the university will be devoted to unique and emerging areas of knowledge. These institutions should be promoted by persons/institutions of proven merit and reputation. Selection of universities in this category will be made by a committee of experts comprising eminent academicians and the Secretary of the department concerned dealing with the subject.
    • Infrastructure requirement: At least 15 acres of land in urban area and 30 acres of land in non-urban area will be needed. For administrative building 1000 square meter and academic building 10,000 square meter will be required for a private university. Residential accommodation for teachers and hostel accommodation for students will be required.
    • Corpus Fund: For institutions conducting professional program such as Engineering & Technology and Medicine it will be Rs.8 crore, where as for Management and Law it will be Rs.5 crore and for other programs Rs.4 crore kitty will be needed. For institutions conducting both professional and other programs will have Rs.10 as Corpus Fund, while for the ‘De Novo’ category of university; the Corpus Fund will be Rs.25 crore.
    • Financial viability of the institution will be verified by the audited statements of accounts of the institutions for the previous 5 years.
    • The Chancellor of the university will be an eminent educationist or a distinguished public figure and there will be no Pro-Chancellor.
    • The Board of Management will be headed by the Vice Chancellor with the body consisting a minimum of 10 and maximum of 12 Members.

    In the link https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/7127 we have the list of applicants as of 8/20/2011. Let us analyze some of those application in terms of the above criteria. (In that we will use the link https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/6243 which includes the dates when various professional colleges were started.)

    • Centurion: Established on 12/23/2010. Its main constituent JITM started in 1997.
    • Sri Sri: Act passed by GOO on 12/26/09. Classes to start in Fall 2012. Would have been considered in the de-novo category.
    • ICFAI: Act passed by GOO on 3/9/10. No progress since then. Would have been considered in the de-novo category.
    • Vedanta University: Bill passed by OLA in December 2009. Awaiting governor’s assent. Also awaiting supreme court verdict on land acquisition.
    • Jagadguru Kripalu University: Would be considered in de-novo category.
    • Xavier University: XIMB was started in 1987.
    • Techno Global University: Techno started in 2005. It will have 15 years experience in 2020.
    • Amrita Viswa Vidyapeetham University: Would be considered in de-novo category.
    • Synergy University: Synergy started in 1999. It will have 15 years experience in 2014.
    • Women’s university of Technology: Not sure about the foundation that is behind this. Could be KISD. KISD was started in 2001.
    • Private University by Rai foundation: Would be considered in de-novo category.
    • Amity University: Would be considered in de-novo category.
    • University of Corporate Excellence: Would be considered in de-novo category.
    • Silicon University: Silicon was started in 2001.
    • ASBM University: Not sure when ASBM was started.
    • Divine Global University by Divine Education Trust, Delhi: No idea about the trust behind it.
    • GIET University, Gunupur: GIET was started in 1997.
    • C. V. Raman International University Bhubaneswar: C. V. Raman was started in 1997.
    • JPM University by Shree Chandulal Minda Memorial Trust: Do not know about this trust.
    • Krupajal National University: Krupajal was started in 1999.
    • Manipal: Would be considered in de-novo category.
    • Odia University: Would be considered in de-novo category.
    • Edu City in Rourkela by Knowledge Foundation, Jail Road, Jharpada, Bhubaneswar: Do not know about this trust.

    So among the above XIMB, GIET and CVRaman have the required 15 years experience; Synergy and Krupajal will have that in 2014.

    July 28th, 2012

    Fashion and Textile design institutes and programs in Bhubaneswar

    There are now several of them in Bhubaneswar. (I am starting with Bhubaneswar but will be happy to broaden this posting to rest of Odisha if people suggest pointers in the "Comments" section.)

    1. NIFT Bhubaneswar.
    2. KIIT School of Fashion Technology.
    3. NIFD Bhubaneswar.
    4. Bhubaneswar Institute of Fashion Technology.
    5. National Institute of Interior and Fashion Technology (NIIFT).
    6. Orissa Institute of Interior and Fashion Technology.
    7. ALT Training College Bhubaneswar.
    8. Institute of Interior and Fashion Technology (IIFT) Bhubaneswar.
    9. (Apparel Training and Design Center) ATDC-IGNOU Community College, Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.
    10. Satwik Institute of Professional Studies, Bhubaneswar.

    2 comments July 21st, 2012

    NISER Bhubaneswar and IIT Bhubaneswar status report

    NISER Bhubaneswar was announced on August 28 2006 and its first batch started in 2007. IIT Bhubaneswar was announced on March 28 2008 and its first batch started in 2008. They both graduated their first batch of undergraduate students this year with the NISER students getting M.Sc degrees and the IIT students getting B.Tech degrees. Following is a quick comparative status report on both.

    • The construction of the main campus of NISER is in full swing and is expected to be ready for move-in by the 2013-14 academic year. Although IIT Bhubaneswar has adequate space for its faculty and other academic operations, hostels for students are scattered and is an issue. The construction of the main campus is not in full swing yet and its not known when it will be ready; most likely not before the 2014-2015 academic year.
    • As of today, NISER has 59 regular faculty and 5 visiting faculty and IIT Bhubaneswar has 64 regular faculty and 6 visiting faculty. For this year IIT has advertised for faculty positions in all areas while NISER has advertised for faculty in only mathematics. However, with the NISER main campus targeted to be ready by 2013-14, NISER will definitely hire a lot of people in 2013-14 and thereafter.
    • The faculty breakup of NISER is: 15 regular and 1 visiting in Biology, 18 regular in Chemistry, 8 regular + 1 visiting in Mathematics, 15 regular + 3 visiting in Physics and 3 regular in Humanities. The faculty breakup of IIT Bhubaneswar is: 17 regular + 1 visiting in Basic Sciences (5 + 1 in Mathematics, 5 in Physics and 7 in Chemistry), 4 regular in Earth and Ocean Engineering, 11 regular + 1 visiting in Electrical Sciences, 11 regular in Infrastructure, 10 regular + 2 visiting in Mechanical Sciences, 5 regular in Mineral Sciences, 6 regular + 2 visiting in Humanities.
    • IIT Bhubaneswar started off with 5 schools (Basic Sciences, EE, Mech, Infrastructure, Humanities) and undergraduate programs in 3 subjects (EE, Mech, Civil) and since then has added two more schools (Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences AND Minerals, Metallurgical & Materials Engineering) and both Ph.D and this year jont M.Tech+Ph.D programs. NISER started off with 4 schools (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology) and 5 yr BSc+MSc program in those 4 subjects. It has a Ph.D program. It has not started a direct M.Sc program. It has not yet added new schools that it has plans for. It is expected that some new schools will be added in 2013-14 when the main campus is ready. New schools are planned for in: Earth and Planetary Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Computing Sciences and Engineering Sciences.

    July 12th, 2012

    NISER Bhubaneswar first batch graduates; most go on to Ph.D programs

    As per this Business Standard article out of 35 students that graduated from NISER Bhubaneswar this year 11  are going abroad for Ph.D (to places such as Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, Pennsylvania, Chicago, Stony Brook), 5 are going to TIFR for PhD, 2 are going to IISc Bangalore, 4 to NII Delhi and 4 to various IITs. This adds up to 26.

    Even when a lot of IIT students were going abroad, no department of any IIT was sending so many to pursue Ph.D.

    Kudos to NISER to live up to the dreams and goals behind establishing the IISERs and NISER.

    Finally, considering the angst of some of the alumni of the IISERs (especially IISER Pune) kudos to NISER for holding its own entrance exam (and not take students from IIT JEE) so that students who come into NISER are more in synch with the institution in terms of their expectation. (Update: Just to be clear, now, IIT JEE is only one of the three means to get admitted to IISERS. The other two are via KVPY and an aptitude test.)

    3 comments June 27th, 2012

    Research councils to be important parts of the innovation universities

    Following is from a PTI report in zeenews.

    The proposed innovation universities in the country would be supported by research councils, which would not only identify potential areas of research but also extend advisory services in other areas.

    Every university for research and innovation will have such a council headed by a director. These varsities shall present its report annually highlighting its achievements on their website.

    The proposed innovation universities, a Bill of which was introduced in Parliament last week, are to be set up during the 12th Plan Period.

    The hallmark of the legislation is that each university would focus on one area or problem of significance to India and build an eco-system of research and training around different related disciplines.

    In keeping with this objective, each of the council of the university concerned shall interface with research funding organisations, industry and civil society to identify potential areas for research in areas of enterprise.

    Besides, the council will assist the teachers in obtaining funding from external sources for research projects prepared by them, according to the provisions of the Universities for Research and Innovation Bill, 2012.

    The Bill seeks to set up the universities both in the public as well as the private sectors.

    As per the provisions, each of these universities would offer exposure to an international classroom environment, with a minimum of 50 per cent of the students from India.

    Each of the research council will be headed by a director and members, the strength of which would be specified by the board of governors of the university concerned.

    The council will also provide for incubation of applications emerging from research undertaken in such university.

    Importantly, it shall make provisions for research and advisory service for which it would enter into agreement with other institutes, industry, civil society and other organisations and enable the results and benefits of research to be disseminated to the public.

    According to the Bill, the research council shall present its annual output on its website three years after the establishment of the university and each year thereafter.

    Each of the university would have autonomy in matters of academics, faculty, personnel and finances administration.

    1 comment May 28th, 2012

    Cabinet approves the innovation university bill; Update: Bill Introduced in the Lok Sabha

    Update: Following is an excerpt from a PTI report in Zeenews.

    A bill which seeks to provide for establishment of universities focussed on innovation and research was introduced in Parliament on Monday.

    The Universities for Research and Innovation Bill, 2012 was tabled in the Lok Sabha by HRD Minister Kapil Sibal.

    The Bill seeks to set up the universities both in the public as well as the private sectors.

    Each university on research and innovation would provide for the knowledge and economic needs of the country by creating professionals, specialists, scientists and researchers and generate new knowledge to support the national innovation system.

    According to the provisions of the Bill, each of these universities would offer exposure to an international classroom environment, with a minimum of 50 per cent of the students being Indian.

    The hallmark of the legislation is that each university would focus on one area or problem of significance to India and build an eco-system of research and training around different related disciplines.

    These universities would have autonomy in matters of academics, faculty, personnel and finances administration.

    The President would be the visitor of the publicly funded universities.

    The Bill, which was cleared by the Union Cabinet early this month, does not specify the target of 14 such universities as was proposed earlier.


    Following is from a report by Basant Kumar Mohanty in Telegraph.

    The Union cabinet today cleared a proposed “omnibus law” under which central or private theme-based universities can be set up with Parliament’s approval without enacting a separate law for each institution as is the rule now.

    The Universities for Research and Innovation Bill, 2012, does not apply to general universities but only to “innovation universities” — those where teaching and research will focus on specific areas such as environment, astrophysics, urban planning or the liberal arts.

    Universities are now set up individually through legislation by Parliament or a state’s Assembly. Once Parliament passes the new bill, which could be introduced in the current budget session, innovation universities can be established through an executive order followed by parliamentary approval, which will make the process faster.

    It will also allow the establishment of as many theme-based universities as the Centre wants as long as they fulfil the set requirements. They can be set up in the public, private or public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

    The government plans to set up a few such universities on its own. The bill allows internationally acclaimed foreign universities with at least 50 years of standing in their countries to collaborate with Indian entities to set up innovation universities.

    Private bodies such as registered societies, trusts or companies registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act and foreign institutions will be termed “promoters” and will have to sign a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the government to set up innovation universities, either through collaboration or independently.

    The promoter will apply to the government and send a detailed project proposal carrying information such as the vision plan, areas of focus, and how the land and funds will be mobilised.

    If the proposal is found acceptable, the government will sign an MoA with the promoter, notify it and place it before Parliament, which will have the right to reject or amend it. The promoter cannot take away the profits from education activities but must plough them back into the institution for its development.

    These universities can appoint by invitation anyone with academic distinction and professional achievements as professor or assistant professor. They can also appoint by invitation, as assistant professor, any graduate student with academic distinction and exceptional talent for research.

    1 comment May 11th, 2012

    AIIMS Bhubaneswar director selected and faculty hired; classes to start in September 2012: Union health minister Mr. Azad

    Following is from a report in Business Standard.

    Despite the slow pace of construction work, the first academic session of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar is all set to begin from September this year while its hospital would be ready next year, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said today.

    … The Director for the upcoming prestigious institute has already been selected and selection of faculties had also been completed, he said.

    "Now all work and preparations (are) for starting the classes this year and the hospital by 2013 with full pace. People are working day and night to complete the work as per our plan," Azad said.

    1 comment May 6th, 2012

    The phase by phase development of the six AIIMS like institutes

    The following is from the web pages of AIIMS like institute Bhopal. The other institutes are expected to have the same plan.

    Departments in Medical College

    Phase I-1st May 2012

    Department Name Clinical Service Component
  • Anatomy
  • Embalmming, Cyto genetics, DNA finger printing, Osteology , Ultrasound
  • Physiology
  • Pulmonary Function Test, Cardiac Function, Cardiac Cycle, Blood Volume, Yoga Plethysmography
  • Biochemistry
  • Clinical Biochemistry
  • Community and Family Medicine
  • Family Planning and Triage clinics, Rural/Urban Community Health
  • Pharmacology
  • Drug Monitoring, Pharmaco-epidemiology
  • Pathology
  • Cyto and Histopathology, Clinical Autopsy
  • Microbiology
  • Bacteriology and Virology, Fungal Cultures
  • Forensic Medicine and Toxicology
  • Clinical and hospital generated medico-legal postmortems
  • Laboratory Medicine & Biotechnology
  • High end Genomics, Proteiomics, Metabonomics, Immunology
  • Biostatistics, Clinical Epidemiology , Clinical Research Secretariat
  • Departments in Hospital

    S.No Department Name Beds
    Phase II – 1st May 2013
    1 Medicine 60
    2 Surgery 60
    3 Obstetrics & Gynaecology 60
    4 Pediatrics 60
    5 Psychiatry 30
    6 Ophthalmology 30
    7 Orthopedics 30
    8 ENT 30
    9 Dermatology 10
    10 Anesthesiology Day Care
    11 Radiology Day Care
    12 Radiotherapy 10
    13 Dentistry Day Care
    14 Transfusion Medicine & Blood Bank Day Care
    15 Trauma Center 50
    16 Emergency Department 50
    17 Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation 30
    18 Ayush 30
    19 Nursing
    20 Hospital Administration
    21 Dietetics
    Phase III – 1st May 2014 Super Specialty
    22 Cardiology 30
    23 Neurology 30
    24 Nephrology 30
    25 Rheumatology 30
    26 Pulmonary Medicine 30
    27 Medical Gastroentrology 30
    28 Medical & Haemato Oncology 30
    29 Nuclear Medicine Day Care
    30 Surgical Oncology 30
    31 GI Surgery 30
    32 Urology 30
    33 Neurosurgery 30
    34 Pediatric Surgery 30
    35 Plastic Surgery & Burns 30
      Total 930
    Phase IV – 1st May 2014
    36 Renal Transplantation
    37 Liver Transplantation
    38 Bone Marrow Transplantation
    39 Stem Cell Facility
    40 Clinical Immunology
    41 Clinical Genetics
    42 Clinical Endocrinology
    43 Geriatrics, Hospice, Long Term Acute Care, Geriatric Mental Health, Palliative Care and Bereavement Services

    May 4th, 2012

    Recruitment of faculty and administrators of the new AIIMS like institutes is in full swing; The ones at Bhopal and Patna have their websites up and running.

    Earlier in https://www.orissalinks.com/archives/7218 we wrote about the advertisement on admission to the new AIIMS like institutes in Bhubaneswar, Bhopal, Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur, and Rishikesh. The ad mentions that  the first batch of class in these institutes is tentatively supposed to start in Fall 2012. For the classes to start in Fall 2012 faculty and administrators need to be hired. There is indication that such hiring is in full swing. Following are some of those indicators.

    1. The page http://mohfw.nic.in/index1.php?lang=1&level=0&linkid=37&lid=46 has links to several of the hirings that are going on.(Deadline for many of them is past.)
    2. The faculty job ad and links to the application form and FAQ is at http://aiimspatna.nic.in/. Note that faculty job ad lists 91 positions for each of the six AIIMS like institutions.
    3. The initial deadline for the faculty job application is past. This economic times article mentions that 40 faculty have been hired for the AIIMS like institution in Bhopal. It is expected that similar number of faculty may have been hired for the other AIIMS like institutions.
    4. AIIMS Bhopal and AIIMS Patna have their websites up and running. As of now, the AIIMS Patna website has very little information; but the AIIMS Bhopal website has a lot of information. Note that of the initial six directors that were selected only the ones for Bhopal and Patna accepted the job. (The other four did not and those positions had to be readvertised. Hopefully the directors of the other 4 institutions will be appointed soon.) Hence, they both have web pages.

    47 comments May 4th, 2012

    Update on the proposed Xavier Univerisity

    Following is from an article in livemint.

    In a departure from the current trend in business education, the Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB) is opening its own university and taking away some of its courses from what it describes as a restrictive All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) accreditation process. This will allow it to impart “innovative courses”.

    To be named Xavier’s University, the institution will start its first campus in Orissa’s Puri district, followed by two more campuses in Sambalpur and Balangir districts.

    “The AICTE has a lot of restrictions when it comes to expansion,” XIMB director P.T. Joseph said over the telephone from Bhubaneswar. “Now, we have got a go-ahead from the state government to start our own university.”

    … Joseph said the institute will spend about Rs70 crore in the first phase of the university plan, of which Rs20 crore will come from the state. While the first campus in Pipli, Puri, will be spread across 35 acres, the Sambalpur and Balangir campuses will be built on 25 acres and 15 acres, respectively. The university will be set up as a private one under the state’s rules, which means it will have more autonomy. “There will be more investment as we progress,” Joseph said.

    … To start with, XIMB will offer students the rural management course without AICTE accreditation. “XIMB will remain as an institute under the AICTE umbrella. If they create problems, then we have to think otherwise. But we are taking our (two-year) rural management course to the university from next year when the university starts operation,” Joseph said. The institute will also run a master’s programme on public health in collaboration with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. It will also offer its three-continent master of global management programme under the university.

    XIMB’s plan is a smart way of tackling issues related to AICTE, said Pramath Sinha, founding dean of the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.

    … Allowing serious players to open universities is creating an ecosystem that’s free of excessive control, he said. Sinha is planning to open a university in Haryana under the state’s laws.

    Joseph said Xavier’s University will offer both undergraduate and post-graduate programmes in areas such as environmental management, microfinance, healthcare management and disaster management. Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik will lay the foundation of the campus on Saturday, according to an official invitation.

    The state will pass a legislation to open the private university soon and till that time XIMB will call them additional campuses, instead of a university, the institute’s spokesperson said.

    1 comment April 28th, 2012

    IIT Bhubaneswar to have India’s first Innovation Centre for Climate Change

    The following is an excerpt from http://ibnlive.in.com/news/coming-up-innovation-centre-for-climate-change/251002-60-117.html.

    India will very soon have the first-ever Innovation Centre for Climate Change (ICCC) to cover the Bay of Bengal. It will come up on the Konark-Puri road. The Centre will function under the Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar (IITB).

    The Bay of Bengal Coastal Observatory (BOBCO) as it has been named will study the behaviour of the Bay of Bengal. With the completion of the observatory, the country will be able to forecast extreme weather conditions and collect data about the ocean behaviour and numerous other details like the physical, chemical, biological and Geo-scientific data. “All this information will be instrumental in preparing a model for understanding cyclone. We would have understood the 1999 cyclone better if we had this observatory back then,” said Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences Prof Prem Chand Pandey.

    Its working will be different from the Meteorological Department (MET) as the ICCC will look into the causes behind the occurrences in the ocean while MET department records the ocean behaviour and gives continuous information.

    The ICCC will come up along with the School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Science (SEOCS) under IITB. The SEOCS, which will come up at Arugul, will be headed by Prof Subhashish Tripathy. The State Government had allotted around 936 acre land for the construction of the SEOCS. It also recently allotted around 75 acres for setting up of the observatory.

    … For the setting up of the observatory, IITB is working closely with University of Massachusetts and University of South Hampton. They will also conduct the Ocean Instrumentation Training Programme to train people with the advanced instruments that will be used in the ICCC. “There will be around 12 faculties initially, but with the gradual growth of the school, more and more experienced faculties will be brought in,” said Tripathy. The recruitment process has already begun. The institute also has ambitious plans to conduct research in the field of land, ocean and atmosphere, added Pandey.

    1 comment April 23rd, 2012

    Kapil Sibal in a UK round table: 14 innovation universities, cluster innovation centers, collaboration with UK and Meta-universities

    Following is rearranged from http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=82396. The sub-headings are added by me.

    On 14 Innovation Universities

    Recognizing the need for leveraging on the creative knowledge, we are also planning to set up 14 Innovation Universities, to begin with, aiming at world class standards which will set benchmarks for excellence for the Central and State Universities. Each of the Innovation University shall consistently aspire for attainment of pinnacle of knowledge and will provide the knowledge manpower of the country in training professionals, specialists, scientists and researchers needed by the supporting national innovation system. Government has already framed a legislation for Universities of Research and Innovation which will provide a facilitating framework for creation of these institutions. These universities would be embedded in ecosystems developed for promoting synergies among education, research and incubation centres or industry

    In order to be truly innovative, these Innovation Universities will not be clones of each other, but will focus on one deep theme of innovation and will focus on one area or problem of global significance in general and India in particular, by building an ecosystem of research and teaching around related discipline and fields and will search for solutions that are globally valid. For example, such areas may focus on urbanization public health, water security, environmental sustainability, digital literacy etc. The proposed universities will be autonomous in true sense, designing their own knowledge disciplines, admission criteria, academic programmes, credit systems etc. The programmes shall also facilitate horizontal mobility across disciplines.

    We have realized that traditional models of public funded universities are not enough as the investment required is too high. We do acknowledge the need for policies to encourage private investment in higher education and the Foreign Education Providers’ Bill, now under consideration of the Parliament, is a decisive step in that direction. Although Government will be prime facilitator of the new innovation universities and innovation clusters, it is also proposed to focus on Public Private Partnerships (PPP) mode. It is also proposed to collaborate with Universities elsewhere in the world and they may be invited to set up similar such institutions in India and Government will support its research and establishment needs and teaching including scholarships may be funded by the promoting university. New Greenfield Innovation Universities supporting an already existing University/Institution of repute to attain world class standards through innovation in chosen areas of knowledge as well as Identification of some educational hubs in the country, where a few institutions of excellence are located and create an architecture of Innovation University by promoting synergy for teaching and research among such institutions are the models that we are aiming at promoting.

    Cluster Innovation Centers

    We have also planned creation of Cluster Innovation Centres in our Higher Education Institutions for promoting linkages for innovations, and R&D for solving the real problems and creation of products and processes for which systemic reforms have already been initiated for facilitating the linkages with industry and society. The Cluster Innovation Centres will provide a platform for the University and its partners to forge linkages between various stakeholders from industry and academia and to act as catalysts and facilitators. We have prepared a blueprint for setting up about 50 innovation centres of excellence in different frontier areas. Cambridge Cluster in UK as well as Trinity College founded by Cambridge Science Park are two prominent examples from UK which have promoted the growth of enterprise and innovation and created thriving innovation ecosystems. Such examples also exists in US (MIT, Silicon Valley – Stanford University), Israel, Germany, Sweden, Japan, China and Korea. Biggest strength of these clusters has been the cooperation and collaboration, where all actors are connected in symbiotic relationships. We are also aiming to scale up such National Innovation Clusters. We already have a few such schemes in the form of Technology Business Incubators and Technology Entrepreneur Promotion.

    Collaboration with UK

    The Cluster Innovation Centers and Innovation Universities are the specific areas in which we seek further collaboration with UK Institutions who have already innovated and scaled up by creating appropriate framework and institutionalized the same successfully.

    Meta Universities

    Seizing the new opportunities and leveraging the National Knowledge Network, the National Innovation Council has also proposed to create the first Global Meta University. With a network of Universities coming together offering courses cutting across disciplines, the Meta University will reinterpret the concept of a University as not just a traditional, physical space of learning, but as a repository of knowledge and information that can be delivered in multiple ways, and can be accessed from anywhere and anytime. It will seek to enhance the learning experience through new and innovative delivery models of education that allow students and institutions to collaborate in unprecedented ways. Thus the 21st century meta-university would be a network and an ecosystem rather than a single brick and mortar space – a Facebook of Institutions. A few central institutions located at Delhi, like Jawaharlal Nehru University, University of Delhi, Jamia-Millia Islamia and IIT-Delhi have already initiated steps to constitute a meta-university. Here also, we are looking forward to collaborate with Institutions from the United Kingdom in the next step for creation of global meta alliances. Though the internet and technology are fundamental to this conception of the Meta University, at the crux is not a new technology but a ‘new pedagogy’ that is more in tune with the requirements of the knowledge society of the 21st century. In such an environment there is a greater focus on a learner centric, collaborative model that allows continuous learning from the environment.

    April 20th, 2012

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