Odisha HRD

IIT council decides to charge 2 lakhs/year for students who do not go onto academics via M.Tech/Ph.D

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

The IIT Council today decided that subsidy on tuition fees for BTech courses should be given only to those students who pursue research and take up teaching jobs.

The council, chaired by human resource development minister Kapil Sibal, considered the report of the Anil Kakodkar committee which had suggested that operational costs for running the four-year courses should be covered by raising fees.

Students now pay Rs 50,000 as annual tuition fee. The operational cost per student comes to about Rs 2 lakh a year.

The council today decided that from 2013, students would have to pay the balance Rs 6 lakh if they take up a non-teaching job after graduation.

Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students, who do not have to pay any fees now, and students from poor families, who are on scholarship or have been granted interest subsidy loans, will, however, be exempt.

Students who study for MTech and PhD and take up teaching after that would not have to pay the Rs 6 lakh.

September 15th, 2011

Construction time-table for the NISER, IIT and AIIMS-like institutes in Bhubaneswar

Update: As per this news report the 6 new AIIMS-like institutes are scheduled to start the medical colleges  from academic year 2012-13 and hospitals in the year 2013-14.

Following is from a report in Times of India.

With the beginning of construction work of IIT Bhubaneswar (IITBBS) campus on Sunday, work for permanent infrastructure of all three premier central institutes in city fell on track. While work for the campus of National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) here started on July 21, infrastructure for AIIMS is at an advanced stage of completion. All three institutes hope their permanent campuses to be functional by 2013.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the IIT campus construction at Aragul village near Jatni on a 950 acre plot of land. IITBBS director, professor M Chakraborty, said the master plan of the campus has been designed to accommodate 10,000 students, 1,000 faculty members and 1,100 non-teaching employees, besides 1,000 out-sourced support staff. The institute also has plans to construct a research park, he said.

The first phase of work, undertaken by CPWD at an estimated Rs 800 crore, would be limited to hosting a capacity of 2,500 students, 250 faculty members and 300 other employees. Chakraborty hopes the institute will shift to its permanent campus by 2013 end or beginning of 2014.

At the already provided budget of Rs 388 crore, IITBBS would construct a main administrative building, lecture hall and classrooms, a laboratory complex, four academic schools (basic science, electrical, infrastructure and mechanical engineering), central workshop and students’ activity centre. The main building is slated to be a six-storey structure and the other schools of four storey each. The hostels as well as the residential quarters are to be seven-storey buildings, Chakraborty said.

Apart from its city campus, the IIT would also set up an innovation centre for climate change on the Puri-Konark coastline, under the School of Earth Ocean and Climate Sciences, the director said.

Construction of the permanent campus of NISER started on a 300-acre site about a month ago, also near Jatni, on July 21. The Rs 457 crore project would include a prayer hall on the hill top, five schools of different specialties, 11 hostels of 200 capacity each, healthcare centre and guest house, said NISER registrar Abhay Naik.

Work for the AIIMS, which started on 100 acres land at Sijua village in May 2010, is at a stage of about 80% completion, sources said. The proposed 978-bed hospital, under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana, is supposed to have 15 super speciality and 18 speciality wards.

1 comment August 16th, 2011

Status of IIT Bhubaneswar three years after its inception – excerpts from its Director Prof. Madhusudan Chakraborty’s address on its 4th institute day celebration on 22nd July 2011

Today, the 22nd July, is a very auspicious day for us. It is on this day in 2008, the society of IIT Bhubaneswar was registered. Further, the date assumes more significance as we began our academic programme from the city of Bhubaneswar for the first time on 22nd July 2009. I wish to avail this opportunity to congratulate our students, staff, officers and faculty, who all are working as a dedicated team to develop this new IIT, for successfully completing 2 years of existence in the city of Bhubaneswar.

…

Infrastructure:

Temporary Campuses
We started our journey in 2008 from the campus of IIT Kharagpur. As mentioned earlier, we commenced our operation from the city of Bhubaneswar from 22nd July 2009. Currently, we are operating from a number of campuses which include IIT Kharagpur Extension Centre, Toshali Plaza at Satyanagar and Workshop cum laboratory complex near IIT Kharagpur extension Centre. Government of Odisha provided us about one (1) acre of land on which we have already constructed a new workshop cum laboratory complex (22000 sq. meters). The Government of Odisha also provided us two towers of Toshali Bhavan which we have already renovated. In addition IIT Kharagpur has constructed a new 200 capacity Dr. A. N. Khosla Hall of Residence near the Workshop cum Laboratory Complex for the students of this Institute. I must avail this opportunity to thank IIT Kharagpur for constructing the hostel which is of great convenience to us. We are also getting support of some of the sister Institutes like IMMT (CSIR) and Central Tool Room and Training Centre.

The class rooms and the laboratories are in place in our campuses at IIT Kharagpur Extension Centre, Toshali Plaza and the New Workshop cum Laboratory Complex.

IIT Bhubaneswar is well equipped with modern Teaching rooms and Teaching and Research Laboratories. All the class rooms are fitted with Multimedia Projectors, Internet Facilities and Wireless Connectivity. Besides the Normal teaching rooms, The Institute designed and developed three Virtual Class Rooms (VCR) sponsored by National Knowledge Networks (NKN). These rooms facilitate Real time on campus and Off-campus teaching learning process. These rooms are equipped with high end and high resolution equipment to facilitate the real time interaction among the students and teachers of the campus and as well as off campus students and faculty members. These class rooms are connected to the NKN Network by means of a dedicated 1GBPS Leased Lines.

The Government of Odisha has provided us 14 flats at Government Colony, Gajapati Nagar. We are fortunate to have found cooperation from the Housing Complex in SBI Colony Kesura wherein we have hired about 60 HIG 3 bed-roomed flats and few MIG flats for accommodation of our students and faculty. While the 3rd and 4th year male students have been being accommodated in the A. N. Khosla Hall of Residence, we have to accommodate others (all the girl students, research scholars and 1st and 2nd year students) in SBI Colony Kesura, 10 KM away from our academic campus. I may avail this opportunity to put on records my deep appreciation of the students, the staff and faculty who have to commute regularly between their residence and the various academic campuses. I am aware that this is strenuous. But I am sure our students, faculty and staff will accommodate the strains and be a part of the history in the making.

Permanent campus
The Foundation Stone of our campus at Arugul was laid on 12th February 2009. The Government of Odisha has allotted 936 acres of land at Arugul (near Jatni) for developing this new IIT of which we already have taken advanced possession of 598 acres. The Government of Odisha has started construction of 4 lane access road to IIT Campus from the National Highway 5. The work on water supply and electric supply to the campus is also in progress. The power supply systems for construction are virtually ready. The Honourable Chief Minister himself as well as the Chief Secretary of the Sate are taking active interests in the developmental work and are addressing issues that need their constant attention. It may not be out of place to mention that the Government of Odisha has also agreed to provide us 75 acres of land on Puri–Konark coast to set up an Innovation Centre for Climate Change.

Out of total 19 KM, we already have completed construction of 8 Km of boundary wall. About 10 bore wells have been sunk to facilitate construction work. IIT Bhubaneswar has also taken up tree plantation programme for its new campus.

The master plan of the new campus at Arugul for 10, 000 students, 1000 faculty and 1100 supporting staff has been approved and the total construction should be completed in 3 phases in next 12-15 years. The work for land grading, road and other related construction are expected to begin in August 2011. While the Government of India has approved construction of 2, 21,000 sq meter of covered area in the 1st phase, our consultant has already completed conceptual design of 1, 20, 000 sq meters of covered areas for various schools, residential quarters, hostels and other service/administrative buildings based on the availability of fund in the initial phase. Applications for clearance form statutory bodies (e.g. forest, BDA, environment) are under process and such clearance are expected shortly. We expect the tendering process to be over and hope that CPWD would be able to start the construction work by the end of this year or early next year. We are planning to move to our new campus by end 2013 or beginning 2014.

Academics

Academic Schools
IIT Bhubaneswar promotes a borderless academic environment: We have the concept of Schools, rather than Departments. We encourage academic staff and students to work together in an interdisciplinary environment. Initially we had set up the following five (5) schools:

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

• School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Management

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

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

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

The Institute has just set up the following two (2) new Schools:

• School of Mineral, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering – Materials, Metallurgy, Mining (Relevant to the Rich Resources of metals and minerals in the region)

• School of Earth Ocean and Climate Sciences (Relevant to the region keeping in view the vast Coast Line, Rich Biodiversity and mineral resources, need for Disaster Management and Mitigation arising out of Flood, Cyclone etc.) As a part of this School, the Institute will set 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 our expansion:

•School of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Chemical, biochemical, biomedical, biotechnology

• School of Design and Creative Arts

Academic Activities
We started our journey with a total of 94 students in three (3) undergraduate programmes namely civil, electrical and mechanical engineering with an intake capacity of 40 each in 2008. We already have introduced Ph. D. programmes from 2009 and have about 35 Research Scholars. We are planning to start our postgraduate (MS/M. Tech.) programmes from July 2012. Currently, we have about 500 students (UG and Ph. D.), 50 full time faculty members 7 officers and 40 supporting staff.

Awards and Honours
We are proud that our Chairman Board of Governors, Professor P. Rama Rao, has received the second highest civilian award “Padma Vibhushan” of the Government of India this year.

Prof. S. C. Datta of the School of Infrastructure was awarded Fulbright-Nehru Sr. Research Fellowship and he visited the University of California at Davies, USA. He has been awarded the prestigious Occasional Lecturer Fund by Council for International Exchange of Scholars, US Department of State, for delivering two invited lectures at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, during his Fulbright Grant period in USA. Dr. Sumanta Haldar of the same School received the Prof. Leonard’s best Ph.D. thesis award from Indian Geotechnical Society. Dr. C.S. Bhende of the School of Electrical Science received the best Ph.D. thesis award from Indian National Academy of Engineering.

Mr. Pyari Mohan Pradhan, Mrt. Satyasai Jagannath Nanda and Mr. Vikas Baghel, Research Scholars of the School Electrical Sciences were awarded the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Government of Canada, “Commonwealth Graduate Student Exchange Programme” fellowship. Dr. Subhransu R. Samantaray of the same School won the Samanta Chandra Sekhar Award for 2010 from Orissa Bigyan Academy for his contribution to Engineering and Technology by Oriya Scientist working in Odisha. Dr D. Sahoo of Humanities, Social Sciences and Management received the Best Paper Award at the International Workshop on Regional Competitiveness and International factors Mobility at Oriens France. Professor M. Chakraborty received the Best Technical Paper Award 2010 from the Indian Foundry Journal of the Institute of Indian Foundrymen.

Mr. Raghav. R, 3rd Year Student of Mechanical Engineering won the All India essay competition for college students conducted by the NGO: Nandini Voice for the Deprived

Publications
Within 2 years of our existence in the city of Bhubaneswar, the faculty members have already contributed to creating new knowledge by publishing about 115 papers in National and International Journals of repute. Besides, 85 papers have been presented in various National and International Conferences in India and Abroad that have made our presence felt all over the world. Our doctoral and undergraduate students have also published a few papers in journals and made presentations in conferences. Our faculty members have also published 17 books/ chapters of books in Humanities, Science and Technology.

Sponsored Projects and Consultancy and Endowment
The Institute already has received a number of sponsored projects from various funding agencies like DST, CSIR and DRDO and consultancy from industries worth more than 320 lakhs.

Industries are coming forward to join us in developing this new IIT. M/s MGM Minerals Group has already established a perpetual “MGM Chair Professor” for the School of Minerals, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering with an endowment of Rs 300 lakhs.

International Collaborations
IIT Bhubaneswar has started collaborative activities with a few Universities abroad. We already have signed MOU for faculty exchange programmes with the University fo Massachusetts at Dartmouth USA, and the University of Western Ontario Canada. Professor Lord S. Kumar Bhattacharyya of the Warwick Manufacturing Group, of the University of Warwick has been appointed as Distinguished Visiting Professor of IIT Bhubaneswar while Professor Richard Dashwood of the same university spent two weeks at IIT Bhubaneswar as visiting Professor in March 2011. Professor Asit K Biswas, President of the Third World Centre for Water Management, Winner of Stockholm Water Prize (2006) has also been appointed as Distinguished Visiting Professor of this Institute.

Workshop/Conferences
The Institute organized a one day workshop “An Academy – Industry Interface” with participation from the Warwick Manufacturing Group, the University of Warwick, UK, IIT Bhubaneswar, Tata Steel, Infosys, IBM, WIPRO, L&T and others on 17th September 2010. Another workshop “Multivariate Statistical Analysis” was organized by the School of Humanities, Social Science and Management on 24th March 2011. The Training and Placement Section had organized a Panel Discussion “Managing Generation Y in workplace – A Challenge to the Indian Industry” on 12th March 2011. The Institute has started organizing “Research Scholars Day” on the National Science Day on 28th February every year.

Summer Internships
Our students have received support from various Universities and Industries in India and Abroad for summer internships. Some of these Universities and Industries abroad are the University of North Texas, Oklahoma State University, University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, Northern Arizona University in USA, University of Warwick UK, McGill University Canada, University of Cologne Germany, University of Padua Italy, Flanders Mechatronics Centre Belgium, ExTechNa GmbH Switzerland, University of Zacadecas Mexico, Tianjin University China, Ming Chi University Taiwan and University of Technology Malaysia.

… Student Activities
Our Students under the Students Gymkhana are quite active and are organizing various activities. They already have formed several societies like Robotics Society, Entrepreneurship Cell, Dramatic Society, Music Society to name a few. They have been organizing cultural (Alma Fiesta) and Techno-Management (Wiessenaire) festivals successfully with support from many sponsors/industries drawing participations from various colleges/institutions of the country.

July 28th, 2011

NISER construction handed over to L & T – to be done in 30 months and ready by Jan-Feb 2014; IIT Bhubaneswar construction to start later this year and to be finished in 2013-14

Following are news items from Samaja.

July 23rd, 2011

2011 open-close ranks (after the 1st and 3rd rounds) of EE and Mech of IITs, IT-BHU and ISM

The following table is extracted from http://jee.iitd.ac.in/openclose2011.php at two different times. The black version is after the first round and the red version is after the 3rd round.

 Among the new IITs the preference this year seems to be H > N >> {A, U, E} > J > {C,P}.

• The 2010 open-close ranks are here.
• The 2009 open-close ranks are here.
• The 2008 open-close ranks are here.

June 30th, 2011

L & T to execute NISER Bhubaneswar construction; work to start next month and be completed in 36 months

Following are excerpts from Bibhuti Barik’s report in Telegraph.

… The master plan is ready and the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has selected Larsen and Toubro (L&T) to execute the job. They are expected to start the work next month. The project has to be completed within 36 months … We hope that the Phase-I work comprising four major schools and the administrative block will be over by the end of 2013,’’ said the institute’s registrar, AK Naik.

The campus is coming up on 298 acres near Jatni.

While the forest department has already marked 285 trees for felling top facilitate work, steps to ensure enough greenery are being taken by planting 2,500 saplings along its fenced boundary. “We are planning more afforestation programmes in future,” added Naik.

The project envisages an expenditure of Rs 457 crore in the first phase including Rs 160 core on residential township and Rs 130 crore on academic buildings and a sports complex. The Centre has sanctioned Rs 823.19 core for the entire campus project in Bhubaneswar.

After fencing the authorities have deployed a 25-member security team with a supervising officer to keep watch. … the NISER campus site is safe. A transformer has been installed at the site to ensure uninterrupted power supply. Two corrugated tin sheds have also been put up at the site for the engineers to work out of.

The Registrar added that the construction work was getting delayed as the approval of the one of a senior officials of the Ministry of Finance was still awaited. Once it was available the executing agency would go ahead with the work. Earlier there was some delay on account of the time taken by the department of atomic energy (DAE) to grant certain approvals.

“The DAE technical panel inspected, checked and approved each and every aspect of the engineering drawing which took one year,” said a senior professor, who is an advisor and member on the NISER Board.

Currently operating from a transit campus of 5,000 square metres within the Institute of Physics (IoP), Bhubaneswar premises, NISER has lab, teaching and research facilities. While Rs 12.5 crore has been spent on these facilities for the school of chemistry Rs 13.5 crore for the school of physics, Rs 25 crore for the school of biology and Rs 5 crore for the school of mathematics.

… “We have been promised a three-acre plot by the state government for setting up a city campus in future. This will include a 1,500 seated conference hall,” said the registrar.

1 comment June 24th, 2011

IIT Bhubaneswar plans its first construction tender in July and second one in December 2011; but overall campus is not likely to be ready by 2013

Following are excerpts from a report in ibnlive.com.

… The Ministry of Human Resource Development held a meeting with the representatives of IITs, including the eight new ones, in Delhi on Thursday.

… Like its counterparts, the Bhubaneswar institute too is behind the schedule and unlikely to meet its 2013 deadline given the existing pace of work. With problems of land acquisition and transfer, the IIT Bhubaneswar has been able to construct only boundary walls measuring about six km. …

Sources said that IIT Bhubaneswar would submit a report to the Ministry detailing its bottlenecks about land transfer, forest land conversion, acquisition of private land and infrastructure like road, power and water.

With the slow progress raising hackles, the IIT has decided to hasten establishment of its campus at Arugul, about 25 km from here. Works estimated at  30 crore will soon be taken up with two-phase tenders.

The first tender will be scheduled in July and include works such as roads inside the 935-acre campus, sewerage and site development. The second tender will be floated around December for construction of buildings.

… Most of the new IITs, sources said, sought that new project proposals be chalked out since the 12th Plan is only three quarters away and the project costs will stand revised at the current prices. The IIT Bhubaneswar was earmarked 760 crore, half of which is towards infrastructure.

The sources further said that each of the new institutions is likely to cost close to  1,400 crore for which funding proposals will have to be placed in the 12th Plan.

June 18th, 2011

Excerpts from Mohandas Pai’s article on IITs possibly becoming less relevant

Following are excerpts from the Economic Times article.

The IITs have completed 50 years and have helped build India. They were set up for producing high quality technical human capital for India and have met their objectives. But, as is the character with such institutions, they have not changed with the times and are not providing India with what she now needs.

… The IIT boards and the directors are unable to take any financial decision which they deem fit without the approval of the government . Even for an overseas travel of the director or the faculty, permission is needed. They are subject to austerity measures of the government, a perfect situation to emasculate an educational institution.

The demand for an IIT seat is enormous and has spawned a tutorial industry that earns more revenues than the IITs themselves. This has resulted in large number of students spending up to two years of their youth going to cramming schools learning pattern recognition, forgetting the art of thinking and problem solving knowing that their lives are made once they get entry into the hallowed portals. Today about 60% or more of the intake is from the coaching mandis. This has also resulted in many bright young Indians deciding not to undergo the ordeal and go overseas for higher education. 250,000 of them study overseas, over 110,000 in the United States, about 45,000 in the UK spending about $ 6bn on fees and costs annually …

Overall , the 15 IITs graduate 7000 undergraduates, 6000 post graduates and about 1700 PhDs annually . Sadly only about 2% of the undergraduates go on to their masters and PhD in the IIT system. The IITs hold fast to the idea that by squeezing input they can get a quality output, an idea that has been consigned to the dustbin of history. Increasing the scale and size can give them the diversity of talent, the resources, the ability to have more quality faculty and the depth and width needed for an elite educational institution.

… the IITs will live in their ivory tower and possibly become less and less relevant to India’s need as neither are they meeting India’s need for more human capital nor producing the kind of PhDs India needs.

… The best solution is to open up the education system and allow competition, the dreaded word in academics, to come forth. India should revise her educational policies and allow the private sector to set up "innovation universities" granting them all that they need. Full autonomy, academic, administrative and financial to chart their own future. Some safeguards are needed, as this is a public good. A large corpus of say Rs 100 crore, an open merit based admission policy, a faculty compensation policy based on minimum UGC scales and an assurance that they will aim to be amongst the top 100 in the world over the next 25 years. To ensure access to the merited we need a national scholarship scheme which will fund students. India needs to trust the genius of her citizens to create institutions that are world class and not look at them through myopic eyes with suspicion.

… Today there is a flight to quality. The bad colleges are dying since students have a choice, they are voting with their feet. The good ones are expanding and seeing greater demand. The market mechanism has worked, not by design but by serendipity. So there is hope. Look at various other sectors today. Bharti has made BSNL redundant and has given us a choice, Jet has overtaken Air India and given us a choice, the power system in Mumbai is still the best, and in education the Indian School of Business has turned our IIMs inside out. The IIMs actually want reform, expansion and are concerned about their future .

Competition and an open liberal environment for higher education will work .

I agree with most of the points made in the article and its arguments buttress the need for early approval of universities like the proposed Vedanta University.

One point where I disagree is the suggestion that 100 crores is a large corpus. If the goal is to be in the top 100 in the world, a corpus of 100 crores is very little. That is only 20-25 million USD. In comparison the corpus of Harvard and Stanford are of the order of 25+ Billion USD.

June 16th, 2011

My thoughts on “Taking IITs to Excellence and Greater Relevance”

A committee under the chairmanship of Dr. Anil Kakodkar has circulated a report (see also here and here) with the above name. Following is an input that I hope to send to the committee.

My suggestion is that the IITs combine the idea of free seats and paid seats that is used in many state engineering colleges with (some aspects of) the idea of honors colleges used in many universities in the US.

This means, for any discipline or program, there would be some number of seats (say between 20-40) for a "Research-Honours" program. The students in this program will be required to be involved in research all through their 4 years. Starting from second year they would be part of the research lab of a faculty and each semester they would have to sign up for research credits (and do research) whose grade will be based on research done by the students. Each class from the 4th semester onwards would have research component where students would have to go beyond textbooks and read latest papers on that topic. The students would be required to publish in a good international conference or journal before they graduate. During the summers they will be required to spend time in research labs. In general these students would be motivated and prepared for research careers as is being done in the IISERs and NISER. For these students the fees will be minimal and they may be even given scholarships like the INSPIRE scholarship. To remain in the "honors-research" program the students would have to maintain a required grade point average.

The rest of the students would be in regular programs (as they exist now) and would be required to pay more substantial fees, similar in amount to what the Kakodkar committee recommends. (Based on their academic performance some of these students may be allowed to change over to the "honors-research" program after the end of first year or perhaps even later.)

The above idea may be implemented at NITs too, may be with lesser number of seats in the "honors-research" program.

This will address several issues mentioned in the Kakodkar committee report.

• It will result in more IIT (and NIT) graduate pursuing research.
• It will result in more funds for the institutes.
• The students will have a clear expectations. The ones going to the "research-honors" program will know that research is expected of them and they are supposed to study hard.

The rationale behind the fees difference is fairly obvious. The "research-honors" students have a high chance of pursuing research in their chosen fields and that is the current need of the nation. On the other had the other students, as evident from the current trend, are less likely to pursue careers in their own disciplines (except the ones in electrical/cs/it/electronics areas) and many are likely to go for management and other careers. Since that is not the core goal of the IITs, these students need not be subsidized. Loans and other mechanisms need to be in place so that everyone who can get admitted to a program is able to find the money for the fees. 

The above is a bare-bone idea and needs to be flushed out with more details. One may look at how honors programs are administered in many US universities to flush out some of the details. See for example Barrett Honors College (ASU).

June 7th, 2011

NISER Bhubaneswar campus virtual walkthrough

I really liked several things in it.

(i) The academic part where the various school are connected through a common corridor curving around the auditorium complex and then jut out in some what of a  radial manner. This allows faculty of different schools to run into each other and foster inter school collaboration while still giving unique identity to each school. The path from the hill top to the auditorium to the academic complex is very pretty,

(ii) The green between the hostels and residential places is also a very nice feature.  I assume those hostel would be for doctoral and post-doctoral scholars, some with families. (The hostels closer to the academic complex will probably be for the undergraduates and masters students.) Those greens will create a very collegial campus and off-hour interaction between the faculty-staff families and families of doctoral/post-doctoral scholars.

On the other hand, the colors (yellow and light brick) and the paucity of big trees make part of the campus look very hot. The walk through of the residential area make it look like a typical government colony. While the academic buildings are made 6-7 stories tall, the residential buildings seem to be only 3 stories. Highrises would have saved more land for the future. I hope they use a more pleasing color combination and have more fast growing and colorful plants such as various palm trees and bougainvillea. If funding is a concern, with the help of the Odisha government, they should rope in some corporate houses to make the campus look even prettier.

June 6th, 2011

Conclusions and Recommendations of the Kakodkar committee report titled “Taking IITs to Excellence and Greater Relevance”

The report is available at http://www.education.nic.in/tech/KakodkarCommitteeReport-05132011.pdf. Following is from the Summary and Recommendations section of the report.

It is clear that India needs a major boost to the quality of higher engineering education. Frontline research, cutting edge technology, innovation and entrepreneurship alongside teaching and mentoring are key ingredients of high- quality education. This is crucial in the context of our national development aspirations, growing economy with inclusive participation, creating opportunities for our youth and building our competitiveness in the emerging knowledge- driven global economy. The IITs are by far the only institutions which can lead this process on a scale commensurate with the needs of our country. The IITs can also help several other higher engineering education institutions, particularly those with the potential to further catalyse this process and enhance our national capability towards this objective.

The transformation of IITs into institutions that meet such an objective would mean that the IITs have a talent pool comparable with the best in the world with capability to liberally support their creativity to realize the fullest potential. It also presupposes that the IITs have a flexible governance system that can innovate management support that is specific to the needs of taking new ideas and initiatives forward. Such an environment also attracts external talent and ideas.

The IITs thus need to further enlarge and strengthen themselves as major research institutions with focus on the development of high capability human resource. This inevitably would mean considerable scale up, particularly in terms of PhD programmes. It is necessary to calibrate this process in a manner that leads to sustained augmentation of quality. The IITs are presently under considerable strain on account of rapid expansion with considerable difficulties and backlog in terms of faculty recruitment and augmentation of infrastructure. Bridging the gap between the present state and the end objective with respect to the IITs has to be a sustained long process spanning 10–15 years with most additional faculty strength inevitably coming from IIT PhDs since there are few other sources of high quality engineering PhDs within the country. Even the most aggressive recruitment of PhDs from foreign universities, which must be pursued vigorously, is unlikely to be adequate to meet domestic needs in time.

The IITs have distinguished themselves for the quality of their B.Tech degrees. IIT’s brand image is primarily due to the very distinguished performance of its B.Tech students. A distinctive feature of the IIT B.Tech programme is its co- existence with an equally large postgraduate teaching and research domains. Certain parameters of this successful programme, such as a nearly equal UG : PG proportion and student : faculty ratio of 10:1, have stood the test of time and should be preserved.

Apart from the large-scale need for high quality engineering graduates to meet the needs of various segments of demand for them, there is also the need for high performing engineering graduates to be a feed into the postgraduate programme, more particularly the PhD programme. The number of B.Techs graduating from the IITs is unlikely to be adequate for this purpose. While intense efforts have been proposed to attract IIT B.Techs into PhD programme, it is also necessary to focus on other engineering education institutions of good quality (in particular the NITs, ISERs, etc.) to become feeders for quality graduate engineers into PhD programmes of IITs.
To support a significantly expanded and high-quality PhD programme, the research infrastructure at the IITs needs considerable augmentation. While doing so, the research has to be broad-based to cover various dimensions like research on the frontiers; coordinated research involving several groups to address major areas of national priority, research to meet the needs of industry and the society, participation in the R&D needs of industry and of Government, etc. This would create holistic learning opportunities for students by exposing them to realistic hands-on experience and at the same time bringing significant resources into the IITs over a period of time.

Such an environment needs to be richly endowed and liberally supported. More important, it should have its own governance structure that can flexibly address the needs in specific cases without being constrained by the inflexibilities of governmental working. This is a prerequisite for attracting and retaining talent, which is at the core of the performance of such institutions.

It is proposed that the IITs be financially supported by the Government through plan budget to meet their infrastructure needs as well as the research needs of the Government. Research students, both at the masters and doctoral levels, should also be supported by the Government on a per student basis. The IITs should recover the full operational cost of education through fees and not derive any input through non-plan budget of the Government. A special and hassle-free bank loan arrangement has been recommended as part of the admission process to support and facilitate access to all eligible and deserving students.

We feel that it should be possible to make the IITs administratively and financially autonomous to realize the objectives enumerated above and reach the full potential of the IIT system. Key recommendations being made by the Committee include (i) self-empowered Boards comprising all key stakeholders, (ii) creating a system of mandatory peer reviews, (iii) mutually agreed respective commitments between the Government and IIT on the basis of an annual MoU duly overseen by the IIT Council, and (iv) transparency in working. The Government’s commitment to support research at the IITs to their maximum potential is an important assumption that forms the basis of the Committee’s recommendations. The Committee also feels that all the recommendations should be considered as part of a single package and accepted or rejected as a whole, and not treated in parts.

The specific recommendations of the Committee are given below:

IITs as Research Institutions

1. Make IITs the Primary Research Institutes, with a focus on high quality frontier research and technology development within the Indian context.

2. Scale up PhD students from less than 1000 PhD graduates per year today to 10,000 PhD graduates by 2020-25 from about 20 IITs (15 existing IITs plus 5 new to be set up over the next several years in states where there are no IITs).

3. Scaling PhD scholars’ admissions to include enabling bright UGs being admitted for PhD at the end of their third year, teachers from other institutes joining for PhD and significant numbers from industry joining sponsored/part-time PhD programme. It is strongly recommended that a fellowship scheme covering all categories of PhD students is in place.

4. The faculty: student ratio is 1:10; while the UG : PG ratio is close to 1:1.

5. Each IIT should aim to acquire technology leadership in at least 3 to 4 areas.

6. Research groups in one or more IITs to take up large projects together to address major national challenges

7. Set up research parks at each of the IITs similar to the IIT-M Research Park.

8. Enable Ministries to set up R&D labs in IITs to drive Technology Development relevant to national programmes being piloted by them.

9. Large-scale Executive M.Tech training programmes for industry jointly conducted with the IITs using video links.

Financial Autonomy and Governance

10.    Government to financially support research at the IITs in the plan mode to realize their full potential for national needs in terms of research, technology and human resource in science, technology and entrepreneurship. For this purpose an annual outlay on the basis of Rs 1.5 lakhs per student should be made available to each of the established IITs. For the new IITs which are at present in project mode and do not have any significant endowment, an endowment grant of Rs. 50 crore per IIT (over next 5 years) may be made available to enable a degree of flexibility in academic activities.

The IITs need to expand infrastructure to support a scaled up academic and research programme as recommended above. This would also require capital funds for infrastructure expansion from the Government at Rs. 20 lakh per additional student. There is also a need to rejuvenate the existing ageing infrastructure at Rs. 5 lakh per student as existing on March 2011. Funds allotted for expansion taking place currently to accommodate OSC recommendations have been found to be inadequate and need to be increased to    Rs 15 lakh per student.

11.    MHRD to pay the full operating cost of education plus a scholarship for all postgraduate students (PhD, MS and M.Tech) as well as for undergraduate students from reserved category and economically weaker sections. Some merit-cum-means scholarship should also be made available to needy and deserving students. A hassle free loan facility not requiring any collateral or parental guarantee to be made a part of the admission process. No student should be denied education in an IIT after getting admission due to lack of means.

12.    Except for legacy payments like old pension, the IITs are to be financially independent of the non-plan budget of the Government. Fees are to be fixed at a level to cover operational expenditure.

13. IITs are to be totally independent of MHRD for their governance and management functions. They are to be run by their Boards with all rules and regulations made by their Boards. This includes management structure, rules and regulations for faculty/staff hiring and remuneration, approving of budgets and fixing fees, expenditure rules and processes and audit processes. C&AG audit to continue based on financial rules formulated by the Boards.

14.    IITs need to enhance their financial inputs through donations. The donor should be eligible for a full deduction of their contribution against their income under the Income Tax Act as is currently allowed for any grants made to Universities in India under Sec 35AC of the Income Tax Act 1961. A notification or an amendment is essential in the law to include IITs in this list.

15. IIT Boards will select and appoint a Director using a search committee process. IIT Boards will nominate the Chairman to be appointed after approval of the IIT Council.

16.    The Board will consist of one representative from the Central government, one from the state government, three industry persons selected from a panel recommended by the Chairmen of CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM and NASSCOM (in a joint meeting), three scientists selected from a panel recommended by four Indian Academy Presidents (INSA, NASI, INAE, IASC) (in a joint meeting), two alumni (who are not IIT employees), two faculty from the institute, one eminent citizen appointed by the Board, the Chairman and the Director. The panels recommended by industry association Chairmen and Presidents of Academy will need approval of the IIT Council.

17.    The IITs will sign a MoU with MHRD every year in line with the aims and policies of the Government of India. The MoU should include budgets and fees approved by its Board, capital expenditure (plan money), pension money and scholarships that MHRD would provide and expansion needs (if any). It would also include aims and goals set by the IIT for the year. The MoU would need to be reviewed and approved by the IIT Council.

18. The Visitor may require the IIT Council to appoint an external review committee for each IIT once in 5 years. The report of the review committee and action taken is to be made public. The Government may require the IITs to take appropriate action in light of the findings of the review committee.

19.    The emergency powers of the Visitor over the IITs are to continue.
Faculty

20.    Scaling up of quality faculty is the key. It is required to scale up to 16,000 faculty members in about 10 years (from a little over 4000 currently).

21.    Part-time/Adjunct faculty from industry, visiting faculty and post-doctoral in IITs to be strengthened. 22. Faculty pay-scales and remuneration is to be decided by the respective Boards. Pay-scales have to be decided within the financial constraints of the institute.

23. The Board of each IIT will decide on the roles, responsibilities and appraisal of their faculty. Faculty roles include teaching, research, technology development and industrial consultancy, as well as policy/standards development. Besides, they may be involved in administration. It is suggested that each faculty sets their yearly goals and the time they would spend in these 5 activities. At the end of each year, they would carry out a self-appraisal and provide evidence of their work. Departmental committees will review the appraisals for Assistant Professors and an institute-level committee will review the appraisals for others. Once in 5 years, an external review of these appraisals will be carried out.

24.    Today, the IITs and their faculty do not have the experience and expertise to take into account the “technological development and industrial consultancy roles” played by the faculty during their appraisals and evaluation. This needs to be strengthened.

Role of Staff

25.    The IIT Boards will decide on staff numbers, remuneration and pay-scales.

26. It is suggested that most staff members be hired as outsourced staff on contract. Young staff members who start their career at the IITs and work for there 5–10 years would be well trained to be absorbed in industry. This
way the IITs would get young motivated staff members. Innovation and Entrepreneurship

27. The IITs must recognize that technology development, innovation and nurturing entrepreneurship are some of their key tasks.

28. The IITs must also recognize that Innovation thrives when faculty, experienced industry persons and students interact in formal and informal environments. The creation of such an ecosystem is a necessity.

29.    The B.Tech and M.Tech Curriculum is very structured and does not allow creative students to do courses across departments, take off for a semester for a start-up venture and come back or take up some project work instead of a course. The curriculum is designed for large numbers of ordinary students and not for exceptional students. This needs correction. Similarly, the IITs do not easily allow students of one branch to do MS/PhD in another. Even while hiring faculty, they look for B.Techs only in the discipline they are to teach. The system needs to adopt greater flexibility to provide greater choice to students so that they are better prepared for a chosen career option.

30.    IIT faculty members have poor commercial understanding. This comes in the way of technology development or innovation. Greater interaction with industry in the product development mode should be adopted.

31.    Entrepreneurship is not about space or computers; it requires nurturing a business. Only faculty who understand this should drive entrepreneurship cells.

Scaling Engineering Education with Quality in India

32. India, with its billion people, has huge demand for quality engineering education. Unfortunately, even though more than a million students are admitted to engineering colleges today, except for the IITs and some other institutions, the quality of education in most other engineering colleges is not of the desired quality. The Committee recommends a plan to create at least 100,000 quality engineering graduates per year through Central government-funded institutions alone. Hopefully, the state governments and private efforts would add to this significantly.

33. The Committee recommends identification/creation of 50 Central government-funded institutions (other than the 20 IITs) which could be nurtured with the help of young IIT faculty. These would include NITs, ISERs, NISER, IIIT and certain other institutions. This would be done through 5 enthusiastic young faculty members with a proven level of excellence for each such institution, who would be identified in consultation with the Director and Chairman of the Board of Governors for induction in the Board and Senate of these institutions. They would be tasked with driving excellence in these institutions by leveraging the IITs. An outlay of Rs. 50 lakh each should be made available to such faculty to support research in the institute with IIT collaboration.

34.    With their advent at a historic cusp in the evolution of technical education in India, the new IITs present a unique opportunity for a major upward movement in the IIT system. Without the legacy of many decades of established tradition, a new IIT can boldly experiment with radically new ways of teaching, research and administration. In teaching, the shortage of experienced faculty could be turned into a benefit by judicious use of multimedia and networking technologies to augment the classroom experience. In research, apart from setting up state-of-the-art facilities, the new IITs can build collaborative relationships with like-minded institutions around the world. (Also see Appendix VII.)

In the established IITs, the Directors and Board spend much of their time and energy dealing with vexatious issues such as service conditions of long- time staff. This distracts from their ability to spend quality time on academic innovations and impact. The new IITs could devise administrative and staffing structures that avoid these vexatious issues.

The Board, the Director and the faculty of the new IITs should be selected for their openness to new ideas and should be encouraged to experiment with teaching, research and administration.

The new IITs have a unique potential to catalyse the transformation of the IIT system. Hence, they need special treatment to ensure that they realize this potential by building on the strengths of the IIT system while avoiding its weaknesses.

May 20th, 2011

Excerpts from the executive summary of the Kakodkar committee report titled “Taking IITs to Excellence and Greater Relevance”

The report is available at http://www.education.nic.in/tech/KakodkarCommitteeReport-05132011.pdf. Thanks to Devasis Sarangi for the pointer. The members of this committee were: Anil Kakodkar (Chair), T. V. Mohandas Pai, Hari Bhartia, Ashok Jhunjhunwala, K. Mohandas, Ashok Thakur, M. Anandakrishnan, Gautam Barua, T. A. Gonsalves, K. Sudhakar and S. Ramesh Babu. Following are excerpts from the executive summary of the report.

A committee was constituted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) vide its order F.NO.19-3/2009-TS 1 of 3 February 2010 to suggest a roadmap for the autonomy and future of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) as world-class institutions for research and higher learning.

… We should be in the forefront to meet the growing human needs with minimum use of earth resources in a manner that keeps the environment around us protected. We need to nurture a large science and technology (S&T) based innovation ecosystem that creates solutions for India’s inclusive development and economic growth. The creation of a large pool of researchers (with PhD) commensurate with the size of our population and economy as well as our aspirations, is a key necessity for the realization of these objectives.

… In terms of research, the IITs are continuously enhancing their research activities as evidenced by the increasing number of PhDs coming out of the IIT system. In fact, most PhDs in engineering in the country are now coming from the IITs. Even so, the number of PhDs that come out annually from the IITs is very small (about 1000 per year) in comparison to the size of our country, size of our economy and number of youth in the country. Further, only about 1% of IIT B.Techs do PhD at the IITs. … The IITs, being the largest system for high-level engineering R&D and human resource development in an ambience of high-level research, have thus to take on the challenge of creating an advanced research-based innovation ecosystem that, on a national scale, is large enough to make a significant positive difference. For this purpose, while the scale of high-level research at the IITs needs to be considerably enhanced and broad based with the involvement of industry and national technology related programmes, the IITs should also contribute in a significant way to the research and development capability and culture in the country at large (by creating a large pool of PhD graduates). If one looks around the world, most of the best technology institutions in the world have 15,000+ students as opposed to 6000+ currently at each of the established IITs. USA and China produce around 8000–9000 PhDs in engineering and technology annually while in India the corresponding number presently is around 1000. With this background, and considering the large gap that we have to bridge in realizing our development aspirations, we need a large-scale increase in the number of PhDs coming out from the IITs. The Committee has therefore suggested that each IIT should progressively grow to have around 1200 faculty (from around 500 today) and closer to 12,000 students with maximum growth coming from an enhanced number of PhD students. While the established IITs could aim at reaching this scale up in about 10 years from now, the newer IITs could take longer. Further, the Committee has suggested setting up of 5 more IITs over this period of time. Thus, the Committee has recommended the number of IIT PhD graduates per year to be scaled up to 10,000, while continuously enhancing quality.

… The Committee has suggested a minimum of 0.6 PhDs per faculty annually, eventually reaching 1 PhD per faculty. On this basis, the Committee has suggested that we should aim at scaling the IIT system to 16,000 faculty and 160,000 total student strength (with 40,000 at the PhD level, 40,000 at the Masters level and 80,000 UG students) by around the year 2020. Each year, then, the IIT system will admit 10,000 PhDs.

…Finding faculty in adequate numbers to meet the needs of OSC expansion as well as new IITs has in itself been a major challenge. Coping with faculty needs for scaling up the PhD programme to the above-mentioned level would thus have to primarily depend on the PhD programme at the IITs itself.

Feeders to such a large PhD programme in the form of bright engineering graduates have to be of a size commensurate with the requirements. While students with a Masters degree and, to some extent B.Tech students, of IITs would constitute an important channel (all efforts must be made to attract them into the IIT PG stream), one would need to tap other channels to get quality students in adequate numbers. The Committee has therefore suggested engagement of IITs with other good quality engineering and science education institutions, particularly those of the Central government like NITs, IIITs and IISERs, with a view to enlarge the pool for selection of quality students and also attract their faculty into the PhD programme. The Committee has also suggested special efforts be made to identify and pick up bright 3rd year students of IITs, NITs and such other such public or private institutions and to initiate them into the PhD programme. Further, the Committee has suggested an augmented intake of PhD students from industry and the engineering education system in the country. IITs being at the top of engineering education in the country should act as an inspiration to raise the level of engineering education in other public and private institutions. This would result in enrichment of these institutions, which is long overdue. Of course, for all this to happen, the IITs would have to aggressively pursue candidates from these different streams to join their PhD programme. To support such a large number of PhD students (40,000 at a time) with challenging and meaningful research problems would require comprehensive augmentation of research facilities and infrastructure. The Committee has proposed significant augmentation/addition in the following four domains. This would be over and above the current mode of support through various research funding agencies for individual proposals submitted to them by the faculty.

1. Identify 3–4 areas of recognized strength involving a reasonable faculty strength at each IIT and support them massively to become the world’s best. Selection of such areas should be done on the basis of demonstrated high-level capability.

2. Take up large coordinated research projects involving a number of groups from different disciplines (from same or different IITs) to address important national challenges/other grand challenges with specific pre-defined deliverables.

3. Establish research parks with significant industry presence at each IIT on the lines of a research park established at IIT Madras, to enable industry–academia collaborations and build a Research and Innovation ecosystem.

4. Establish special laboratories of government ministries/their Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) at IITs to strengthen indigenous capability in key areas of national importance. It is expected that such augmentation of research infrastructure in the IITs would create useful linkages between them and the external world, thus making research at IIT more meaningful. More importantly, this would lead to a broad-based innovation ecosystem of which IIT students and faculty will be an integral part.

World-class institutions are characterized by the existence of a large high quality talent pool (faculty, students and visiting researchers), vibrant academic and research linkages with external better quality institutions, availability of liberal resources and a flexible and conducive governance system that can recognize and selectively support credible new ideas in a hassle-free manner. Funding and autonomy of the IITs are thus key areas that need serious attention.

Towards enhancing autonomy that would provide the IITs the necessary flexibility to support and deal with a new idea or take a new initiative and lead them towards world-class excellence, it is proposed that each Institute be fully governed by its Board of Governors (BoG), including aspects like financial planning and expenditure rules, faculty remuneration, fees and number of faculty and staff, within the overall policy guidelines of the IIT Council in terms of expectations from IITs as world-class institutions, affirmative actions, technology directions and human resource development. The composition of the Board would enable representation of all stakeholders. The Committee has suggested that the Board should have one representative each from MHRD and the state governments. Other members could be selected from panels (duly approved by the IIT Council) prepared by S&T academies and Industry associations; also the alumni and faculty would also be represented. The Board will select the Chairperson following a due process and appoint him/her after approval by the Council. A search committee appointed by the Board would select the Director for approval and appointment by the Board. Selection of the next set of members to replace those retiring, would be done by a nomination committee of the Board and approved by the Board. Each institute would subject itself to a comprehensive institution review by an internationally eminent group once every 5 years. Such reviews which will be overseen by the IIT Council, will have focus on quality, programmes, their direction and size, working of the institutions and suggestions for change, including new initiatives. These review reports shall be made public. Further, there will be an annual MoU between the Government and each IIT, with the Council’s oversight and guidance. Such MoUs would include commitments, responsibilities and deliverables on both sides (Government and IIT). The Visitor would retain emergency powers as at present.

… Attracting the best faculty to the IITs is thus of crucial importance. This would require a strong academic, research and innovation culture and a conducive and transparent organization that nurtures excellence. It has to be driven by the Director and faculty and there should be additional attractions like significant start-up funds that would enable researchers get on with their research from day one. The BoG should have the flexibility to decide on faculty remuneration. It is proposed that there should be a system of faculty assessment in terms of several parameters like teaching, research, technology development and industrial consultancy, policy research and service with differentiated faculty remuneration based on performance-based assessment. At the same time, a tenure system for faculty needs to be examined. The Committee has also suggested the need to enable and encourage some mid-career faculty from the established IITs to shift to newer IITs and for overseas faculty to join IIT.

Institutions like IITs that are devoted to growth in the knowledge, technology and innovation domains and related human capital development, should be seen as asset builders for the nation in the modern knowledge-driven economy. The Committee has thus suggested that IITs be made independent of non-plan (operational) support from the Government for their operational expenditure while at the same time seeking greater plan (capital) support to enhance research in a comprehensive manner, as outlined above. The objective of realizing autonomy would be facilitated by de-linking IIT finances with non-plan support of the Government. The enhanced plan support to IITs would have three components: (i) Student support at postgraduate and research level on a per student basis through scholarships, (ii) research support aimed at pushing the frontiers of knowledge and innovation and (iii) massive augmentation of infrastructure to support larger numbers of students.

It is proposed that the fee charged by the IITs should cover the full operational cost of education, which works out to be roughly 30% of the total current cost of education. A hassle- free bank loan scheme specific to IIT students has been proposed. No collateral would be required. This would enable access to all eligible and deserving students. Further, it has been proposed that MHRD should fully provide for fees and living expenses as per currently prevalent norms at IITs for all research students (PG) as well as UG students from weaker sections. In addition, all students whose parental income is less than Rs 4.5 lakh per annum (to be revised from time to time), should be paid scholarships covering 100% fees, and a monthly stipend. Incentives in the form of deferment of loans for students entering postgraduate education and research and proportionate repayment of loan for students joining as faculty and researchers into programmes at IITs and other areas identified by the Government, have been proposed. The Committee has also recommended that all government ministries should provide a minimum of 20% overheads without ceiling on the R&D projects sanctioned to IITs. This is necessary to avoid strain on institute resources as they undertake enlarged R&D activities. Most US universities charge overheads to the tune of 50%. Industrial consultancy and royalty, alumni and industrial grants/donations and continuing education programmes, including executive M.Tech programmes, would be some other modes for enhancing IIT finances. It is expected that IIT resources through non-governmental sources would further improve in a significant way once the IITs acquire financial autonomy.

With this background, the Committee has suggested that the tuition fees should be between Rs 2–2.5 lakh per year per student. This would be reasonable considering the high demand for IIT graduates and the salary that an IIT B.Tech is expected to get. There is a legacy commitment in the form of retirement benefits under the old pension scheme (to the tune of around Rs 221 crore for all IITs in 2010). This should be continued to be paid by the Government till the end of the scheme.

To support research at IITs, MHRD should provide plan funds at Rs 1.5 lakh per student annually. The newer IITs do not have any significant endowment funds at present. Hence, Rs 50 crore as seed endowment over the next 5 years has been proposed for each new IIT.

On the capital investment front, the Government should support an Expansion Budget at Rs 20 lakh per additional student. In addition, a sum of Rs 5 lakh per student would be required in the established IITs for regeneration of ageing infrastructure. It is also assessed that for OSC- related expansion costs, Rs 15 lakh per student should be provided as Rs 10 lakh per student provided presently has been found to be inadequate. The IITs must nurture an ambience of Innovation and Entrepreneurship to make India a world leader in the present-day knowledge economy. In order to achieve this, we should have substantially enhanced Industrial collaboration with a focus on technology development in the Indian context. A strong industry–academia relationship is of key importance. Initially, there needs to be significant give and take on both sides. But this will make a significant difference to teaching and research at the IITs and will train IIT graduates to take India to a leadership position. One should also encourage industry R&D personnel to become adjunct faculty and enable large numbers of industry persons to do PhD. Research Parks create the right ecosystem to bring students, faculty and industry R&D personnel together. It is proposed that Rs 200 crore be provided for setting up a Research Park on the lines of the IIT Madras Research Park at each IIT. The IITs need to learn that success in entrepreneurship often comes only after multiple failures and substantial benefits accrue only if R&D is pursued over long periods. We need to create a value system that takes these factors into account. IITs have to make special efforts to learn to evaluate faculty focusing on product development. Outsourcing of support activities to the maximum extent possible has been strongly recommended. IITs should strive to minimize the number of regular employees for non- technical support functions. All decisions with regard to staff, including numbers and remuneration, should be decided by the BoG. Most scientific staff is proposed to be on project mode, with flexibility of salaries for temporary staff. The technical staff could be in-sourced wherever possible. Here, the use of PhD students as teaching assistants would be of help. On the administration side, maximum possible computerization of functions has been recommended to reduce the requirement of administrative staff. Hiring of some professional mid-career staff could be considered to make the administration more efficient. They should be observed for their performance for a few years before they are regularized. Scaling up engineering education with quality would ensure availability of quality human resource for meeting India’s needs. It will also be an excellent feeder pool to critical areas as well as into the PhD programmes. Seventy Centrally funded institutions (including IITs) should therefore graduate 100,000 high quality engineers every year. While the share of 20 IITs could be 20,000 B.Techs, the 50 other institutions should plan to graduate 80,000 graduates every year in about 10 years from now. Hopefully, state governments and private institutions could create additionally at least 200,000 quality seats. This will create a reasonable sized science and engineering pool for India’s future.

As a part of IITs’ engagement in this process, each of the 50 Centrally funded science and engineering institutions (like NITs, IIITs, IISER, NISER) could select 5 bright young (aged around 35 years) faculty members from the IIT system and invite them to be a member of their BoG and Senate. They could be tasked to build a relationship with the concerned IIT department and young faculty at the Institute to enable and enhance research collaboration (Rs 50 lakh to be identified for each faculty for this purpose) between the institute and the IITs. They would encourage B.Techs to join PhD programmes at the IITs and, if necessary, get faculty to do PhDs at the IITs. Similarly, they could get some IIT PhDs to join the institute as faculty. It is expected that each faculty spends at least 15 days a year at the institute. One of the consequences of this strategy would also be that young IIT faculty would be trained to be future leaders. In a similar manner, 3 young persons from industry could be identified by each NIT. They could be similarly invited to the Board and be tasked with similar goals.

Amendments to the IIT Act would be necessary to give effect to the above-mentioned recommendations.

Details are given in the report. We strongly suggest that the recommendations of the Committee should be treated as a whole to realize the intended objective. It is also recommended that an empowered Implementation committee should be tasked for implementation of these recommendations and to facilitate transition to the new framework for IITs.

May 19th, 2011

2011-12 Ph.D admission at NISER and IIT Bhubaneswar

Following is from http://www.niser.ac.in/phd-advt-jul2011.php.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH (NISER),
Institute Of Physics Campus,
PO- Sainik School, Sachivalaya Marg, Bhubaneswar,
Ph- 0674-2304000, Fax- 0674-2304070, E-mail- aoacad@niser.ac.in, web:- http://www.niser.ac.in
Advt.No:NISER/ACAD/Ph.D/2011‐12(1)

Notice for Admission to Ph.D. Program for 2011-12 (Odd semester)

Applications are invited from Indian citizens for admission to Ph.D Program scheduled to commence from July 2011 in the following schools of basic sciences at NISER Bhubaneswar:

1. School of Biological Sciences
2. School of Chemical Sciences
3. School of Mathematical Sciences
4. School of Physical Sciences

The students should have qualified the CSIR-NET/GATE/JEST/NBHM or equivalent examination valid for the current year in the relevant area of research. UGC-CSIR JRF qualified candidates can avail the fellowship directly from UGC or CSIR, whereas, students selected for Ph.D program based on GATE scores, are eligible for Fellowship from NISER as prevailing in DAE.

NISER provides Rs.16,000/- as fellowship for Selected Candidates who opt for DAE Fellowship. The application form is available free of cost and can be downloaded along with the guidelines. Else, the form can be obtained by post, or in person, from the academic section, NISER Bhubaneswar. There is no application/entrance fee. To and Fro single 2nd sleeper Class railway fare will be provided to those candidates who are called for the test/interview.

The last dates: For postal requests for application Forms : April 25, 2011
To submit the filled-in application form : May 2,2011

For more details regarding Eligibility, Selection procedure, How to apply and other important details, download the guidelines ( http://www.niser.ac.in/phd-advt-jul2011.php ) and if needed consult the websites of different schools of NISER.

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER(III) ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

Following is from http://iitbbs.gov.in/phd_admission.php?type=fnews2.

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY BHUBANESWAR
BHUBANESWAR – 751013
No: IIT/Acad/Ph.D/Admn./2011-2012
ADMISSION TO Ph.D. PROGRAMME

Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar invites application for admission to Ph.D. Programmes in the following categories.

a. Regular full-time scholars with Institute fellowship.
b. Research scholars sponsored by and employed in industry/orgainsation having R & D facilities.

Schools and fields of Research

1) School of Basic Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics) :

Physics : Fiber Sensors, Surface Plasmon, Nano & Bio-Photonics, Infrared & Terahertz Sensing, Spectrocopy and Imaging, Solar cell, Waveguide & Interferometer, Electron and ToF spectroscopy of biomolecules, clusters and atoms, Ion solid interactions, nanomaterials, Soft condensed matter physics, Nanostructured Materials, Functionilized Nanostructure and Devices, Optical Spectroscopy and Transport Properties, Multiferroics, Superconductivity, Quantum magnetism in low dimensional system, Geometrically frustrated system, Magnetic nanostructures and thin films.

Chemistry : Organometallic Chemistry; Homogeneous Catalysis; Supramolecular Chemistry; Crystal Engineering; Organic Solid State Chemistry; Nanomaterials; Polymorphism; Coordination Chemistry; Materials Chemistry; Molecular Modelling; Magnetochemistry; Synthesis of natural products and modified nucleic acids; Spectroscopy; Bio and Protein Chemistry; Theoretical Chemistry (Statistical Mechanics), Organometallic Chemistry, Catalysis for Fine Chemicals, Biophysical chemistry.

Mathematics: Functional Analysis, Artificial Neural Network, Geometric Programming, Queuing Theory, Applied Probability models and Stochastic models in the theory of queues, mathematical finance, Dynamical systems, Complex Dynamics, Fractals, Optimization Techniques.

2) School of Earth, Ocean & Climate Sciences : Environmental Earth Science, Hydro Geochemistry, Water – rock interaction, Biogeochemistry.

3) School of Electrical Sciences (Electrical Engineering, Electronics & Communication Engineering, Computer Science Engineering, Instrumentation Engineering): Digital Signal Processing, Soft and Evolutionary Computing, Sensor Network, Intelligent Instrumentation, Digital/Image/Distributed Signal Processing, Opto Electronics and Optical Communication, Computational Electromagnetics and Antenna Design, Metamaterials, RFID, Satellite Communication, Power system protection, Smart grids, Electric drives and Control, Power quality, custom power devices, renewable energy sources (wind and solar).

4) School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Management: Indian English Literature, Commonwealth studies, Indian Diaspora Literature, Autobiographical Travel Literature and Memoirs, international and interregional trade, Rural development and planning, Banking and Finance, Labour economics, Consumer Psychology, Psychology of Personality, E-Commerce, Clinical Psychology, Environmental Economics and Natural Resource Management, Valuation of Natural Resources.

5) School of Infrastructure (Civil Engineering): Structural Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Water Resource Engineering, Transportation Engineering Structural Dynamics, Earthquake Engineering, Disaster Mitigation Engineering, Concrete.

6) School of Mechanical Sciences (Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgical & Materials Engineering) : Conjugate Heat Transfer, Thermal Engineering, Radiation Modelling, CFD/HT, Transport Phenomena in Material Processing, Ultrafast Radiation Heat Transfer, Technical Acoustics, Noise and Vibration, Industrial Noise control, Composite Materials, Finite Element method, Probabilistic Mechanics, Deterministic & Random Vibration, Sandwich structures, Solid mechanics, Smart composite structures, IC engine, Heat transfer, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, Industrial Engineering, Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Quality Control, Production Planning and Control, Optimisation Techniques.

Eligibility:

PhD (Engineering): 60% marks or 6.75 CGPA in M. Tech/M.E with consistently good academic record OR B.Tech/B.E with 70% or 7.5 CGPA with valid GATE Score (Very Good) and consistently good academic record

PhD (Science): 1st class in M.Sc./ M. Tech with consistently good academic record (equivalent CGPA) and valid GATE/NET CSIR/UGC score

PhD (HSS): 55% marks or equivalent CGPA in Master degree with UGC/NET score OR M. Phil degree

How to Apply: Application form, downloadable from www.iitbbs.ac.in, should be sent to Assistant Registrar (A&E), IIT Bhubaneswar, Samantapuri, Bhubaneswar, Orissa – 751013 along with a Demand Draft of Rs.200/- (Rs.100/- for SC/ST candidates) drawn in favour of "IIT Bhubaneswar" on any nationalized bank payable at Bhubaneswar. Please superscribe ‘Application for Admission to PhD programme’ on the envelope. Application form may also be obtained from the Academic Section, IIT Bhubaneswar against a demand draft on every working day.

Important Dates : Application forms can be submitted throughout the year. Last date for submitting application form for Autumn 2011-12: 13th May 2011.

3 comments April 25th, 2011

40,000 from Odisha appear in IIT JEE in 2011??

Following is an excerpt from a report on Times of India regarding increase in the number of students appearing in IIT JEE from Odisha.

The number of IIT aspirants in Orissa saw a steady rise with nearly 40,000 students appearing for the joint entrance examination ( JEE) for the country’s premier institute on Sunday, officials said.

Registrar of IIT-Bhubaneswar Bata Kishore Ray said, "The number of aspirants from Orissa has gone up in the last couple of years, especially after IIT-B started operating from the city. …

… About 30,000 aspirants appeared from the state last year, he added.

… In the capital city alone, over 5,000 students appeared in 12 centres for one of the toughest competitive examinations in the country.

… Director of a city-based coaching centre Jyoti Ranjan Tripathy said good coaching facilities and number of successful students increasing every year has been motivating others to go for IIT. "In terms of coaching facilities, Bhubaneswar can be called the Kota of eastern India. Orissa has created some top rankers in IIT-JEE in the last few years and this has motivated more students."

As per a report in Economic Times, the total number of applicants for IIT JEE is 4,85,262.

Following is obtained from a Deccan Chronicle report, a TOI report and another TOI report:

• Total: 4,85,262 out of which 1,13,942 were girl applicants.
  • SC – 47,479; ST – 19,305; OBC – 1,42,387 (TOI)
• Madras zone (Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala): about 68,500 out of which 20,546 were girls. (last year 65,650)
• Mumbai zone: about 85,260/68,735*
  
• Kanpur zone: around 80,400/63,661* (16,770 girls)
• Guwahati zone (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya and West Bengal): about 58,700.
• Kharagpur zone:??
• Delhi Zone: 71,353 (16,877 girls)
  
• Roorkee Zone: 16,976 girls

* Two newspapers give different numbers. 

Assuming the numbers for Odisha are correct, it is a significant development in that 8.25% of the total applicants will be from Odisha. Note that Odisha’s population is 3.47% of the total population of the country. 

Ofcourse, a more important aspect is the success in the exam, but significant increase in the applications is a good starting point. Some of the reason behind this increase are:

• More awareness due to IIT Bhubaneswar.
• The significant increase in the availability of coaching, including many nationally known coaching institutes opening their centers in Odisha, especially in Bhubaneswar. These include Careerpoint, FIITJEE, Narayana, Resonance and Vidya Mandir.
• The significant increase in the number of private +2 colleges across the state, some of which have ties with coaching classes.

Now lets hope a good number from Odisha succeed in IIT JEE. Currently Hyderabad and Kota are the places with the highest number of successful candidates. Following is an excerpt from a TOI report on that.

If JEE-2010 results are pored over, the maximum number of candidates to clear the exam was from Andhra Pradesh (AP).

The state dominated the merit list. Seven of the top ten rankers were from there, the share of Kota (which is in Rajasthan) starting only after rank 15. While in 2006, 938 candidates from AP and 1,004 from Rajasthan made it to the IITs, a year later the tables had turned, with 1,384 from AP clearing JEE and 1,344 from Rajasthan. It has been a close race since. In 2009, for example, 1,862 students from AP and 1,898 from Rajasthan cleared JEE.

There are reports from other cities and states, but many have contradictory reports. Following are data from some of these reports.

• Karnataka: 5,400 (Expressbuzz)
• Bangalore: 4,125 (Expressbuzz)
• Nagpur: 4,800 (TOI)
• Mumbai: 8,500 (DNA)
• Maharashtra: 21,000 (DNA), 21,700 (DNA)
• Lucknow: 15,000 (TOI)
• Varanasi: 8,000 (TOI)
• UP: 83,139 (TOI)
• Jaipur: 38,000 (TOI)
• Delhi: 37,411 (TOI
• Andhra Pradesh: 50,000 (Deccan Chronicle), Over 1 lakh (TOI).
• Chennai: 5,000 (Expressbuzz), 5,329 (TOI)
• Bhubaneswar: 5,000 (Times of India)
• Odisha: 40,000 (Times of India)  [I doubt this number.]

3 comments April 11th, 2011

IIT Bhubaneswar’s latest standing advertisement includes positions for two new schools: School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences and School of Minerals, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

The earlier standing advertisement only had positions for five schools. This one at http://www.iitbbs.ac.in/faculty-position.php includes positions for two new schools: School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences and School of Minerals, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering. Earlier there were specific ads for a chair professor and professors position for those two new schools. I just found out that Prof. Subhasis Tripathy (on lien from IIT Kharagpur for two years) has joined as the professor to lead the School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences at IIT Bhubaneswar.

STANDING ADVERTISEMENT FOR FACULTY POSITION

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 seven Schools:

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

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:

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.

Registrar

March 21st, 2011

IIT Bhubaneswar plans for the future; includes a 100 acre marine campus

The following is from http://www.iitlc.org/INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY BHUBANESWAR.pdf . 

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY BHUBANESWAR

To meet the increasing demand for quality technical education in the country, eight new IITs have
been established by the Government of India and IIT Bhubaneswar is the first amongst these to
become operational.

The Institute began its journey from the campus of IIT Kharagpur, the mentor Institute of IIT
Bhubaneswar on 22 nd July 2008. The Institute started operating from its temporary campuses in the
heart of the city of Bhubaneswar from 22 nd July 2009 with 228 undergraduate students in the
disciplines of Civil, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering and 6 Ph.D. scholars. Currently annual
UG intake capacity in each discipline is 40. Admission to Ph.D. programme is carried out in every
semester. The Institute envisages a growth path of 5000 students (UG, PG and Research) with 500
faculties in a decade.

For the permanent campus of IIT Bhubaneswar the Government of Orissa has allotted 936 acres of
land at Argul near Bhubaneswar, which is only 14 km from the Bhubaneswar airport. The architect
and project management consultant has already been appointed to put the project on fast track.

The Institute was born with the concept of schools rather than departments with its focus on
nourishing interdisciplinary environment. The existing schools are: 

• School of Basic Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Bioscience, Mathematics)
• School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Management
• School of Mechanical Sciences (Mechanical, Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering,Aerospace Engineering)
• School of Infrastructure (Civil Engineering, Architecture, Urban design, Town Planning,Traffic and Transportation Engineering)
• School of Electrical Sciences (Electrical Engineering, Electronics & CommunicationEngineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Energy Engineering, Learning Sciences,Instrumentation)

The following schools are proposed to be set up in near future:

• School of Minerals and Materials Engineering – Materials, Metallurgy, Mining (relevant to the Rich resources of metals and minerals in the region)

• School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences (Relevant to the region keeping in view the vastcoast line, rich biodiversity, need for disaster management and mitigation arising out of flood,cyclone etc)
• School of Chemical Sciences (Chemical, biochemical, biomedical, biotechnology)
• School of Design and Creative Arts

As a part of the School of Earth Ocean and Climate Sciences, the Institute has already planned to set up an Innovative Centre for Climate Change near the coast line of Orissa to study various aspects of climate change such as rise in sea level in the Bay of Bengal, effect of climate change on the marine life, health of the people in this region, disaster mitigation and management etc. Government of Orissa has already allotted nearly 100 acres of land on sea coast near Puri – Konark stretch and Government of India has agreed to  support in creating the Centre.

The Institute has already started research and consultancy projects sponsored by DST, CSIR, DRDO and other funding agencies of the Government of India. With a view to significantly enhancing the activities in this direction, the faculty members are in the process of submitting large number of project proposals to government agencies and private sector industries. The Institute proposes to remain focused in the following broad areas for its research and development activities:

• Alternative Energy
• Bioscience and Bioengineering
• Environment and Climate Science
• Manufacturing
• Minerals and Materials Sciences

A Science Park shall be an integral part of the growth plan of IIT Bhubaneswar.

I knew about the Marine campus plans and request for land, but did not know that the government of Orissa has already allotted land for it and the government of India has agreed to support it. This is great news.

This means, in addition to its regular progress, IIT Bhubaneswar has been able to make progress in two new initiatives:

1. A new School of Minerals and Materials Engineering that is helped by a 3 crore sponsored Chair by a private company. (See here and here.)
2. A new School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences with its own 100 acre campus near the ocean. (See here, here and here.)

Now if someone or some company or some MP can donate an initial amount (say 3-5 crores) for the other two proposed schools (School of Chemical Sciences and School of Design and Arts) then the establishment of those two can also be sped up. Note that a School of Design and Arts is almost like, or could be even better than, a National Institute of Design. In this earlier posting corporate partnership in establishing these schools is mentioned. Some initial steps towards establishing a School of Design has been made and mentioned here. I especially like the following quote in that report.

“We want IIT-Bhubaneswar to excel in product design and creation especially in auto and manufacturing sector,” the director said.

If IIT Bhubaneswar is able to have this school and is able to attract auto and other manufacturing companies, that would be wonderful.

1 comment March 16th, 2011