Partial list of GOI institutes funded by various ministries

  • Ministry of Human Resources and Development
    • 15+1? IITs: Bombay, Delhi, Madras, Kharagpur, Kanpur, Guwahati, Roorkee, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Hyderabad, Gandhinagar, Ropar (Punjab), Rajasthan, Mandi (Himachal Pradesh), Indore, IT BHU proposed to be upgraded to an IIT.
    • 13 IIMs: Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bangalore, Lucknow, Kozhikode, Indore, Shillong, Tamil Nadu, J & K, Jharkhand, Raipur, Uttarakhand, Haryana
    • 14 World class Central Universities: Pune, Kolkata, Coimbatore, Mysore, Visakhapatnam, Gandhinagar, Jaipur, Patna, Bhopal, Kochi, Amritsar, Bhubaneswar, Greater NOIDA (Delhi)
    • 4 existing IIITs: Allahabad, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Kaanchipuram
    • 20 proposed IIITs: Delhi, Chennai, Truvanthapuram, Bangalore, Jammu, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Lucknow, Patna, Shillong, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Indore, Nagpur, Bhubaneswar, Pune, Visakhapatnam, Mysore, Mangalore and Coimbatore.
    • 20 NITs: Rourkela, Durgapur, Patna, Kozhikode, Surat, Surathkal, Warangal, Trichy, Allahabad, Jaipur, Silchar, Srinagar, Jallandhar, Kurukshetra, Raipur, Hamirpur, Jamshedpur, Bhopal, Nagpur, Tripura,
    • 4 proposed IIESTs: Howrah, Kochi, Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad
    • 5 IISERs: Pune, Kolkata, Mohali (Punjab), Bhopal, Tiruvathapuram
    • 3 SPAs: Delhi, Vijaywada, Bhopal
    • ISM Dhanbad
    • IISc, Bangalore
  • Ministry of Textiles
  • Ministry of Commerce
    • NIDs
  • Ministry of Fertlizers
    • NIPER
  • Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
    • RGIPT
  • Ministry of Health
    • AIIMS
    • AIIMS like institutions
    • IIPH
  • CSIR Labs
  • DAE Labs and institutes
  • DBT Institutes
  • DRDO Labs
  • DST Labs
  • ICAR institutes
  • ICMR Institutes

2 comments June 30th, 2008

Cabinet approves two Schools of Planning & Architecture (SPAs) in Vijaywada and Bhopal

Following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=39796.

The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for setting up of two Schools of Planning and Architecture (SPAs) at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh and creation of 4 core posts of Director & Registrar for each Institute with immediate effect.

The total cost for setting up of two Schools of Planning and Architecture would be Rs.348.50 cores ( Recurring expenditure Rs.82.90 cores and Non-Recurring expenditure – Rs.265.60 crores). The project would be completed by 2012-13.

These Institutes would integrate graduate, post-graduate, doctoral and post-doctoral education in architecture and town planning while at the same time fostering research of a high order in these areas. Research in such areas can generate significant intellectual properties, which has the potential for generating sizeable revenues.

These Institutes will create a cadre of high calibre faculty members who will be devoted to teaching, research and consultancy in all disciplines that deal with Planning and Architecture. Also, SPAs will be socially responsible institutions providing research feedback to the Government for physical development of human settlements

The Institutes would also contribute to highly competent and trained manpower that would inevitably impact positively on the economic growth of the country.

****

HS/RK

1 comment June 26th, 2008

IIT Bhubaneswar exact site not quite decided

Earlier reports had indicated that the site will be near Banki. But it seems that it is still not fully decided. I guess until the central government gives its seal of approval it won’t be decided. Most likely the central government will approve the site IIT Kharagpur (mentor institution) approves. But which is that site? The following Sambada and Samaja reports display this confusion.

June 22nd, 2008

Is NISER’s pay package better than the IISERs’?

From http://niser.iopb.res.in/careers/ the NISER pay is:

 

Assistant Professor 12,000-375-16,500
Reader (F) 14,300-400-18,300
Associate Professor 16,400-450-20,000
Professor 18,400-500-22,400

 

 

 

 

.. In addition to the basic salary, NISER faculty is entitled to allowances as admissible to Central Government Employees stationed at Bhubaneswar and to the DAE’s update allowance, which is currently Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 30,000 per year depending on the scale of pay. They will also receive other fringe benefits (like Relocation Grant, Reimbursement of telephone charges, financial support to attend national/international Conferences/Seminars/Workshops, etc.) which will be comparable to the best in the country.

From http://www.iiserkol.ac.in/career.html the IISER pay is:

1. Professor : Scale of pay : Rs 18,400 – 500 – 22,400
2. Associate Professor :
Scale of pay : Rs 16,400 – 450 – 20,000
3. Assistant Professor :
Scale of pay : Rs 12,000 – 420 – 18,300
including allowances as admissible to Central Government Employees in Kolkata.

… In addition to pay and allowances the faculty members may be provided with the following:

  • Reimbursement of telephone charges up to Rs 750 per month.

  • Rs 4000 per year as book grant.

  • Reimbursement of 75% of membership fee (restricted to Rs.5,000.00) of two international and two national professional bodies every year.

  • Financial support to attend national/international Conferences/Seminars/Workshops, etc.

  • Seed money for starting research laboratory.

I wonder if IISERs have something comparable to the DAE update allowance that NISER will pay. Otherwise that could be a selling point for NISER over the IISERs. Perhaps a knowledgeable reader can enlighten us on this aspect.

 

June 20th, 2008

Knowledge commission recommends four centers for advanced legal studies and research

(Courtsey: http://bbiiser.blogspot.com/)

http://knowledgecommission.gov.in/

There is need to set up four autonomous, well networked Centres for Advanced Legal Studies and Research (CALSAR), one in each region, to carry out cutting edge research on various aspects of law and also serve as a think-tank for advising the government in national and international fora. The CALSARs would maintain adequate linkages and institutionalized interaction opportunities with law schools and universities, including continuing legal education for faculty. Some other specific functions and objectives of these centres would include: publishing a peer reviewed journal of international quality; facilitating multi disciplinary approaches to law; institutionalizing arrangements for scholars in residence; organizing workshops and undertaking in-depth research on new and developing areas of law. Each CALSAR would require an initial investment of around Rs. 50 crore to build an academic complex, conference facilities, a world-class library and other infrastructure. These institutes would also need to be provided with an annual budget to the tune of Rs. 5 crore for salaries, fellowships, administrative expenses and related expenses. The initial investment and the annual budgets should be borne by the central and respective state governments (that would host the CALSAR) respectively, but the CALSARs should gradually aim at financial self-sustenance, through innovative financial method

June 18th, 2008

National Institute of Paramedical Science

(Courtsey: http://bbiiser.blogspot.com/)

http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/genrep/rep_ser.pdf

For the paramedical personnel there several institutions, in the States but also in the private sector but these are unregulated and there is lack of uniformity in the training imparted. For regulating training of paramedics it is proposed to set up the Paramedics Council and a Bill for the same has already been introduced in Parliament. Separately, there is also a proposal in the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare to set up a National Institute of Paramedical Sciences (with branches in New Delhi and Chennai) for undertaking and coordinating training programmes in the country in collaboration with State Governments. The Ministry is proposing to use distance education to ensure large coverage of the training programmes.

3 comments June 18th, 2008

UNESCO Regional center in biotechnology in Faridabad, Harayana

The following was reported in bbiiser.blogspot.com.

Preamble:

Regional Centre for Biotechnology Training & Education under the auspices of UNESCO at Faridabad, Haryana, India will be an autonomus institution fully funded by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India.

The proposed Centre shall be a Category II Centre in terms of “Principles and Guidelines for the Establishment and Functioning of UNESCO Institutes and Centres”.

The emphasis is to support disciplinary & interdisciplinary education, training and research in biotechnology in order to produce skilled human resource to drive innovative research and development in the important gap areas.

As biotechnology sector is of global significance, the Centre would encourage global partnerships and co-operations.

Partnership with UNESCO would expand the opportunities to create world class education, training, research and will also facilitate global connectivity while preserving the regional & national focus of the institution.

Mission:
The Mission of the UNESCO Center is to create physical infrastructure in critical platform technologies and use it to support disciplinary & interdisciplinary education, training and research in biotechnology.

Vision:
To produce human resource tailored to drive innovation in biotechnology, particularly in areas of new opportunity and to fill talent gap in deficient areas.

Objectives:
(a) To produce human resource through education and training in a milieu of research and development for application of biotechnology for sustainable development towards building a strong biotech industry through regional and international co-operation.

(b) To establish desired infrastructure and Technology Platforms to support the activities of the centre.

(c) To establish a Technology Policy Development and Information Dissemination unit.

(d) To develop research programmes of a global quality through international partnerships to sustain world class education and training programmes.

(e) To enable periodic experimentation in design and implementation of biotechnology education and training and to be a source of new concepts and programmes, this can be assimilated by existing universities in India and the Region.

(f) To create a hub of biotechnology expertise in South Asian Association of Regional Co–operation (SAARC) region, and more generally in the Asian region and to address human resource needs.

(g) Promotion and strengthening of South-South & South-North co-operations around issues relevant to biotech education, training, innovation, commercialization and trade.

(h) Promotion of a network of satellite centers in the region.

Focus:
The primary focus of the Centre is to provide high quality human resource in disciplinary and interdisciplinary areas.

The Centre would provide outstanding disciplinary/interdisciplinary short term training programmes which will include Science & Technology training for physicians, biologists and engineers by networking through local hospitals/ medical & engineering schools etc.

In addition, short term training programmes in platform technologies will be conducted for skill development in existing personnel.

Specialized domain specific programmes will also be created in new emerging areas.

The Centre will offer specialized master’s degree courses, unique Ph.D. programmes, domain specific training programmes, high quality research and development in the specific areas.

The Centre will have a centralized Science & Technology platform and Technology Management & Enterprise Development Unit.

India is poised to be the hub for biotechnology in the coming decade; therefore the Centre would provide a window for showcasing Indian competence in global market for economic gains. Policy harmonization on trade and regulation will also be facilitated as a part of this effort.

Programmes Details:
1. As Educational Hub:

(a) Special Master’s Degree courses:
The Centre will offer special Master’s Degree courses of two years duration in the following areas:
v Biosciences,
v Bioengineering,
v Drug Discovery Science,
v Translational and Clinical Health Science,
v Molecular Crop Breeding,
v Regulatory Affairs,
v Biomedical Quality Systems and Product Development,
v Infectious Disease Biology,
v Bioinformatics etc.

It will also help to enrich the existing Master’s in Biotechnology programmes and cater to the needs of the Asian region and members countries.

(b) Unique PhD Programmes:

The Centre will offer unique M. Tech.-PhD programme in Biomedical engineering,

Integrated M.Sc-PhD programme in Medical bioscience and drug discovery,
PhD in
v Molecular Crop Biotechnology,
v Nano-biology,
v Synthetic Biology related to Health, Plants and Energy
v Interdisciplinary PhD programme (on the lines of MIT Harvard HST programme).

The Ph.D. programmes of the UNESCO Center will be open to Indians as well as students from the member countries and Asian region. A few fellowships will be available to students opting for these programmes on a competitive basis.

The students will have access to:

v Disciplinary & Interdisciplinary, Tech Strong & Industry Linked Environment

v Expertise of Research Centers of Excellence: Institutional, Regional & Global

v Multicultural & Global Environment

v Learning Skills of International Standard

v Overseas Mentors

2. Training Programmes:
(a) The training programme will be unique to the Centre with the goal to arrange/organize personalized or user-friendly opportunities for career development. Structured training courses for physicians and engineers (intending to enter biology), science managers and industry personnel in specific areas where they require skill enhancement will have emphasis.

(b) The Centre’s Technology Incubator & Business Development Unit will be open to industry for enhancing their skills in specific areas through structured training courses for career opportunities/ advancements in the areas like:
v IPR,
v Technology Transfer,
v Bio-enterprise/ Management in Biotechnology,
v Platform Technologies,
v Regulatory Procedures,
v Biosafety,
v Bioethics,
v Process Development and Up-scaling,
v Preclinical Toxicity and Clinical Trials,
v Good Manufacturing Practices & Good Laboratory Practices,
v Biostatistics,
v Epidemiology etc.

(c) Specialized Domain Specific Training Programmes will also be designed for people from basic sciences in:
v Nanotechnology,
v Implants and Devices,
v Vaccine Development,
v Stem Cell Biology etc.

3. Research:
The research emphasis will be in the areas like:
v Nano-biology,
v Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering,
v Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics,
v Molecular Metabolism and Nutrition,
v Bone & Cartilage Biology,
v High Throughput Clinical Genomics,
v Diabetes,
v Infection Science Microbiology & Vaccinology,
v Molecular Diagnostics,
v Crop Breeding etc.

Post-doctoral Programmes:

v Re-entry Grant to Talented Scientists working abroad.

v Young Investigator Awards to work for 3-5yrs after PhD

PROGRAMMES AND SUB-PROGRAMMES AT UNESCO CENTRE

Programmes:

v Biological Sciences

Sub-programmes:
F Immunology
F Molecular biology
F Molecular biophysics
F Structural biology
F Molecular Cell biology
F Bioinformatics
F Bio-organic Chemistry

v Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
v Bioengineering & Material Science
v Industrial Biotechnology
v Molecular Crop breeding
v Molecular Medicine – I (Infectious diseases)
v Molecular Medicine – II (chronic diseases)
v Applied health science Division
v GMP Units
F Vaccine production
F Cell and tissue based therapies etc.

UNESCO Center
The research carried out at the Centre will be supported by various programmes and collaborations at the national and global levels like Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Autonomus Research & Development Institutions, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Medical Schools, Biotechnology Centres at regional and international level etc. as per the guidelines to be formulated by the Board of Governors. It will consider supporting Research Resource Units (RRU’s) and Centre for Excellence (CoE) with Indian or Regional institutes in strategic areas where partnership is critical for collaborative research. It will also provide access to technology platforms to scientists from other institutes and industry. The extramural collaborations will have provisions for adjunct professorships, visiting professor programmes and scientist exchange programmes etc.

OTHER ACTIVITIES OF THE UNESCO CENTER:
The Centre will have the provisions for Visiting Professorship for Indian Nationals & International Scientists, Adjunct Professorship, Stanford-India Bio-design Programme, Re-entry Grant and Young Investigator Awards.

CENTRALIZED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM:

The platform technologies will be available in the areas of
v Large Scale Sequencing,
v Genetic Analysis,
v Proteomics,
v RNAi,
v Imaging,
v Chemical Biology,
v Bio Bank etc.
This centralized science and technology platform is expected to provide service to the scientists of the research divisions of health science & technology, and provide support to the training activities of the UNESCO Centre and other research institutes in the country.
In due course it will develop liaison with national and international databases and consortia in order to contribute to global scientific resources.

TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT AND ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT UNIT:

The infrastructure of this unit will have ready to use laboratory space for extramural scientists for innovative & translational research projects. In partnership with the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), GMP units for cell based therapy and vaccine will be made. The faculty of this unit will have skills in technology transfer, IP managements, finance and enterprise creation.

Organization Structure:


Administration & Finance Unit:

This unit will provide administrative, financial, engineering and other support services to the Centre. Services like security, housekeeping, office attendants, operation & maintenance of services will be outsourced to firms who provide manpower on contract.

Location:

The Centre will be situated in a picturesque location in Faridabad about 25 km from New Delhi (40 minute drive) in the academic and research ambience of the Life Sciences Cluster and an adjacent R & D Centre of another Ministry of the Government of India to be set up in the near future.
The site is also close to other renowned institutions like the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS); Indian Institute of Technology (IIT); International Centre for Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology (ICGEB); Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU); National Institute of Immunology (NII); National Brain Research Centre (NBRC), with whom the centre is likely to establish network and collaborative programmes, are also situated within 20-30km radius of the centre.
v Meeting with National Experts was held on May 18, 2007.

v An interactive meeting on the UNESCO Centre was jointly organized by DBT and UNESCO on June 18-19, 2007 at New Delhi to discuss the focus, activities, organizational structure and linkages of the proposed Centre.

The meeting was attended by eminent scientists, educationists, policy makers and stakeholders from the members countries, counties of the South East Asian Region as well as by representatives from the industries as well.

The experts nominated by UNESCO provided insights into global partnerships and benefit- sharing especially with regard to guest/visiting faculty, fellowships and participation of member countries.

Meeting held on June 18-19, 2007 at New Delhi

v A meeting was organized with Boston University delegation, USA, led by its President – Prof. Robert Brown, towards developing partnerships for education, training and research with the UNESCO Regional Centre for Biotechnology Training & Education and Translational Health Science & Technology Institute (THSTI) in New Delhi on September 25, 2007.
Current Status:
v An Interim Advisory Committee (IAC) has been constituted to provide Scientific and Academic directions.
v A Management Cell has been created at NII, New Delhi to address the interim issues
v Initiatives for collaborations/partnerships with international institutes/universities have been started. MoUs have been signed with Stanford and Boston University.
v Actions have been initiated for revised Cabinet approval, Legislative Bill for Act of Parliament, constitution of various committees, web-design, building construction etc.

36 comments June 18th, 2008

Pioneer reports on IIT Bhubaneswar Website

(Update: New Indian Express also reports on it.)

Following is from a report in Pioneer.

Friends and well-wishers have developed a comprehensive website for IIT Bhubaneswar. The website, http://iitbbsr.net, talks about advantages of IIT Bhubaneswar over other new IITs. It includes a section of frequently asked questions (FAQs).

Among the advantages of IIT Bhubaneswar is the fact that the first year classes will be held at IIT Kharagpur. And the students will be living with IIT Kharagpur students in the same hostels and taking classes taught by the faculty of the institute. Thus, these students will have a firsthand experience of an established IIT and will be able to bring the culture and traditions to IIT Bhubaneswar.

The other advantages of IIT Bhubaneswar are that it will be located in a well-connected metropolitan area with a population of 16.36 lakh. This is not too small to lack amenities and not too big to have the problems of big cities such as high crime rate, traffic congestion, power cuts, pollution, water scarcity, and mega slums.

Among the amenities, the IIT will be located right next to the lush green Chandaka-Dampara Elephant Sanctuary and close to the banks of the river Mahanadi. The green environment will provide the IITians plenty of opportunities to interact with the nature and recharge their brains.

At the same time, the students will be close to the malls, a water park, bookshops, museums and other urban facilities of Bhubaneswar. In terms of connectivity, Bhubaneswar is well-linked to the rest of the country by rail (from Amritsar, Hardwar, Goa and Cochin to Guwahati and Dibrugarh), road and air (Indian, Jetlite, Indigo, Kingfisher and Deccan).

But the main advantage of IIT Bhubaneswar will be that it will be driven to excellence by competition and collaboration with other national and premium institutes. The presence of NISER (National institute of Science Education and Research, which is at par with IISER but funded by DAE, proposed world-class Central University and the Rs12,000-crore Vedanta University will be advantageous to them.

It will provide the IITians additional research and management opportunities at XIM (Xaviers institute of Management), AIIMS-like institute, National Law University, Institute of Physics, Institute of Life Sciences, Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, Regional Medical Research Centre, Regional Plant Resources Centre, CIFA and CRRI.

In addition, Bhubaneswar houses the country’s major software companies, including Infosys, WIPRO, TCS and Satyam, and is the State’s hub in terms of investment. Finally, the social life and career of the IITians will be complimented by the presence of 30-plus other engineering colleges, seven universities (Utkal, OUAT, Culture, Ravenshaw, KIIT, SOA and Sri Jagannath) and two other upcoming universities (ICFAI and Sri Sri), in the area.

With all these advantages, and the State Government’s extraordinary support, whereby it plans to give 1,000 acres of land to IIT Bhubaneswar, much more than the 500-600 acres that the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development has suggested, IIT Bhubaneswar is destined to be among the top IITs of the country, feel educationists.

3 comments June 17th, 2008

IIT Bhubaneswar first batch stduents are likely to have the most IIT like experience (as compared to the students in the other new IITs of IIT Guajrat, IIT Rajasthan, IIT Patna, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Punjab)

I was just talking to one of the Deans at IIT Kharagpur (mentor institution of IIT Bhubaneswar) about the arrangements for the first batch students of IIT Bhubaneswar. He said that as their plan stands now, during the first year

  • IIT Bhubaneswar students will be staying in the hostels (called Halls in KGP) together with IIT Kharagpur students
  • IIT Bhubaneswar students will be taught by IIT Kharagpur faculty; it will be like adding one (or more) sections to their first batch.
  • More on IIT Bhubaneswar at the unofficial IIT Bhubaneswar web site.

In comparison,

  • As per IIT Gujarat FAQ, IIT Gujarat students will be having classes at Vishwakarma Government Engineering College at Chandkheda, Gandhinagar – 382424 and thus may not have the chance to know first hand about the customs and culture of an established IIT. 
    • The FAQ has the following to say about the teaching: The Institute is being set up with a lead time of just two months. In spite of that, IIT Bombay has ensured that there is competent and adequate number of faculty to teach the first year, which primarily consists of science and humanities courses. Some of the faculty has been hired directly; some are on the rolls of IIT Bombay while a few are retired but very reputed teachers from IIT Bombay. In the second semester, there is one course known as Departmental Introductory Course. As we are unlikely to have engineering faculty by that time, these courses will be taught by adjunct faculty from nearby Institutes (viz. Dhirubahai Ambani Institute on Information and Communication Technology and D.U. Institute of Petroleum, both of which are headed by former senior faculty of IIT Bombay.) Arrangements have also been made for the drawing and workshop. IIT Bombay is setting up an urgent recruitment process to ensure that quality engineering faculty is there before the second year starts.
  • As per IIT Rajasthan website:
    • IIT Rajasthan students will have class in IIT Kanpur for the first one or two semesters.
    • They will be staying separate (in apartments converted to hostel like accommodation) from the IIT Kanpur students.
    • They may be taught by some IIT Kanpur faculty  and scientists (depending on who volunteers) and IIT Kanpur will be trying to recruit new faculty as well as availing the service of some retired faculty.
  • IIT Hyderabad will have classes in rented space near their ultimate location.
  • IIT Patna. mentored by IIT Guwahati, will start classes in a polytechnique in Patna.
  • IIT Punjab will have classes in IIT Delhi.

12 comments June 14th, 2008

Some links on the new IITs

(Thanks to Dheeraj Sanghi for the pointers.)

 

June 14th, 2008

NISER looking for 20 apartments to house its faculty: Ad in Samaja

June 12th, 2008

IIT Bhubaneswar – Why pick it over IIT Patna, IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Rajasthan, IIT Hyderabad and IIT Punjab : Part II

The following is from our page http://iitbbsr.orissalinks.com/future.htm, where we look at factors that will shape the future of IIT Bhubaneswar.

IIT Bhubaneswar will be mentored by IIT Kharagpur for three years. Initial information suggests that the first year of classes will be held in IIT Kharagpur and the students will stay with the IIT Kharagpur students in one of the hostels. Most likely they will stay in the MMM Hall.

After one year, when they move to Bhubaneswar they will be able to bring with them some of the culture and traditions of IIT Kharagpur and the student  life there. Some highlights of those are : (i) Illumination and Rangoli (ii)  Spring Fest  (iii)  Techno-management festival (iv)  Hall day (v) Hostel libraries  (vi) Wing culture (vii) General championship (viii) Hall and Gymkhanna elections (ix) Hall GBMs and budgets and their spending (x) Scholars Avenue fortnightly newspaper (xi) Equal relationship between juniors and seniors – no calling seniors as Sir, bhai, bhaiyya, dada, etc.

 

The most important of these culture and traditions is the equal relationship between students at IIT Kharagpur. There every student is equal and no student fears another student. There are no big bosses or connected students in the campus who are feared by other students. Juniors call seniors by the same name that others call them; with no addition of a "bhaiyya" or "Sir." There are no physical fights in the campus. There are rivalries though; often centered around sports and cultural competitions; but NO physical fights.

This is in contrast to most other college campuses in India where students defer to their seniors and there are some students in campus to whom every body is afraid of. Thus it is great that the first batch of IIT Bhubaneswar students will spend a year in IIT Kharagpur and bring back with them the fear-free non-violent culture of the IIT Kharagpur campus.

With Professor Damodar Acharya at the helm of IIT Kharagpur, the mentoring of IIT Bhubaneswar is in good hands. Prior to being the director of IIT Kharagpur, Professor Acharya was the AICTE Chairman in Delhi and prior to that the vice-Chancellor of Biju Patnaik University of Technology, then operating from Bhubaneswar. Thus one can infer that he is well known and well connected in both Bhubaneswar and Delhi circles and this is a big advantage. For example, his suggestion that the Orissa government allocate more than the 500 acres, which the central government required, was received warmly and the Orissa government is indeed looking for a land of at least 1000 acres for IIT Bhubaneswar. So far, none of the other new IITs are thinking along those lines. Having extra land is very important as it will allow further growth of the IITs, which are being built for decades if not centuries to come. Decades later, IIT Bhubaneswar will have Prof. Acharya to thank for this foresight.

IIT Kharagpur, only 321 kms and 4.5-5hrs away from Bhubaneswar, and with 30+ trains, has many other ties with Bhubaneswar and Orissa. It has an extension center in Bhubaneswar from where it offers a PG Diploma in Information Technology and a 1.5-year part-time Diploma in intellectual property law. IIT Kharagpur professors have signed an MOU to develop a perspective plan of the Bhubaneswar metroplex and are involved in many other projects in Orissa. More than 50 faculty at IIT Kharagpur, including the Director and at least two Deans, are natives of Orissa. Thus faculty and leadership of IIT Kharagpur are familiar with Bhubaneswar and Orissa and their aspirations and are in a good position to mentor IIT Bhubaneswar. (There are many Orissa origin faculty at the various IITs and IISc who may also help IIT Bhubaneswar.)

Looking forward to the future IIT Bhubaneswar’s progress will be partly shaped by its competition and collaboration with three other marquee universities and institutions that are being established in the Bhubaneswar area.

NISER is a DAE (Department of Atomic Energy) funded institute that is admitting its second batch of students this year in 2008. The Prime Minister Dr. Mammohan Singh, while announcing the setting up of NISER said: "NISER will be at par with the IISER being established in other places but will operate under the umbrella of DAE. … When completed, I am confident that the National Institute of Science Education and Research will become a Mecca for science just as TIFR and IISc are today." Incidentally, NISER has a higher initial budget of 823.19 crores than the 500 crore budget of each of the IISERs, the 760 crore budget of each of the new IITs and the 720 crore budget of each of the WCCUs. With interdisciplinary research becoming key to solve complex grand challenges, like IISc, NISER will soon branch out to interdisciplinary centers and technological departments. With IITs also having scientific disciplines and interdisciplinary centers, down the road, IIT Bhubaneswar and NISER Bhubaneswar are expected to collaborate and compete with each other. This will drive both to excellence.

 

Recently, establishment of 14 world class central universities were announced. One of those will be in Bhubaneswar. These world class universities will have a school of medicine, and are expected to have a school of science, a school of engineering, a school of management as well as a school of liberal arts. It is said that these world class universities will be nurtured to compete with Harvard and Cambridge Universities. If that happens, the WCCU in Bhubaneswar will definitely collaborate and compete with IIT Bhubaneswar and NISER Bhubaneswar and this will drive all of them to excellence.

As of now Bhubaneswar is the only metropolitan area of the country which will have a science institute (NISER), an IIT and a WCCU. The metro areas that will have two of them are: Kolkata (an IISER and a WCCU), Pune (an IISER and a WCCU), Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar (an IIT and a WCCU), Chandigarh (an IISER and an IIT), Delhi-NOIDA (an IIT and a WCCU), Patna (an IIT and a WCCU), Guwahati (an IIT and a WCCU) and Bhopal (an IISER and a WCCU). Along with some of these metro areas Bhubaneswar will also have an AIIMS (like institute) with a budget of 332 crores as well as a IIIT.

The above is a projection to the future. But the ground reality is that it will take time for a new IIT in Bhubaneswar to catch up with the existing IITs in many respects. The existing IITs not only have an existing infrastructure and history, but also an alumni base that contributes to their growth and development. Same with respect to NISER and the well established IISc Bangalore. However, Bhubaneswar has one more trump card: the Vedanta University, that is coming up in Puri, about 40 kms and less than an hour from the outer edges of Bhubaneswar.

Vedanta University is a brainchild of industrialist Anil Agarwal, who has pledged a $1 Billion (i.e., Rs. 4,000 crores) towards it and envisions a budget of $3 Billion (i.e., Rs 12,000 crores) in making that university. The budget of this university is illuminating in its scale in that just the pledged 4,000 crores is close to the sum of the budget of two new IITs (760*2 = 1520 crores), a new IISER (500 crores), two new WCCUs (720*2=1440 crores), a new AIIMS (332 crores), and a new IIM (210.25 crores). However, the aim of the Vedanta University is to be like Stanford University and have a similar impact. In 2007, Stanford had an operating expense of $2.9 billion, an operating revenue of $3.2 billion, endowment of $17.2 billion and total asset of $29.3 billion. Hence, the 4,000 crores pledge by Anil Agarwal is only the cost of the initial phases of the Vedanta University and despite the cost differential between the US and India, to be comparable with Stanford, Vedanta University needs the 12,000 crores and perhaps more. However, the Anil Agarwal foundation has the foresight to acquire 6000+ acres of land (comparable to Stanford University’s 8180 acres) and build a city of 500,000 around the University with research parks similar to Stanford Research Park. The real estate holdings of the planned city will be able to provide Vedanta University with a sizeable endowment to realistically aim to become the Stanford of India. In the following interview of Anil Agarwal by a New York area PBS station, one can hear from the horse’s mouth about his vision for Vedanta University (starting at 3:20).

 

 

There is a high possibility that Vedanta University will not only play a significant role in Bhubaneswar and Orissa, but in all of India. Its private financing, sound financial model, lofty goals and an unprecedented donation of $1 billion, makes it likely to actually be able to hire top professors and nobel laureates, have graduate programs that rank high at the international level and produce graduates that will populate the premiere institutions and universities of India. This is relevant to the development of IIT Bhubaneswar in particular and all the IITs in general because there is a severe shortage of good academics to fill all the available positions in the IITs (and the WCCUs). In this the proximity of IIT Bhubaneswar to Vedanta University would put it at an advantage as many graduates of the later may prefer to remain in the area and maintain collaboration with their mentors and many may join IIT Bhubaneswar just to be close to Vedanta University.

Thus, with competition from, collaboration with, and synergies associated with NISER, WCCU and Vedanta University, IIT Bhubaneswar has a chance to excel and become one of the top IITs in the country. And if (a big if, but not impossible) all these institutes achieve their stated goals, then the Bhubaneswar-Puri area will have equivalents of a Stanford (Vedanta University), MIT (IIT Bhubaneswar), Berkeley (WCCU Bhubaneswar) and CalTech (NISER Bhubaneswar).

11 comments June 8th, 2008

An Essay on IIT Bhubaneswar : Why pick it over IIT Patna, IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Rajasthan, IIT Hyderabad and IIT Punjab

Following is from the pages of IIT Bhubaneswar information web site (set up by us well-wishers of IIT Bhubaneswar).

A brand new Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) is currently being established in Bhubaneswar, the vibrant, modern, capital city of Orissa. It is among the six new IITs that are scheduled to start classes this year. (The others are: IIT Hyderabad, IIT Patna, IIT Rajasthan, IIT Punjab and IIT Gandhinagar.) Bhubaneswar IIT is uniquely placed to become one of India’s top IITs within a decade.

This fledging institution will be the heart of Bhubaneswar, a burgeoning, modern city in eastern India with a population of 16.36 lakhs. It has all the amenities of a world-class metropolis: wide roads, luxury hotels, malls, restaurants, clubs, bookshops, museums, gardens, water parks and fountains. A picturesque city with boulevards, gardens and fountains, Bhubaneswar seems to have it all, minus the traffic, water problems, power cuts and the mega slums that dot most cities of India. It is well connected to the rest of the country by air, rail, and road.

Orissa’s famed temples dot the landscape, and world famous attractions such as UNESCO world heritage site Konark, Puri beach, and Chilika lake and bird sanctuary are only an hour away. Bhubaneswar is one of India’s major tourist hubs with history and geography right by its side. The Rock edicts of Ashoka are at one end of the city in Dhauli, right by the Daya river, while the picturesque Chandaka-Dampara sanctuary, as big as Bhubaneswar itself, lies adjacent on the west bordering the mighty Mahanadi. To the north is the garden of the Gods, Nandankanan, and the Kathjodi river, separating Bhubaneswar from its twin, the millennium city of Cuttack.

With all major Indian software firms such as Infosys, Satyam, TCS, Wipro, Mindtree and Hexaware setting shop here, Bhubaneswar is also the eastern India’s IT hub. It is the East Coast Railway (ECOR) HQ and has headquarters of various private and public sector companies such as Navaratna NALCO, POSCO-India and Dhamara Port Company Ltd. Four major industrial clusters are about 100 kms from Bhubaneswar in each of the four directions: Kalinganagar to the North, Paradeep to the east, Chhatrapur to the South and Angul-Talcher to the west. With Orissa leading the country in investment, bagging 30 percent of the total investment in India in the last quarter (fourth quarter of 2007-08), mainly in the industrial and infrastructure sector, Bhubaneswar is abuzz with optimism.

Yet what sets Bhubaneswar apart is its rise to prominence as India’s foremost knowledge hub. The metropolitan area is already home to Utkal University, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Ravenshaw University, Utkal University of Culture, KIIT Deemed University, Siksha `O’ Anusandhan deemed University, Xavier Institute of Management (XIMB), and an International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT). Existing research institutions in the Bhubaneswar metropolitan area include the Institute of Physics, the Institute of Life Sciences, the Institute of Mathematics and Applications, the Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, the Central Rice Research Institute, the Central Institute of Fresh Water Aquaculture, and the Regional Medical Research Center.

Several national level institutes have recently been established or are being established in Bhubaneswar. Besides IIT Bhubaneswar, they include the National Institute of Science, Education and Research (NISER), which is equivalent to the IISERs but funded by the DAE, and which is currently admitting its second batch of students, an AIIMS-like institute, and a centrally funded World Class Central University (WCCU). At present Bhubaneswar is the only city in India that is scheduled to have an IIT, a science institute (NISER) and a WCCU; a IIIT and an AIIMS-like institute are additional pluses. In addition, the Anil Agarwal foundation is establishing Vedanta University in Puri, which is about 40 kms from the outer edges of Bhubaneswar. It has a budget of $3 Billion (Rs. 12,000 crores) and includes a personal pledged donation of $1 Billion (Rs 4,000 crores) by Mr. Anil Agarwal. Vedanta University is envisioned to be India’s answer to Stanford and Harvard. Other universities that are coming up in the Bhubaneswar area include ICFAI University, Sri Sri University, National Law University and Orissa Open University. At the college level, the Bhubaneswar area has 30+ engineering colleges with another 20+ in the pipeline and four existing medical colleges (SCB, KIIT, SUM, Hi-Tech) with several more in the pipeline.

IIT Bhubaneswar will admit students in three disciplines in 2008: civil engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering. In case one may wonder, why civil engineering, instead of computer science that four of the other new IITs are having, one just needs to think of China and Beijing and imagine how far India has to go in terms of infrastructure development and the role of civil engineers in that development. This interview with Anil Agarwal is illuminating in that respect. (He also talks about his vision of Vedanta University.)

IIT Bhubaneswar students will be housed in IIT Kharagpur for the first year, which will act as the mentoring institution of IIT Bhubaneswar for a period of three years. During their stay these students will gain exposure to the established academic and cultural environment of the largest and oldest IIT, which they will carry home to IIT Bhubaneswar.

The Orissa government is extremely supportive of IIT Bhubaneswar and has committed to provide 1000 acres of land so as to accommodate future growth of this IIT. The 1000 acres is double the 500 acres required by the central government, and double the size of the other new IITs. Thus IIT Bhubaneswar will be the second largest IIT, after IIT Kharagpur. With the inherent advantages in terms of its location in the midst of rivers, forests and sanctuaries; as the heart of a rapidly growing and industrializing city and state; surrounded and to be driven to excellence by the competition from NISER, WCCU and Vedanta University; and a supportive state government that has put Bhubaneswar in the path of making it the knowledge-hub of the country; IIT Bhubaneswar holds the promise of being the best among the new IITs and becoming one of India’s top five IITs within a few years!

10 comments June 6th, 2008

IIT Bombay mentoring IIT Indore?

Update: As per Economic Times, IIT Bombay has expressed its inability to mentor the IIT in Indore this year as it is already mentoring IIT Gandhinagar.

Business standard reported the following.

……the human resource development ministry is planning to do away with the "society" system for the new IITs to hasten the process.

To award degrees, a body must be a university that is created under the central or state legislature. IITs and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) were created by a special Act of Parliament permitting them to award diplomas. They existed as "societies" and were later converted into an institute of national importance by calling them IITs and IIMs.

By doing away with the "society" requirement, the ministry can directly incorporate the new institutions into the IIT Act and declare them institutes of national importance, equivalent to universities capable of awarding degrees.

…….IIT Bombay will be mentoring two new IITs to come up in Gujarat and Indore, while IIT-Kharagpur will be mentoring IIT-Orissa for three years.

12 comments June 6th, 2008

IIT JEE 2008 Counselling brochure and information on the new IITs

The counseling brochure is at http://www.jee.iitb.ac.in/CBrochure.pdf. But it has only information on three of the six new IITs where classes will start this year. Information on all the six new IITs where classes will start this year are at http://www.jee.iitb.ac.in/newiit.html. We copy the information from that site below. (We will provide additional information on IIT Bhubaneswar – misspelled as IIT Bhuvaneswar- in this site.)

Admission to New IITs:

The Government of India has announced setting up of 8 more new IITs in the 11th plan.  Admissions in the following six new IITs, subjected to the approval@ of the competent authority of the Govt. of India, is likely to take place during the counselling session of JEE 2008. To begin with, each new IIT will admit students in the B Tech programmes in three  branches only and the corresponding course codes for filling choice sheet is given in the table below. The academic programmes at these new IITs will commence in July/August 2008. The curriculum and syllabus as well as the fee structure and other rules for the new IITs will be broadly same as that of the respective mentor IITs.

S. No

New IIT

Mentor IIT

Courses offered* (course code)

1

IIT Gandhinagar

IIT Bombay

Chemical Engineering (N07), Electrical Engineering (N11), Mechanical Engineering (N24)

2

IIT Punjab

IIT Delhi

Computer Science and Engineering (U10), Electrical Engineering (U11), Mechanical Engineering (U24)

3

IIT Patna

IIT Guwahati

Computer Science and Engineering (P10), Electrical Engineering (P11), Mechanical Engineering (P24)

4

IIT Rajasthan

IIT Kanpur

Computer Science and Engineering (J10), Electrical Engineering (J11), Mechanical Engineering (J24)

5

IIT Bhuvaneswar

IIT Kharagpur

Civil Engineering (E09), Electrical Engineering (E11), Mechanical Engineering (E24)

6

IIT Hyderabad

IIT Madras

Computer Science and Engineering (H10), Electrical Engineering(H11), Mechanical Engineering (H24)

*40 seats [20+11+6+3;(1)] are available in each course.
@ If for any unforeseen reason the start of any new IIT is delayed, admission to that IIT will not be taken up during counseling session of JEE 2008.

The first year classes for IIT Punjab, IIT Rajasthan and IIT Bhuvaneswar will be conducted at the campuses of the respective mentor IITs. In the second year, the students from the above three IITs will be shifted to their respective locations. Classes for other new IITs will be conducted in the cities where the new IITs are located.

IIT Patna

IIT Patna’s campus will be on the outskirts of Patna in a 600 acre campus. Classes will start in 2008 from a temporary campus in Navin Govt. Polytechnic, Patliputra Nagar, a posh area of Patna. The campus will have 45000 sq ft of space. Two hostels to house boys and girls are also available next to the academic area. Faculty from IIT Guwahati will take the classes. It is expected that all operations will shift to the main campus by July 2010.

IIT Rajasthan

The location of the new IIT in Rajasthan will be announced by the Government of India. In the meantime, IIT Kanpur would be acting as the mentor institute of IIT Rajasthan.. Till the required infrastructure comes up, the classes will be held at the IIT Kanpur campus, after which the students will be relocated to the place in Rajasthan where the new IIT gets established. The students taking admission to the new IIT Rajasthan, along with their parents, will be required to give an undertaking to this effect.
For the benefit of the aspiring applicants, further details of the academic programs and other procedures on IIT Rajasthan will be made available on the website of IIT Kanpur (www.iitk.ac.in/iitj) very soon. In the meantime, any queries can be made by sending e-mail to: iitj@iitk.ac.in or by calling at: (+91)-512-259-6244 (Tele-Fax).

 

IIT Gandhinagar

IIT Gandhinagar, in Gujarat, is one of the new IITs proposed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. Gujarat is known for excellent infrastructure with thriving industries, prestigious academic and research institutes and an ambience which encourages entrepreneurship. IIT Bombay has been identified as the mentoring institution for the IIT in Gujarat. Till the campus of the new IIT in Gujarat gets established, the classes will be held within the premises of Vishwakarma Government Engineering College, Chandkheda, which is within the municipal limits of Gandhinagar. Students will be provided with residential and other facilities at a temporary location. The curriculum will be similar to that of IIT Bombay with some differences until the time the academic bodies of the new IIT is in place. Fee structure will be same as that of the mentoring Institute

IIT Bhuvaneswar

IIT Bhuvaneswar is one amongst the new IITs proposed by Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of India. Its location will be intimated in due course and the academic programme will start from 24 July 2008 in the IIT Kharagpur campus. After completion of first year in IIT Kharagpur, the students will be shifted to new location where IIT Bhuvaneswar will be established. The first year fee structure will be same as that of IIT Kharagpur.

IIT Punjab

IIT Punjab is one of the new IITs proposed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India.  Its location will be known in due course of time and the academic session 2008-2009 will start on July 23, 2008.    The curriculum, course structure and syllabus for the first year courses will be broadly as per that at IIT Delhi.  The first year fee structure will also be same as that at IIT Delhi.  Classes will initially start at IIT Delhi campus, and subsequently the students will be relocated to its new location as soon as IIT Punjab is established.   The students will have to move to the new place and they will not be accommodated at IIT Delhi campus; an undertaking to this effect will have to be given at the time of joining.

 

36 comments June 4th, 2008

NISER Bhubaneswar (National Institute of Science Education & Research) advertises for regular positions

Following is from http://niser.iopb.res.in/careers/. The ad in pdf format is at http://niser.iopb.res.in/careers/niser-fac-08.pdf. (Thanks to Debendra babu for the pointer.)

Faculty Positions at NISER
Invitation to be part of a new initiative in science education


The National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) has been setup at Bhubaneswar by the Department of Atomic Energy of the Government of India to be a unique institution of its kind pursuing undergraduate and post-graduate education in science combined with frontline research. The Government of India has made a very generous financial outlay to NISER for the purpose of setting up state-of-the-art research facilities in all branches of basic science and to promote interdisciplinary areas of research.

NISER is being setup in a sprawling 300 acre campus about 3 km from Khurda Road Railway Station on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar overlooking Barunei Hills. It will be a fully residential campus with modern living amenities including children’s school and health centre. Presently NISER operates from the campus of Institute of Physics, a premier research institution funded by the Department of Atomic Energy. The Institute of Physics has vibrant research programmes in theoretical and experimental nuclear physics, condensed matter physics and high energy physics. The infrastructure includes well established library, computer centre, 3MV Pelletron accelerator, a high resolution TEM and several other state-of-the-art instruments for experimental condensed matter research (for details see www.iopb.res.in).

NISER’s own academic block of about 5000 m2 area is under construction in the Institute of Physics campus which will also provide research laboratories for the faculty. Until NISER operates from the Institute of Physics campus, it may provide limited residential accommodation within the town. It is expected to move to the main campus by the academic session of 2011-12.

NISER invites applications from extremely motivated Indian scientists with a high-profile research agenda and a flair for teaching (especially at the undergraduate level) for the following faculty positions bearing scale of pay given against each:

Assistant Professor 12,000-375-16,500
Reader (F) 14,300-400-18,300
Associate Professor 16,400-450-20,000
Professor 18,400-500-22,400
 

Qualifications: Ph.D. in any area of Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics

Experience: One/two years postdoctoral research and/or teaching experience is desirable for Assistant Professor Grade. For higher grades it should be appropriate to the positions applied for.

The age of superannuation is 65 years. The scale of pay is under revision. In addition to the basic salary, NISER faculty is entitled to allowances as admissible to Central Government Employees stationed at Bhubaneswar and to the DAE’s update allowance, which is currently Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 30,000 per year depending on the scale of pay. They will also receive other fringe benefits (like Relocation Grant, Reimbursement of telephone charges, financial support to attend national/international Conferences/Seminars/Workshops, etc.) which will be comparable to the best in the country.

NISER has sufficient funds to provide seed money to the new faculty to start their research programme. In addition the Department of Atomic Energy provides generous grants from its Prospective Research Fund to bright young scientists.

Interested candidates may apply enclosing:

  • Curriculum Vitae
  • List of Publications (with reprints of important papers as pdf files)
  • Names and addresses (with e-mail and fax number) of at least three referees
  • A statement of purpose and research programme

The qualification and experience prescribed are the minimum and mere possession of the same does not entitle a candidate to be considered for any position. However, the experience criteria may be relaxed for exceptionally meritorious candidates.

Applications should be sent by e-mail to careers@niser.iopb.res.in marking "Faculty in (branch)" in the subject field (branch being one of the disciplines mentioned above). This is an open advertisement and there is no time limit for sending the application, but the applications received will be taken up for consideration at regular intervals. Candidates are advised to request the Referees to send their letters of recommendations (preferably signed versions as pdf file) directly to NISER at the above e-mail address. Those having regular job in any organization should also send a "No Objection Certificate" from the current employer in electronic form.

All correspondence should be addressed to the above e-mail address only (or any other e-mail address that is notified on the NISER website in future). No postal correspondence is required at any stage. Enquiry regarding the outcome of the application is generally discouraged.

9 comments June 3rd, 2008

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