IIT Kharagapur’s future plans

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

IIT-Kharagpur plans to start by setting up a centre of excellence on Energy Science and Engineering to train students in research and development on various energy verticals like bio-energy, solar energy, nuclear, as well as hydel and thermal energy. …

The institute is also introducing new engineering programme on design and manufacturing where it aims to create globally competent engineering products. It will start School of Entrepreneurship soon where it will offer dual degree in BTech and entrepreneurship programmes. Students will be selected through joint entrance examination (JEE).

“The Innovation Centre will be funded by one of our alumnus, S K Bhattacharya. Each student of School of Entrepreneurship will be attached to an innovation centre. Each student will get a faculty and a successful alumnus entrepreneur to assist him or her. Our aim is to have around 30 per cent of our total student to be PhDs and researchers by 2015, compared to 15 per cent right now,” says Acharya.

An innovation centre is a new concept through which IIT-Kharagpur intends to encourage research and innovation. “We will have support from international institutions and industries to draw on their expertise and develop products of global use. So, for instance, we are collaborating with Warwick Manufacturing Group, Georgia Institute of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology, among others,” adds Acharya.

Among international collaborations, IIT-Kharagpur is looking at specific areas of collaboration with National University of Singapore for water policies and issues. Also, the institute has signed an agreement with University of California, San Diego, for a 350-700 bed medical college. The collaboration is both for part-financing the project as well as an academic collaboration.

Add comment January 11th, 2010

IIT Gandhinagar to have part-time jobs for students

Following is an excerpt from a report in DNA.

The Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar (IIT-GN) will begin an ‘earn while you learn’ offer for its undergraduate students. …

"Selected students from the second-year batch will be allowed to work for a maximum of eight hours a week during the semester, and 40 hours per week during the vacations.

They will be paid a remuneration of Rs50 to Rs80 per hour. Initially, 25 to 30 students will be selected for the programme," said Jaison Manjaly, assistant professor and faculty coordinator for the programme.

… "The students will be engaged in the library, computer centre, laboratories, general administration, placement services, public relations etc," he said.

… Sudhir Jain, director of IIT-GN, said that … students with a CPI of seven and above will be eligible for participation in the programme.

3 comments November 23rd, 2009

IIT Bhubaneswar has a new web page

IIT Bhubaneswar has unveiled a new web page. It looks very good. Based on the information there it currently has 16 regular faculty in its five schools including the Director. They are:

• School of Basic Sciences
  • Sujit Roy, Professor & Head, Chemistry, PhD, 1987, IIT Kanpur
  • Srikanta Patra, Assistant Professor, Chemistry, PhD, 2005, IIT Bombay
  • Sabyasachi Pani, Assistant Professor, Mathematics, PhD, 2004, IIT Kharagpur
  • Rajan Jha, Assistant Professor, Physics, PhD, 2007, IIT Delhi
  • Snehasis Chowdhuri, Assistant Professor, Chemistry, PhD, 2005, IIT Kanpur
  • Akshay Kumar Ojha, Assistant Professor, Mathematics, PhD 1997, Utkal University
• School of Electrical Sciences
  • Ganapati Panda, Professor & Head, PhD, 1982, IIT Kharagpur
  • Prasant Sahu, Assistant Professor, PhD 2009, IIT Kharagpur
  • Debalina Ghosh, Assistant Professor, PhD 2008, Syracuse University
• School of Infrastructure
  • Sekhar Dutta, Professor & Head, PhD, 1982, IIT Kharagpur
  • P. Dinakar, Assistant Professor, PhD, 2008, IIT Madras
  • Puspendu Bhunia, Assistant Professor, PhD, 2008, IIT Kharagpur
  • Sumanta Haldar, Assistant Professor, PhD, 2008, IISc Bangalore
• School of Mechanical Sciences
  • Madhusudan Chakraborty, Director and Professor, PhD, 1978, IIT Kharagpur
  • Swarup Mahapatra, Associate Professor & Head, PhD 2000, Jadavpur University
  • Prasenjit Rath, Assistant Professor, PhD 2007, NTU Singapore
  • Satyanarayan Panigrahi, Assistant Professor, PhD 2007, IISc Bangalore
• School of Social Sciences & Humanities
  • No regular faculty yet

Add comment October 24th, 2009

Some National Institutions/Universities and their locations; planning for the future in Orissa

Tathya.in has a report that mentions some official saying that because of the lack of an airport in Rourkela central government will not agree to have ESIC medical college in Rourkela. I think this is a completely frivolous argument; I don’t see much connection between an ESIC medical college and an airport. (Often airport is a codeword for adequate infrastructure. If that is the case Rourkela indeed has the infrastructure for an ESIC medical college.)

However, in regards to certain centrally funded institutions, such a requirement is in the background and mentioned by journalists, even if they may not be spelled out explicitly. So while pushing for an ESIC medical college in Rourkela, we should set our target to push for more functioning airports as a next action item. Following is a more detailed analysis.

Given below are the locations of some national institutions and some related attributes. It is easy to see that for the locations of IITs, IIMs and National Universities being near (say within 120 kms or 2 hrs) an operational airport has been an important factor. For national universities, in addition being in a large (1 million plus metropolitan area) area with other research institutes has also been spelled out as an important criteria and it is reflected in the locations that are picked.  

On the other hand, the newly established central universities are in towns of all sizes and the locations of the NITs are mixed. The next level centrally funded but locally focused technological institutes, SLIET, Longowal, ABAGKC IET, Malda and Central Institute of Technology, Kokrajhar are on purpose established in rural areas and smaller towns. Unlike the NITs these institutions take only local students and also have programs focused on local needs. Nevertheless, their quality need not be bad. For example, SLIET is considered quite good.

Looking to the future following are some points relevant to Orissa.

• For Orissa to have future central institutions like IIM, SPA, etc. to be in a location outside of Bhubaneswar, Orissa must push for the quick establishment of airports and other infrastructure in other parts of the state. For example, the airports in Jharsuguda and Rourkela are the closest to be operational and they should  have scheduled flights at the earliest. Otherwise new centrally funded institutions may again be established near Bhubaneswar and crying hoarse after the fact may not be productive.
• Similarly the knowledge commission has proposed the establishment of 50 national universities in the long run. Considering that the education budget significantly increases from one 5 yr plan to the next, I would not be surprised if there is another set of them made during the 12th plan. Orissa must be prepared for that and by that time (there is a short window) have other areas in Orissa with adequate infrastructure that are being deemed necessary for a national university.
• Orissa must take advantage of the industrial and investment interests in Orissa, mostly due to its minerals, and develop metropolitan areas with larger population base. Currently the local people are creating roadblocks rather than helping in such development.
• In 2010 we should do our best to convince the planning commission, the PM and MHRD that the 12th plan (starting 2012) should include more centrally funded institutions of the kind that can be located in rural or semi-urban areas. In particular,
  • A centrally funded but locally focused technological institute (like SLIET) in all states. The one in Orissa could be located in Kalahandi or Balangir, the other two KBK districts that lack centrally funded institutions.
  • Two regional universities in each major states that are funded 50-50 by the state and the center. (This would be better than one centrally funded institute.)
  • Multiple branches of Indira Gandhi National Tribal University in districts with high tribal population.
     

The NITs.

The IITs. 

National Universities

New Central Universities

IIMs

Add comment October 4th, 2009

IIT Bhubaneswar issues global invitation for Expression of Interest in building its campus

The details are at:

* Global Invitation for Expression of Interest (EOI)
* Drawing of IIT Bhubaneswar plan

Following are some excerpts from the invitation.

GLOBAL INVITATION FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI)

EOI to participate in selection of Campus Architect and Project Management Consultant For Design and Project Management of a State of the Art Academic cum Residential Campus

IIT Bhubaneswar invites Expression of Interest (EOI) for consultancy services from qualified, experienced, competent, financially sound and internationally acclaimed Architectural/Engineering Project Management Consultants (PMCs) including overseas firms for the planning and designing of Architectural, civil, public health, electrical, air conditioning, acoustics and other services for the works: “Construction of Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar complex and residential township along with necessary infrastructure facilities” in 936 acres of land at Argul, which is about 25 km from Bhubaneswar airport. While the work will be completed in phases, the estimated cost for the first phase is approximately INR 400 Crores.

The scope of the work, other applicable terms and conditions including site related information are available at institute website www.iitbbs.ac.in.

The EOI documents can be either downloaded from the institute website or can be collected from the office of Registrar, IIT Bhubaneswar, Samantapuri, Bhubaneswar-751013 from 24th August 2009 to 23rd September 2009 between 1100 hrs to 1600 hrs on all working days on payment of INR 1,000/- through a bank draft drawn on any schedule bank in favour of “IIT BHUBANESWAR” and made payable at Bhubaneswar.

The EOI shall be submitted in duplicate in a sealed cover, superscribing; “EOI for Architectural/Engineering Project Management Consultant (PMC)” either in person or by post addressed to the Registrar. along with a Bank Draft of Rs.1,00,000/- drawn on any schedule bank in favour of “IIT BHUBANESWAR” and made payable at Bhubaneswar towards EMD which would be refunded to unsuccessful bidders. Further, those who have downloaded EOI document from the website of the Institute should also enclose another demand draft for Rs.1,000/- drawn in favour of IIT BHUBANESWAR along with EOI document. The last date for receipt of EOI document is 24 September 2009 upto 1500 hrs B. K. RAY Registrar

No.F.15-2/2009-Estate-A

Continue Reading 5 comments August 21st, 2009

IIT Bhubaneswar notification on Ph.D admission

IIT Bhubaneswar has isued notification for Ph.D admission. The details are at:

• Notification for Ph.D. Admission
• Application form for Ph.D Admission

Following are some excerpts from the notification:

Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, one of the newest IITs set up in 2008 by the Govt. of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development (Department of Higher Education) invites application for admission to full time Ph.D. Programmes in the following fields of research.

Schools and fields of Research

1) School of Infrastructure :   Structural Engineering, Structural Dynamics, Earthquake Engineering, Disaster Mitigation Engineering, Concrete Technology, Durability of Concrete Composites, Corrosion of steel in concrete, Environmental Engineering, Wastewater Treatment and sludge management, Greenhouse gases and global warming, Geotechnical Risk and Reliability, Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering, Numerical Modelling, Mitigation of Geohazards, Offshore
Geotechnics, Experimental Geotechnics.

2) School of Electrical Sciences : – 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.

3) School of Mechanical Sciences : – 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.

4) School of Basic Sciences :

- Theoretical high energy particle physics, Quark model studies, decay and scattering phenomena of heavy flavored mesons, parton distributions in proton and proton spin structure, optical fiber sensors, plasmonics, nanowires, photonic crystal fiber, computational condensed matter physics, nano materials, thin films, deposition and characterization for BEO and environmental sensors application.

- Organometallic Chemistry and Catalysis, Coordination Chemistry, Material Chemistry, Sensor, Theoretical Chemistry.

- Functional Analysis, Artificial Neural Network, Geometric Programming.

5) School of Humanities and Social Sciences :  – 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.

Eligibility: M.E./M.Tech. in relevant discipline with at least 6.5 CGPA (or 60% marks in aggregate) at both B.Tech. and M.Tech. levels OR B.E./ B.Tech./ M.Sc.(Basic Science) in relevant discipline with minimum CGPA 7.0 in a 10 point scale (or 65% marks in aggregate) with a valid GATE score OR M.A. in the relevant field with 6.5 CGPA ( or 60% marks) with NET fellowship.

Admission to reserved-category candidates will be done as per Government of India guidelines.

How to Apply: Application form, downloadable from www.iitbbs.ac.in, should be sent to The Registrar, IIT Bhubaneswar, Samantapuri, Bhubaneswar, Orissa – 751013 along with a Demand Draft of Rs.300/- (Rs.150/- for SC/ST candidates) drawn in favour of "IIT Bhubaneswar" on any nationalized bank payable at Bhubaneswar. Application form may also be obtained from the Academic Section, IIT Bhubaneswar against a demand draft on every working day.

Important Dates:

Application form available from: 12 August 2009
Last date for submitting completed application form: 28 August 2009
Date of Interview (for short listed candidates): 7-8 September 2009
Joining Date: 16 September 2009

 

1 comment August 21st, 2009

Orissa Education and HRD related headlines from our sister site in Twitter

Our sister site in Twitter is http://twitter.com/orissalinks. (Often when we are busy or do not feel like writing a full posting here, we post a micro-blog in our Twitter sister site. The Twitter sister site also automatically adds the headline from this site and the orissagrowth site. Once in a  while we will collect those headlines here. But readers wanting a broader and more immediate coverage should consider following our Twitter site at http://twitter.com/orissalinks.) Following are some selected items from that site since July 12th.

• Orissa govt. adopts AICTE-introduced Tuition Waiver Scheme for women, poor & PH students in professional institutions. http://bit.ly/BVJPs.
• Century plus old Khallikote College in Berhampur Orissa is the first one in Orissa to get star status from UGC. http://bit.ly/11h750.
• Tathya: Xavier Inst. of Management in Bhubaneswar, Orissa plans to become a university. http://bit.ly/15OLcd.
• IHM, Ranjita IHM in #Bhubaneswar & the Food Craft Institute in Bolangir are top hotel management institutes in #Orissa. http://bit.ly/Z5Dtz.
• Members cutting across party lines from Balasore district in Orissa demand (in Assembly) medical college at Balasore. http://bit.ly/3YpLV6.
• Orissa plans to open plus two colleges in all the 118 integrated tribal development agency (ITDA) blocks in the State. http://bit.ly/vlKTX.
• Business standard interviews IIT Bhubaneswar director. http://bit.ly/2mjlQ.
• Central Univ Orissa Koraput advertises faculty positions. http://bit.ly/rcQcq.
• Central University of Orissa Koraput web page is http://cuorissa.org.
• Tata Steel Teams up with KISS. http://bit.ly/CN5jj http://www.tathya.in/2009/s….
• Nuapada, Deogarh, Subarnapur, Nayagarh, Kendrapara and Jajpur do not have Kendriya Vidyalayas. May get one each. http://bit.ly/GkkJZ.
• Pioneer: Efforts being made for a Sainik School in Western Orissa http://bit.ly/2D9bb9.
• Academic session of the Institute of Interior and Fashion Technology (IIFT), Bhubaneswar from August this year. http://bit.ly/1hOC2J Bus. St.
• XIM Bhubaneswar names its new acad. block as Tata Centenary Learning Centre; Tata Steel contributed about 1 crore to it. http://bit.ly/bwvES.

Add comment August 20th, 2009

Excerpts of IIT Bhubaneswar director’s speech on the occaision of classes starting in Bhubaneswar

Other reports: Tathya.

Following is from a report in Pioneer.

With the institution of the IIT at Bhubaneswar I can sea a visible change in this region. Bhubaneswar has already earned a place in the list of cities in this country as an educational hub and third in the country so far as the business ambience is concerned.

Very soon there will be more visitors to this city from all over the world for education, business and tourism creating a demand for an international airport and a lot of traffic through sea route,” said IIT Bhubaneswar Director Prof M Chakraborty at its first foundation day function here on Wednesday.

Prof Chakraborty said the day assumes added significance because it is the day, on which the academic programme of the institution began in the city though in a temporary building. Earlier, the classes were going on at IIT Kharagpur. The permanent building of the institute will be established on 936 acres of land at Argul near the city.

“The institute will promote a borderless academic environment, in which distinction between different branches of science and engineering will dissolve. We shall have the concept of schools rather than departments,” Prof Chakraborty said, adding that the institute is planning to open a School of Material and Mineral Engineering, a School of Ocean and Environmental Sciences and a School of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering in the near future. PhD programme is introduced from the current year and steps are being taken to provide Rs 5 lakh to every faculty member to initiate their research programmes.

Besides, there is a proposal to establish a science park with focus on innovations emphasising product design and product creation based global societal needs, he informed.

Add comment July 23rd, 2009

Business Standard interviews IIT Bhubaneswar director

Following are some excerpts from that interview.

What are the institute’s immediate campus expansion plans?
We received 936 acres from the Orissa government in Argul. The master plan for the permanent and residential IIT-Bhubaneswar campuses is almost ready. Next we will appoint architects and consultants for project and construction management. IIT-Kharagpur will continue to be the mentor institute for IIT-Bhubaneswar for 2-3 years, beginning 2008. We started at the IIT-KGP campus in July 2008 with 100 students. Now we have moved to a temporary campus of 45,000 sq ft in Bhubaneswar. This space is IIT-KGP’s extension centre and was given to us by IIT-KGP. Currently, we are putting up all our students and faculty in a housing complex where we have hired 60 large flats.

Academically, what are your focus areas?
We started with three courses in July 2008. These were BTech degrees in civil, electrical and mechanical engineering. We plan to start a school of mineral and material engineering, considering the rich resources of Orissa. Also we intend to start studies in ocean sciences, environmental sciences and disaster management. School of chemical and bio-chemical engineering is also another priority area. Our new campus of 936 acres will have a science park where various industries would come and work with students and faculty. This will ensure our students’ exposure to on-job learning.

Also, we will not have separate departments for each discipline. For instance, we will have only one school of basic sciences which will encompass subjects like Physics, Chemistry, bio-science, arts sciences, and others. Similarly, our school of infrastructure management will encompass everything from construction, architecture to building materials, etc. This will ensure multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary research and interaction. Our aim is to encourage product designing and product creation based on societal needs, and in order to do that, a student needs to know right from the material selection to manufacturing to production to finished goods. Therefore, each school of learning should address all necessary knowledge required to build a product specific to that industry.

How many students and faculty do you have now, and what is the plan ahead?
When we started from IIT-KGP last year, we had 100 students. This year we have moved to the temporary campus in Bhubaneswar with 94 second-year students. We have 120 first years and 20 preparatory students. … We have 27 faculty members right now taking care of the first and second year students, and the drive is on for recruiting more faculty. Our plan is to have 2,500 students and 280 faculty within 3-4 years. In 15 years from now, we should have 10,000 students, 1,100 faculty and nearly 1,400 supporting staff.

…

Any specific plans to encourage research?
Research is one of our main focus areas and we are encouraging faculty to join us with their own research scholars. Even professors from other institutions would come to IIT-Bhubaneswar with their projects. All these projects are funded by various government departments and agencies, so once the researchers come to IIT-Bhubaneswar, the research funds would get transferred to our institute. We will soon advertise for research scholars to engage them in creating new knowledge, as then publish the findings. …

IIT-Bhubaneswar is also making provision for up to Rs 5 lakh research grant to a faculty. This would help them to invest in necessary infrastructure they require to carry out their research, like softwares, hardwares, books and journals, etc. Student researchers get a grant of Rs 15,000 per month. International exposure for faculty and student researchers and presenting their research papers at international conferences is another priority area.

1 comment July 20th, 2009

2009 Open-Close ranks for EE and ME at various IITs, ISM and (I)IT-BHU

The following is extracted from http://jee.iitd.ac.in/openclose09.htm.

 (The 2008 open-close ranks are here.)

Add comment July 14th, 2009

Selected HRD headlines from our Twitter site

Following is from our twitter site http://twitter.com/orissalinks.

• Besides Frankfinn Bhubaneswar also has an Air hostess Academy. http://airhostessacademy.co…
• New web site of Human Development Foundation at http://www.hdf.ac.in is now active.
• So far 18+1 (director) new faculty have joined NISER Bhubaneswar. http://niser.ac.in/faculty.php 13 more have been offered.
• NISER Bhubaneswar permanent faculty: Phy (7), Bio (4), Math (3), Chemistry (4+1 Director)
• TOI http://bit.ly/18efsq Utkal university Bhubaneswar signs MoU with Central council for research in ayurveda and Siddha (CCRAS)
• kalahandia> e-admission kicked off in Orissa for junior colleges: e-admission kicked off Tathya.in.. http://bit.ly/42CD3
• IIT Bhubaneswar Director could have been more imaginative in the IIT Diro’s meeting. http://bit.ly/1avLnx IIT Hyderabad D most impressive.
• Sand artist Sudarsan teams up with Vedanta University in Puri (near Bhubaneswar) http://bit.ly/4i2ql
• Sibal asked the IITs to expand into new areas like medicine and law and evolve a framework in this regard. http://bit.ly/qjTRI
• orissalinksSibal: “For eg, IIT-Kharagpur can have its campus in Delhi too. Spread your wings like an octopus, I will support you.” http://bit.ly/164HC5
• orissalinksSibal: "Why can’t you have a law school inside your campus. Why can’t an engineering student learn about management, economics and biology?”
• orissalinksIIT Bhubaneswar is just starting so it can not spread wings or have medical schools that soon. But NIT Rourkela can. We should push.
• orissalinkskalahandia> Saraswati Shishu Vidya Mandirs perform exceptionally well in Orissa: Sangh schools sco.. http://bit.ly/HvlYs
• orissalinkskalahandia> Dr. Sanjib Kumar Karmee’s Letter to CM of Orissa on Medical College in Balangir: Dear .. http://bit.ly/PXtcL
• orissalinkskalahandia> Bhubaneswar to have railway medical college: Mamata Banerjee announces slew of staff-f.. http://bit.ly/HtNZA
• orissalinks.com> Orissa state cabinet approves bills for Vedanta, Sri Sri and ICFAI Universities: Following is an e.. http://bit.ly/hmqXI
• orissalinkskalahandia> Why not an IIM at Burla-Sambalpur-Jharsuguda (BSJ) region?: Orissa likely to miss IIM .. http://bit.ly/UqN2h
• orissalinkskalahandia> Biju Patnaik Rural varsity to come up in Bhubaneswar: Biju Patnaik Rural varsity to co.. http://bit.ly/cBl6t
• orissalinkskalahandia> New in Ministry of Agriculture Orissa: Horticulture college at Chiplima, agriculture c.. http://bit.ly/FjvJz
• orissalinksVC of Central Univ of Orissa at Koraput urges center for a medical college http://bit.ly/zbfnq
• orissalinksTOI: Delhi to set up knowledge city; land earmarked. http://bit.ly/zLQyf Orissa is gifted one but many stupidly oppose.
• orissalinksXIM Bhubaneswar names its new acad. block as Tata Centenary Learning Centre; Tata Steel contributed about 1 crore to it. http://bit.ly/bwvES

Please consider joining Twitter and following Orissalinks to get similar updates immediately. That site will have original micro-postings (140 characters) as well as the headlines of the Orissalinks, Orissagrowth and Kalahandia blogs.

Add comment July 12th, 2009

IIT Bhubaneswar faculty ad in newspapers (Deadline: 31st July 2009)

Add comment June 30th, 2009

Faculty openings at IIT Bhubaneswar (Application Deadline – 31st July 2009)

Following is from http://www.iitbbs.ac.in/notice/notice.php?sr_no=7. The application form is at http://www.iitbbs.ac.in/notice/notice.php?sr_no=8. These were posted in the IIT Bhubaneswar electronic Notice Board at http://www.iitbbs.ac.in/notice/index.php.

IIT Bhubaneswar invites applications for faculty positions at the level of Professor, Associate Professor and Assistant Professor in the following disciplines.

Disciplines : Civil Engineering, Computer Science & Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Humanities & Social Sciences (Economics, English, Psychology)

Ph.D. with first class or equivalent in the preceding degree in appropriate branch and evidence of the ability to pursue independent high quality research. 

Professor : At least 10 years teaching / research / industrial experience of which 5 years should be at the level of Assistant Professor or 3 years as Associate Professor.

Associate Professor : At least 8 years teaching / research / industrial experience of which 3 years should be at the level of Assistant Professor

Professor                   : Rs. 18400-500-22400/-

Associate Professor            : Rs. 16400-450-20000/-

Assistant Professor             : Rs. 12000-420-18300/-

Full funding for attending national conferences either for presenting a paper or chairing a session as per Institute guidelines.

Financial assistance up to Rs.1.00 lakh once in 3 years for attending International conferences either for presenting a paper or chairing a session as per Institute guidelines.

Reimbursement of 75% of membership fee of one international professional society every year.

Book grant of Rs. 4000/- per annum.

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

Reimbursement of relocation charges from within India to the faculty members at the time of their joining.

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

Interested candidates may apply enclosing

•     Curriculum Vitae.

•     List of Publications (with reprints of important publications).

•    Names and Addresses (with e-mail address and fax numbers) of at least three referees.

•     Any other details relevant to the candidature.

•     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 will be final. No correspondence will be entertained from the candidates in connection with the process of selection / interview. Canvassing in any manner would entail disqualification of the candidature.

·         The Institute reserves the right to call only the requisite number of candidates for interview after shortlisting with reference to the candidate’s qualification, suitability, experience, etc.

·         The candidates should be preferably below 35 years of age for the post of Assistant Professor

•     The Institute reserves the right to fill or not to fill any or all the posts advertised.

·         Candidates possessing the requisite qualification & experience may submit their application on the prescribed form to the Registrar, Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, Samantapuri, Bhubaneswar – 751013 (email : registrar@iitbbs.ac.in).

·         NO INTERIM ENQUIRIES WILL BE ENTERTAINED.

Download Application Form

Application form can be downloaded from the Institute website (www.iitbbs.ac.in). The candidates applying from Government Organizations and Public Sector Undertaking should have their applications duly forwarded by their present employer. Applicants desiring to apply for more than one discipline should send separate application for each discipline.

Last Date for receipt of completed application forms: 31^st July 2009.

Add comment June 29th, 2009

IIT Bhubaneswar student and faculty housing

The following pictures are from the blog of a couple of IIT Bhubaneswar first batch students. (Thanks to Pradosh, who took the pictures.)

2 comments June 25th, 2009

Rajasthan uses a balanced approach in choosing locations for its national institutions

The panel set up by the CM of Rajsthan has picked the following places to recommend to the central government for the various national institutes and universities coming up in Rajasthan. (From a Times of India report and another Times of India report)

• IIT : Jodhpur
• IIM: Udaipur
• National University aiming for world-class: Ajmer 
• Central university: Bikaner.

The committee also recommended:

• a "futuristic" heritage conservation and museology centre in Jaipur
• an institute of Food Technology in Hadoti region of Kota

Currently the following national institutions exisit or are being made in the following places in Rajasthan:

• NIT: Jaipur
• LNMIT (private but top-notch): Jaipur
• National law School: Jodhpur
• AIIMS-like institution (being made): Jodhpur

The institutions are nicely distributed between various cities of Rajsthan, although people of Jaipur and Kota are not happy. The population of these locations are:

• Jaipur (World Gazetteer 2009): 3.1 million (has inetrnational air connectivity)
• Jodhpur (World Gazetteer 2009): 988K  – (332 kms from Jaipur; has air connectivity)
• Udaipur (World Gazetteer 2009): 457K – (400 kms from Jaipur; has air connectivity)
• Ajmer (World Gazetteer 2009):  604.7K – (131 kms from Jaipur)
• Bikaner (World Gazetteer 2009): 624.6K – (321 kms from Jaipur)
• Kota (World Gazetteer 2009): 823 K (242 kms from Jaipur)

In contrast in Orissa the distribution of national institutions are more Bhubaneswar centric. Following is the status:

• IIT: Bhubaneswar
• NISER: Bhubaneswar
• AIIMS-like (being made) : Bhubaneswar
• National Law University: Cuttack (part of Bhubaneswar metroplex)
• IIIT (state-funded) : Bhubaneswar
• National University aiming to be world class: Bhubaneswar
• Vedanta University (private): Puri
• NIT: Rourkela
• Central University: Koraput
• IIIT (centrally funded): state wants it in Berhampur; center has identified as Bhubaneswar

Unfortunately, one of the reason given behind the above selection is the lack of connectivity and the size of places. Following is some information on that.

• Bhubaneswar (World Gazetteer 2009): 1.67 million  (has airport but no inetrnational connectivity)
• Rourkela (World Gazetteer 2009): 551 K  (no air connections) – 334 kms from Bhubaneswar
• Berhampur (World Gazetteer 2009): 403 K (no air connections) – 160 kms from Bhubaneswar
• Koraput-Jeypore-Sunabeda: 200K+ (no air connections) – 499 kms from bhubaneswar
• Puri (World Gazetteer 2009): 185K – 60 kms from Bhubaneswar 
• Sambalpur (World Gazetteer 2009): 258 K (no air connections)  – 321 kms from Bhubaneswar
• Jharsuguda-Belpahar-Brajarajnagar: 200 K (no air connections) – 374 kms from Bhubaneswar; 50 kms from Sambalpur

For the future, following are some of the steps that Orissa government needs to urgently take regarding developing more larger urban areas and having the national institutions more evenly distributed:

• Make sure the centrally funded IIIT is established in Berhampur
• Establish functioing airports in Jharsuguda, Rourkela and Koraput at the earliest
• Push for international flights to Bhubaneswar
• Push for upgradation of UCE Burla (Sambalpur area) to an IIEST (Indian Institute of Engineering Science & Technology)
• Push for the establishment of a branch of IGNTU (Indira Gandhi National Tribal University) in Phulbani
• Push for the establishment of IIM outside of the Bhubaneswar area
• Push for the establishment of a centrally funded KBK Inst of Engineering and Technology (along the lines of SLIET and ABAGKIET) in Kalahandi or Balangir.
• Push for upgrading another medical college (Berhampur or Sambalpur) to AIIMS level.
• Push for establishing NID in a location outside of Bhubaneswar
• Push for establishing NIPER in a location outside of Bhubaneswar
• Push for a BITS Pilani campus in a location outside of Bhubaneswar

9 comments June 12th, 2009

IIT Bhubaneswar students will stay near Jharpada and take bus to their classes

Update: Dharitri reports that so far 18 faculty have been hired.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Times of India.

"Last year, we admitted 120 students to three streams: civil, mechanical and electrical (40 students each). The number would the same this year," IIT-Bhubaneswar registrar B K Ray told TOI. According to him, 240 students (of both batches) would be taught at IIT-Kharagpur Extension Centre building here. "Three laboratories are being set up. Everything should be ready in time," Ray said.

"Since no hostel is available now, we have taken 50 new apartments on rent at SBI Colony in the Jharpada area for students’ accommodation. A private party would do the catering job, while for transportation of students from the apartments to classrooms the distance is seven km we will hire three-four buses," the registrar said.

Around 935 acre has already been earmarked at Kansapada in Jatni, about 30 km from here, for construction of a permanent campus of IIT-Bhubaneswar.

"It will take at least three years to build the new campus. We aim to start classes on the permanent campus in 2011," Ray said….

IIT officials said they have got approval to open courses in different subjects, but as of now they want to concentrate on civil, mechanical and electrical streams to ensure no dilution of quality took place.

"There is no need to rush. We have started recruiting teachers. Apart from IIT-Kharagpur teachers, some retired IIT and Institute of Physics and National Institute of Science, Education and Research (NISER) teachers will join us," Ray added.

Add comment May 30th, 2009

150 students from Bhubaneswar are in the IIT JEE list (including the EML); 11 from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalay in Mundali make it

Following is an excerpt from a report in expressbuzz.com.

A preliminary estimate puts the number of successful candidates from the State at about 200 – including those who secured All India Ranks (AIR) and those who figured in the extended merit list announced on Monday.

While 150 students are believed to have cleared the test from Bhubaneswar alone, 11 students of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Mundali, in Cuttack notched up good ranks.

Initial reports said approximately 10 students from Berhampur and another 20 from Rourkela made it to the extended merit list.

This IIT success rate is probably the best ever in the State with one student, …

JNV, Mundali, where about 39 students were given special coaching for IIT, saw its student Abhisek Rai getting AIR 1,948 (placed 258th in OBC category list).

Another student, Pratapbandhu Solanki, has secured 12th rank in Scheduled Tribe (ST) category, whereas Sourav Ginnore got 232nd rank in Scheduled Caste category.

Similarly, Ravindra Chourase (324), Saroj Nayak (437), Ranu Choudhury (543), Rakesh Malick (692), Soumya Ranjan Sahoo (731), Nitesh Patra (831) and Kamlesh Ahirwar (953) are among the successful candidates in the SC list, school principal S B Rao said.

The private IIT tutorial institutions were ecstatic about the results. Akash Institute claimed at least 91 of its students cleared the all-India entrance.

Director A B Singh said 24 of its students were on the merit list, while the rest were on extended list.

Similarly, Vidwan claimed 56 students followed by Naidu with 11 and Kalinga Bharati with about 20 students.

… From Kharagpur zone, of 52,176 students, only 928 students qualified. The result percentage in Kharagpur zone is below 2 per cent. 

3 comments May 26th, 2009

MHRD sends appointment letter to IIT Bhubaneswar director designate

Update: IIT Bhubaneswar web page now lists Prof. Madhusudan Chakroborty as the director.

Following is an excerpt from a report in the Times of India.

Functioning under temporary arrangement for over a year, the newly-created six IITs have now got their regular directors.

Prof U B Desai, Prof M K Surappa, Prof Sudhir Kumar Jain, Prof Prem Kumar Kalra, Prof Madhusudan Chakroborty and Prof Anil Bhowmick will head the IITs at Hyderabad, Ropar, Gandhinagar, Rajasthan, Bhubaneswar and Patna respectively.

"The Union Cabinet has given its go ahead for the appointment of the directors who were selected by the search committee. We have issued appointment letters to the new directors last week," a senior HRD ministry official said.

Add comment May 26th, 2009

OTV says that 300 Orissa students cracked the IIT entrance; Dharitri says 700

Orissatv.com reports in http://orissatv.com/NewsDetail.asp?newsId=NS3601 that 300 Orissa students cracked the IIT entrance. If that means they qualify for the IIT then it is a great improvement over previous years. If the 300 includes the exttended merit list then one needs the data  regarding how many are in the EML and how many qualified for the IITs. If even half of the 300 qualified for IIT then also it is an improvement over the previous years. The article goes on to say:

The state students performed well only after the establishment of an IIT in Bhubaneswar recently.    

However, Orissa is still far behind other states. For example, 2000+ qualified from Andhra Pradesh. Comparable to Orissa is Gujarat from where 167 qualified to the IITs and 175 are in the extended merit list.

Update: Dharitri says 700 qualified from Orissa.

Add comment May 26th, 2009

IIT Hyderabad to start Masters and PhD this year

Update: The comment below is correct. They have had the Ph.D program since January 2009. Perhaps the MHRD found out about it recently and put out a PIB release and as a result various news items came about.

Following is from http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1255708.

The newly-created Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, will offer Masters and PhD programme from the coming session.

It will offer Masters of Technology (M Tech) Degree in five subjects — Chemical Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, the HRD Ministry said in a statement today.

Similarly, students can pursue PhD in nine subjects. These are Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Humanities and Social Sciences, Materials Science and Engineering, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering and Physics.

Meritorious candidates can avail scholarships. The institute will entertain only on-line applications. The last date for applying for the courses is May 20.

I have not heard about similar offering of post-graduate courses in the other new IITs.

15 comments May 13th, 2009