From a Times of India report:
…..
In fact, from 1999 to 2001, all the IITs put together merely graduated 240 PhD students.
This appears to be changing. In 2007-08, the Powai campus, which is celebrating its golden jubilee, is expecting at least 210 doctoral students to graduate. This is a huge jump from last year, when 152 doctoral students received PhDs.
….
This is pretty impressive. I hope the trend continues, not only at IITB but also at other IITs. Private engineering colleges will hopefully tap into this talent pool for their faculty recruitment.
June 23rd, 2008
Following is an excerpt from a report in indiaedunews.
As per the last year records, 140 PhDs were awarded to engineering graduates by the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D) highlighting the increasing trend of students opting for research.
To further encourage Research and Development, IIT-D has also come up with scholarships up to Rs.20,000/- per month for research students. Furthermore, accommodation and in-house facilities are also being provided to research scholars.
According to Mr. M. Balakrishnan, Dean, Post Graduate Studies and Research at IIT-Delhi, "Industrial Research and Development (R&D) in India, is getting bigger day by day. Today, the private sector employs PhDs in all disciplines- Automobiles, Energy, Environment, Materials."
Mr. Balakrishnan, while disagreeing to the fact that salaries are a constraint for PhD-holders, pointed out, "A PhD done by a researcher in any of the engineering field today is paid anywhere between Rs.8 lakh to Rs.16 lakh per annum."
He further added that, the companies involved in the technology establishment pay the highest amount, "Companies such as Google and Yahoo, who work with new technologies, pay the highest amount to the researchers."
May 8th, 2008
The following is an excerpt from http://specials.rediff.com/money/2007/oct/25sld3.htm.
My concern is that many bright students who would be leading scientists and researchers choose other careers because of misinformation. In talking with non-academic friends, particularly those in the Indian community, I think there are two misconceptions that need to be corrected. First, one does a PhD not so much to teach but to do research that will have a big impact. Many people view professors as skilled teachers - which is one important aspect of the job - but fail to realise that many of the fundamental discoveries in society that make our quality of life better today than in 1900 are made by academics. So I think that the social value of pursuing a PhD may be underappreciated. Second, academia has the reputation of being a very tough life, particularly financially. But I think the monetary rewards of academia are also often misperceived. This is especially true at top universities for quantitative fields, where salaries compare quite favorably with many specialties in medicine or law. Some people ask, "Why are economists and scientists paid so much to sit and think?" I think of the answer one of my colleagues at Berkeley gives: ‘If Milton Friedman’s research helped us avoid another Great Depression, then he’s paid the bill for all the economists in this generation.’ Now of course not every person is going to do what Milton Friedman did… but if one out of every ten thousand does, it’s worth paying researchers a lot. One of my objectives in the longer run is to try to attract more bright students to top PhD programs. For example, there’s an enormous pool of talent at the IITs in India that I think could be very successful. I’d like to think about ways to encourage some of that group to apply to PhD programs in the US.
October 29th, 2007