Tag: fellowship

IIT Kharagpur Professor Abhijit Mukherjee has been inducted as a Fellow of the Geological Society of America

“Proud moment for IIT Kharagpur, Prof Abhijit Mukherjee, Associate Professor of the Department of Geology & Geophysics and School of Environmental Science and Engineering, has been inducted as a Fellow of the Geological Society of America (GSA) in the year 2021. I must mention that Prof Mukherjee is the first Indian who has got elected to the Fellowship of the prestigious GSA”, said Prof. Virendra Kumar Tewari, the Director of Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. “On behalf of the entire institute, I heartily congratulate Prof Mukherjee on his well-deserved achievements. Best wishes to bring more and more laurels for him and his profession. I look forward to many such recognitions and achievements from our faculty.”

Hydrogeoscience expert Prof Abhijit Mukherjee has directed a recent research work which was intended on groundwater insights. Prof Mukherjee has been awarded the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in the field of Earth Atmosphere Ocean and Planetary Sciences. Also he has been inducted as the Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK. He has been selected by the Department of Science and Technology as one of the top fifty Indian scientists below fifty years age. In fact, he has been conferred the National Geoscience Award by the President of India. His book “Global Groundwater: Source, Scarcity, Sustainability, Security and Solutions” has been published by Elsevier.

Prof Mukherjee said, “I am humbled and honored to have been elected as a Fellow to the Geological Society of America (GSA). GSA, estd. in 1888, is regarded as one of the oldest, largest and most prestigious International geoscience societies across the world. I further feel honored to be one of the first person from any Indian institute to be elected for this prestigious Fellowship. GSA has defined Fellowship as an honor that is bestowed on the best of our profession. GSA members are elected to Fellowship in recognition of a sustained record of distinguished contributions to geosciences (www. geosociety.org). So, being recognized by my peers, internationally, is certainly a dream coming true.”

Before joining IIT Kharagpur as an Assistant Professor, he served as the Physical Hydrogeologist at Albert Geological Survey in Canada. Prior to that, he completed postdoctoral work at the University of Texas at Austin, USA. Early to it he served as the Research Assistant in Geology at University of Kentucky, USA and Instructor and Teaching Assistant in Geology at University of Kentucky in USA.

He earned his Master of Science (M. Sc) and Bachelor of Science (B. Sc) in Geology from University of Calcutta. Also, he pursued Master of Science (M.S) from University of Kentucky, USA. He then achieved the prestigious degree of Doctor of Philosophy from University of Kentucky, USA.

The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a global professional society with a membership of more than 20,000 individuals in more than 100 countries. GSA provides access to elements that are essential to the professional growth of earth scientists at all levels of expertise and from all sectors: academic, government, business, and industry. The Society unites thousands of earth scientists from every corner of the globe in a common purpose to study the mysteries of our planet (and beyond) and share scientific findings.

(Inputs from Rituparna Chakraborty, Branding Executive)

Contact: Paramita Dey, Junior Assistant

Email: media@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. No.: +91-3222-282004

Scholarships for Doctoral Students from Australia

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In a significant boost to its ongoing academic exchange programs with Australian institutions, IIT Kharagpur has instituted competitive high-value scholarships for students from the University of Melbourne, Australia enrolled under the Dual Doctoral Program jointly conducted by the two institutions.  Prof. Sriman Kumar Bhattacharyya, the Director (Officiating) of IIT Kharagpur made the announcement at the launch of the Melbourne India Partnership Program and Academy Conference at Melbourne on December 9, 2019.

Each student would receive an annual funding of AUD 30000 (approximately INR 14.6 Lakh) – an amount equal to their home scholarships – which would cover their tuition and other fees, living expenses and travel costs for the program. The scholarship which will be highly competitive will be offered initially to two inbound foreign students from the prestigious Australian university starting from academic year 2020-21.

Apart from University of Melbourne, IIT Kharagpur conducts joint doctoral programs with several world-class Australian universities such as Curtin, Wollongong and James Cook, designed to build academic and research collaborations from the grounds up. Admission into the joint doctoral programs is highly competitive, and successful progress requires rigorous time-bound adherence to milestones that are acceptable to both institutions. The student carries out his/her research under the joint supervision of faculty  members from both institutions and needs to spend a minimum of one year at the partner institution. A single thesis  is written and submitted to both institutions who then review it to their own exacting standards. If the thesis is accepted by both institutions, the student is awarded the joint doctoral degree.

Since its launch in 2018, nine students from IIT Kharagpur have enrolled in the joint doctoral program with University of Melbourne while one student from the University of Melbourne came to IIT Kharagpur under the DDP.

“We realized that there is a need for providing financial assistance to the foreign students as many of them support their families back home with their stipend. Just as our students studying in top foreign universities are funded under various scholarship and fellowship schemes, If we want to attract high quality international students, it is essential that we provide competitive scholarships,” opined Prof. Baidurya Bhattacharya, Dean, International Relations at IIT Kharagpur, part of the Institute’s delegation to Melbourne.

In addition to Australia, IIT Kharagpur is also setting up joint doctoral programs with University of Auckland in New Zealand and the University of Alberta in Canada. The Institute is further exploring to expand the scope of such dual degree programs and funding opportunities to other foreign students especially in ASEAN and SAARC regions.

“We have been awarded the status of Institution of Eminence by the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India, earlier this year. It is among our foremost objectives now to reach out to various international zones from where we can expect talents to come and study in India in general and at IIT Kharagpur in particular without adding much to their financial burden for achieving high quality education at par with top global universities. What better place they can get it other than the IITs,” remarked Prof. Sriman Kumar Bhattacharyya.

Earlier this year the Institute saw a surge in inbound applications from foreign students on the launch of Asoke Dey Sarkar International Program, a scholarship opportunity for Masters and Doctoral students.

The delegate from IIT Kharagpur had also met Indian students at Melbourne pursuing doctoral and post doctoral research in Australia for interaction related to prospective academic career options at IIT Kharagpur. The event was organised by the IIT Alumni Victoria Association. The next interactive session is scheduled on December 11 at Auckland.