Tag: student scholarship

IIT Kharagpur Alumni and their Families Set up Over ₹ 2 Crore Student Grant

IIT Kharagpur has instituted eight new student grants for the upcoming Autumn semester scheduled to begin in August 2021. The Institute has received generous grants from eight alumni and their families who have come forward to support the students on merit-cum-means scholarships and merit-based awards towards their academics and research. 

The grants are collectively valued at around ₹ 2.25 crore for funding of undergraduate and postgraduate students across the departments of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering, Healthcare, Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering.

A virtual MoU was signed with the donating alumni and their families for instituting the student aids and grants in a recently concluded event. 

The donors envisioned a range of dynamic ideas which motivated them to contribute towards these scholarships and awards and inspiring the spirit of giving back to society for the greater good while instilling some traits which are very own to IIT Kharagpur. 

Thanking the donors for the generous contributions Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur appreciated their proactive zeal towards the Institute and for keeping its welfare in their hearts. He further spoke of the uniqueness of the vast plethora of disciplines taught at IIT Kharagpur and how benchmarking is being done for them to collectively compete against the world’s topmost universities. He welcomed the alumni to contribute towards this initiative through participation in the global outreach programs and thrust area-specific activities of the Institute. Director Tewari further affirmed starting new initiatives under the NEP 2020 and the holistic and fast-moving developments that are underway at IIT Kharagpur.

A unique feature of these grants is the allocation of over ₹ 65 Lakh exclusively for undergraduate female students for a period of 15 years. IIT Kharagpur has been setting up various avenues to reach out to larger sections of girl students, their teachers and parents through counseling, outreach initiatives as well as financial aid to encourage more girls to aim for IIT education as well as facilitating those taking admission at IIT Kharagpur in particular.

Dean, Alumni Affairs, Prof. Subrata Chattopadhyay remarked, “now that we are an Institute of Eminence and guided by the New Education Policy, we are committed to bringing up the ratio of our undergraduate girl students much higher. We have the mandate to cross the 20% threshold at the soonest.”

In the last few years, IITs have been consistently increasing the strength of girl undergraduate students through the supernumerary quota for women introduced in 2018. From the initial target of 17% which has been fulfilled, the IITs are set to increase the quota to 20% in accordance with a decision by the IIT Council. At IIT Kharagpur the overall ratio of male and female students is already 1:5 while in some research-based programs and Master’s level programs, even a higher ratio can be observed.

The Institute has a few dedicated grants for women funded by various agencies such as DRDO Scholarship for Girl Through AR&DB, Indian Women’s Association, BONN Scholarship etc. A travel grant was also set up Smt. Sudha Murthy, Chairman, Infosys Foundation to facilitate the participation of women research scholars in international conferences. The alumni have also supported the up-gradation of facilities at the girls’ hostels. Further, the Institute conducts several women-specific research work on women’s health, gender violence and crimes against women, gendering the smart cities and experience of migrant women. The Institute also supports the KIRAN IPR Women Scientists program.

About the Donor & MoU
Mr. Chandrasen Gajria is an alumnus of the 1970 Batch from the Chemistry department of IIT Kharagpur. He has set up an MCM scholarship named Sobhraj And Krishna Gajria Scholarship in the memory of his parents Mr. Sobhraj Gajira and Mrs. Krishna Gajria which will provide annual support to the needy yet meritorious students of the Chemistry Department of the Institute.
Mr.Peeyush Ranjan is an alumnus of the 1995 batch from the Computer Science department He has set up the Dr. R R Verma Prize for Best Masters Thesis in Healthcare Technology in the memory of his late father Dr. R. R. Verma for the best M.Tech thesis on Healthcare technology across all the Departments, Centers and Schools of the Institute with an annual prize.
Mrs. Suprabha Sur has set up the Late Shri Saradindu Sur Scholarship in the fond memories of her husband Late Shri Saradindu Sur who is an alumnus of 1956 batch from the Mechanical Engineering Department and was the resident of Nehru Hall, to support the needy yet meritorious students of the Mechanical Dept. of the Institute with a yearly MCM scholarship.
Dr. R.P.Sahu is an alumnus of the 1970 batch from Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Dept. He has set up the Brundabana Sahu Student Award in memory of his maternal grandfather Shri Brundabana Sahu to help a 1st-year B.Tech student with a yearly MCM-based award to address any special needs of the awardee.
Mrs. Banani Som, the wife of Late Prof. Sankar Kumar Som, who is a proud alumnus as well as the Ex-director of IIT Kharagpur, has set up the Prof. Sankar Kumar Som Memorial Award in the fond memories of her late husband to recognize the best M.Tech thesis in the field of Thermal Science from the Department of Mechanical Engineering Department of the Institute with an annual award.
Mr. Indranil Basu is an alumnus of the 1987 batch from the Electronics and Electrical Communication Engg. Dept. Neil has set up the Pradip Kumar Basu Memorial Student Scholarship in memory of his late father Shri Pradip Kumar Basu, who was an aircraft maintenance engineer, to support a 2nd-year female student of IIT Kharagpur till her graduation with an annual scholarship based on MCM criteria.
Mrs. Napina Vangipuram, the wife of Late Dr. V. V. Dhruvanarayana, who is an alumnus of the 1955 batch from the Civil Engineering Department, has set up the V V Dhruva Narayana Memorial Student Award to recognize a 2nd-year B.Tech student of Civil Engineering Dept with an annual award as per the MCM criteria.
Mr. Debashis Chakraborty is an alumnus of the 1981 batch from the Chemical Engineering Department. He set up the Late Smt. Gopa Chakraborty Scholarship for Female Students in the fond memories of his late wife Smt. Gopa Chakraborty. This Scholarship aims towards supporting female students of IIT Kharagpur across all the departments, Schools, Centres and Academics with a special emphasis on the chemistry and chemical engineering department, by providing them yearly Scholarships based on MCM criteria. However, the Scholarship amount will be increased after every 4 years to cope up with the inflation rate.

Contact: deanaa@hijli.iitkgp.ac.in; media@iitkgp.ac.in

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IIT Kharagpur and the United States – India Educational Foundation (USIEF) organized a two-day joint workshop for universities in Eastern India themed ‘Igniting Interest to Study in India: Best Practices to Attract Foreign Students on Your Campus’.

USIEF promotes mutual understanding between the nationals of India and the US through the educational exchange of outstanding scholars, professionals and students. The organization has the mandate to organize such outreach workshops to promote both the inbound and outbound flow of students between the two countries.

“Recently we have seen a drop of about 15% in the inbound students to India from USA. We are trying to reach out to universities in India and bridge this gap,” said Dr. Diya Dutt, Deputy Director, USIEF.

The organization has been awarding Fulbright, Fulbright-Nehru, and other prestigious grants and scholarships in almost every academic discipline will now be setting up Nehru Chairs in US universities to enhance interaction not just within the academia but also engagement with the community at large, confirmed Diya.

They are also looking into the scope of improvement in the areas of cutting-edge research and teaching infrastructure and accommodation in which Indian universities can get an edge by meeting the globally accepted standards.

Talking about the initiative, Dean International Relations of IIT Kharagpur Baidurya Bhattacharya said, “We cannot remain an island of excellence. While we have been serving the nation and society it is also our responsibility to join forces with our peer groups, share with them our learning and experience on internationalization and in turn learn from them. Eastern India with its socio-cultural diversity has tremendous potential of becoming a preferred destination for foreign students not just in India but for the entire South Asian region. And the best part is the universities here, have been offering quality affordable higher education which these foreign students seek.”

IIT Kharagpur officials who spoke at the workshop also focused on student facilitation pertaining to admission, terms of degree courses, visa, clearances, insurance etc. and agreements with foreign universities, institutional ranking and international brand outreach activities.

Among the participants were XLRI Jamshedpur, Indian Institute of Engineering Science And Technology Shibpur, West Bengal State University, Presidency University, Jadavpur University, IISER Kalyani and several others. The participants, some of whom were from relatively younger institutions, in an open house were introduced to various initiatives and ideas to improve their international inbound presence. Some of them are already were contemplating on learning from the best practices, such as the idea of Dyuti, a socio-cultural short-term education programme started by IIT Kharagpur in 2019 for foreign students studying in other Indian universities, caught the interest of Dr. Ashis K Pani, Dean Academics of XLRI Jamshedpur who was a participant

Dr. Paramjyot Singh, faculty at XLRI Jamshedpur and a former Nehru Fullbright Fellow said, “these workshops create a great opportunity for knowledge sharing, collaboration and mutual understanding. It’s about we and it’s about a common future for us.”

IIT Kharagpur which is extensively promoting its international outreach to bring in more foreign students for degree and non-degree programmes has already set up a robust international relations mechanism to attract more students.

“Processes, facilities while being the key aspect, most students look for financial support. We launched various scholarship programmes funded by the Institute and alumni especially for SAARC, ASEAN and African students which has I would say affirmatively increased our international student enrolment significantly” added Associate Dean International Relations Anandaroop Bhattacharya.

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IIT Kharagpur is offering a range of scholarships to boost the presence of foreign students in its campus. The Institute has set up various scholarship programs funded by its alumni in addition to scholarships offered by Indian Council for Cultural Relations and MHRD’s Study in India program. With this new emphasis on financial aid, the Institute received close to 220 applications from foreign students this year for various degree programs.

Countries from which students applied

The Institute received applications from SAARC countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, two ASEAN countries, Vietnam, Laos, and two from Latin America – Colombia, Venezuela, a large number of African countries namely Madagascar, Kenya, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Angola, Sudan, the Central Asian country of Uzbekistan, the Pacific island of Fiji, Middle Eastern nations including Iran, Syria, Palestine and Saudi Arabia, and also from Russia and South Korea. The acceptance rate of the international students in various masters and doctoral degree programs amounts to about 8% of whom 11 students have joined the Institute for the academic year starting 2019. 

Internationalization is a priority for our Institute, especially with the country making it a thrust area in the recently announced budget. Each international applicant goes through an extremely rigorous evaluation process and I am very pleased with the increasing number of excellent foreign students coming into IIT Kharagpur in recent years – Prof. Baidurya Bhattacharya, Dean, International Relations. 

Top Choice for Academic Degree Programs

The MTech programs admitting foreign students this semester include Aerospace Engineering, Biotechnology, Chemical Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering. The doctoral program in the School of Medical Science and Technology and the MBA program in the Vinod Gupta School of Management, each got one international admission in this semester.

The presence of international students in our Institute brings a fresh perspective to our classrooms and labs and enriches our campus life.  This global perspective is only going to benefit India in the long-run, making our research output more relevant for a larger set of the public. In several countries, international students have to pay twice or higher the amount of domestic tuition fees for degree programs. At IIT Kharagpur however, the international fees for most graduate degree programs are nominal. In addition to ICCR and SII grants from Govt. of India, we have started offering our own scholarship programs – Prof. Baidurya Bhattacharya. 

Financial Aid Programs

Earlier this year the Institute launched the Asoke Dey Sarkar International Program for providing funds to students from SAARC countries. The Institute’s flagship funding program for internationalization, Shri Gopal Rajgarhia International Program, entered its fourth year in 2019 and has made funding international masters and doctoral students its top priority. [Click here for more information on funding]

Non-Degree Programs

For non-degree programs in 2019 until now the Institute has received 50 applications from USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Norway, Spain, Japan, Rwanda, Iran. 13 students were accepted through various funding programs. 

While we have seen international students enroll for studies at IIT Kharagpur in the past, the new policy of internationalization of the GoI, will boost our efforts and enable us to reach out to a larger number of international aspirants. It may be anticipated that the number of international students on campus will only increase in the coming years – Prof. Anandaroop Bhattacharya, Associate Dean, International Relations. 

Last month the Institute also held a joint conclave with other IITs to increase international outreach and facilitate international students in admission, funding and stay.

Visit www.international.iitkgp.ac.in for learning more about the international program opportunities at IIT Kharagpur.

Where credit is due

 

Perhaps the best way to describe what a scholarship does for a student besides giving the recipient instant acclaim is that it gives him/her the opportunity to earn an education. For many, this is an absolute necessity. Without a scholarship, it would be the end of the road. But in all circumstances, whether dire or not, earning brings undiluted joy and immense pride. To earn your keep is to grow up, to take responsibility for your own self. This contribution is always valued, and increasingly so nowadays because higher education comes with a price tag that is directly proportional to how high you want to climb.

The two winners of the Tower Research Capital India Meritorious Scholarship for the year 2018-19 – Vedic Partap (B.Tech/CS/3rd year) and Vivek Gupta (Dual Degree/CS/3rd year) are thus mighty pleased with themselves. The scholarship of Rs 2 lakh each will help them pay their tuition fees. They will also get Rs 20,000 to buy books.

Vivek puts it simply, “Since the scholarship covers my tuition fees for a whole year, this would reduce the burden on my parents to pay for the fees. Also, this is a personal achievement since getting selected for such a merit-based scholarship amidst such a fierce competition of the whole campus (sic) is a feat in itself.”

The Tower Research Capital India scholarship is open to 2nd and 3rd year B.Tech students of three departments – Computer Science and Engineering, Electronics and Electrical Communications Engineering, and MSc in Maths and Computing. So Vivek may be going slightly overboard when he talks about the “whole campus”.

But he is not exaggerating when he talks about the “fierce competition”. Unlike many other scholarships, the Tower Research Capital India scholarship does not consider the financial status of parents for eligibility. This is purely a merit-based scholarship that takes into account the CGPA (at least 8.5) of the undergraduate candidate in the 2nd and 3rd year and the candidate’s performance in the Hacker Rank test. There are not many such purely merit-based scholarships to go around with such a handsome pay-off, and hence the competition for it is truly cutthroat.

The “fierce competition” also brings to the forefront another peculiar problem about the funding of higher education. Vedic puts the issue more squarely. He says, “There are many scholarships that focus on the ‘means’ factor like the merit-cum-means scholarships and other state/national scholarships. Due to my family income, I was not eligible for any of the scholarship. But that does not mean that paying a large tuition fee is not a problem for me.”

Besides, Vedic adds, “The competition for the scholarship also gives us a chance to show our knowledge.” Both Vivek and Vedic, since they are from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, had to respond to questions on web development and database, data structure and algorithms, operating systems and systems design.

The Tower Research Capital India Meritorious Scholarship ticks many boxes. It gives the recipient a tremendous sense of pride in his/her abilities. The added satisfaction is the ability to pay for his/her own education – and thus a not-to-be-messed-with sense of honour among the self-conscious, self-righteous, self-dependent millennials of today.

According to recent studies, the cost of education in India is increasing at an average of 15% per annum. Professional courses, which have become mandatory now, cost a packet. For example, the tentative cost of an MBA is up from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 20 lakh in 15 years. As a top official of a finance company pointed out, “Aspirations have increased, and thus people want to stretch, sometimes ever so slightly beyond their means to pursue higher education which is likely to change the trajectory of their careers and their earnings in the future.”

Both Vedic and Vivek do not discount the importance of merit-cum-means scholarships. But they do believe that purely merit-based scholarships are also important to encourage top achievers who would not qualify otherwise to keep their performance at par with the best. Vedic says, “Many of my friends are very capable and in great need of scholarships.” Vivek too believes that there should be scope to compete for scholarships that fund foreign trainings and internships for which there are often no reimbursements.

IIT Kharagpur has been trying to address the “need” that Vedic talks about by increasing the financial threshold for eligibility for some of the scholarships, many of them instituted by the Alumni. The IIT KGP Foundation of US has also started a scholarship for foreign internships from the financial year 2017-18. But, quite obviously, more needs to be done.

Vedic wants to go for higher education in computational neuroscience and Vivek is looking forward to a summer Internship next semester. Do they have any plans for making use of the money they will eventually save?

Oh yes! Vedic wants to use his internship pay (and any of the rest he could save) to buy a new laptop or perhaps go for a trip. And Vivek? He chirps, “After paying the tuition fee, I could use the rest of the money (from the scholarship), along with my internship pay, to buy a new hardware, may be a laptop for myself. But before all this, a gift for my parents tops my list as without their support, this would not have been possible.”

 

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