Research Rules
By mukul on Jul 30, 2008 in Overthere
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Joining the rat race for a degree in engineering or medicine from one of the top institutes in the country was never a priority for Apurv Mishra. “It was research that always fascinated me even when I was in school. And I also believe that people with a core background in basic sciences will be in great demand in future,” says the second-year student of the five-year integrated masters programme at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Calcutta.
One of the major concerns of educationists is the gulf between teaching and research in basic sciences and when the central government set up IISERs in Calcutta and Mohali in 2006 — and announced the setting up of three more in various parts of the country — the move was welcomed overwhelmingly. The IISERs follow the model of the Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Science (IISc), but at the undergraduate-level as opposed to the latter’s postgraduate-level research programmes.
“India has built support structures for technology in the form of IITs and engineering colleges, but failed to do the same for scientific research with the university system having its own limitations,” says Sushanta Dattagupta, director, IISER, Calcutta.
The IISERs were set up based on the recommendation of the scientific advisory council to the Prime Minister by the ministry of human resource development. The IISERs, according to Dattagupta, will one day be spoken about, globally, in the same breath as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and IISc.
“If India aspires to catapult itself into the next level of high-end scientific research, it is important that we have a strong base of students with a solid background in basic sciences,” says Dattagupta.
The flagship course of IISER — the integrated masters in science programme is designed in such a way that students get to study the basic science subjects — biology, maths, chemistry and physics for the first two years of the programme on a compulsory basis along with other interdisciplinary areas. In the third and fourth year, students can choose a subject to major in from the four basic science subjects. They can also take optional interdisciplinary courses. In the final year, the students focus on research and finally present a dissertation. Besides the integrated masters programme, some of the other courses offered by IISER include a PhD programme and an integrated PhD programme. “We will have various schools offering programmes in biology, chemistry, maths and physics,” says Dattagupta.
IISER awards its own degrees. Students are encouraged to carry out research projects during their vacations in the first four years of the masters programme in various research institutes like IISc, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, (TIFR), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi, and others.
Since students have to study all the four basic sciences, they discover new things about some of the subjects they gave up studying ages ago. “Studying biology alongside maths, that too in-depth, is something we never thought would be possible, but here we are doing it and discovering new ways to integrate various subjects,” says Vaibhav Mishra, a second-year student who has just completed a project on anti-bacterial properties of neem and tulsi plants. Mishra last studied biology in high school.
“We emphasise a great deal on research and laboratory rating is done on a day-to-day basis,” says Swapan Kumar Datta, professor incharge of teaching and head of the physics department. “We encourage the students to be innovative and think originally,” says Datta.
IISER is currently located at the IIT Kharagpur Extension Centre, but will soon move to an interim campus in Kalyani before moving permanently to its residential campus spread over 200 acres in Haringhata near Kalyani. The new campus, being built at a cost of around Rs 500 crore, will accommodate around 2,000 students and 200 faculty members. It will start functioning from 2011. Currently, IISER has more than 200 students, including those who are pursuing their PhDs.
The institute has a state-of-the-art laboratory with equipment and machines imported from abroad. “We have set aside around Rs 150 crore for the lab equipment,” says Dattagupta.
The faculty members regularly present research papers and their work is published in well-known journals. “The faculty members are also involved in research. We collaborate with students at the lab level,” says Chirnanjib Mitra, an assistant professor.
All those students who pass the IIT-JEE and those who figure in the extended list of IIT-JEE automatically qualify for admission and fellowship in IISER.
Students of Class XII who clear the Indian National Olympiads in physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics and qualify for attending the training camps organised by Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education are also eligible for admission.
“We even have students who opted out of IIT and decided to pursue a career in basic sciences. It ultimately boils down to an urge to be a researcher and passion for discovering new things that forces students to think of joining IISER,” says Datta.
The overall fee per semester is Rs 25,000, including hostel fees. Meritorious students get a stipend of Rs 3,000 per month.
Vital Statistics:-
WHAT IS IT?
It is one of the premier institutes of research in the country
WHO’S THE BOSS?
Sushanta Duttagupta is the director
WHAT IS THE COURSE FEE?
The fee per semester is Rs 25,000
Where is it?
IIT Kharagpur Extension Centre,
Block-HC, Sector-III, Salt Lake,
Calcutta-700106
Phone: 64513294
Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)
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