Letter from Professor Narayan Rangaraj, Dean, Academic Programmes
Research at the dual degree and M.Tech level The M.Tech (and M.Phil) courses of the institute, and the B.Tech-M.Techdual degree courses have been planned with an expectation of significant research participation (14 months of work by a wellqualified individual who has made it through a tough system) and it is now clear that the delivered output of this is somewhat low, to put it politely. Faculty are debating how best to redesign these programmes, but in the meanwhile students should really make the best of this opportunity to do something significant. The students in these programmes are often “placed” (an annoying word, more suitable for pawns on a chessboard, but what to do?) in a big whirligig of pre-placement, internship, aptitude tests, interviews and endless CV-polishing, with a little hint of incestuous relationships with seniors who have gone through the same hoops a year or three ago. I have seen with interest how students have convinced themselves that all the desirable qualities that are required to get placed are somehow at odds with the contents of their degree! Used to be a time when good performance in a Master’s project would help in getting a good job– now it seems like IF a student gets a good job, and is sufficiently relaxed, THEN he/she may deign to work a little on a project. This is not what we had in mind! While wishing all the students the best in their careers, this anomaly needs correction. We are doing what strikes us as faculty, but students should come forward, too, as it is a question of good use of time during a very productive period of their lives.
Tathagatha Biswas
Doctoral research We have increased our focus on doctoral research and the number of research scholars is slowly growing. A doctoral degree is the highest academic degree awarded by the institute, and it is given for some significant contribution to knowledge. Experts in a field assess the thesis, and the assessment is necessarily subjective and qualitative. It takes some maturity to do the kind of research that a doctoral degree needs. Some students who come in may not meet requirements, because of area mismatch or because of their background and performance at this stage in their career or for some other reason. All departments are increasing their standards and expectations from the doctoral programme and students would have to accordingly adjust. In particular, breadth through coursework and other means, and also the ability to communicate (both technically and in non-technical matters) are very important for your future careers. Finally… With all its warts, IIT B is a place where students and faculty come to study and work from all over India, and in a small way, from across the world. One should strive not to lose the openness as well as intellectual rigour that make it a good institution, and there I am most hopeful that our students will keep these institutional values intact.
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