IITs need to spend more on research said Union human resource development minister Shashi Tharoor

Updated on: Thursday, May 30, 2013

The IITs need to pull up their socks and spend more on research, Union human resource development minister Shashi Tharoor has said.

Speaking at the Sri Sai Ram College of Engineering convocation in the city on Wednesday, Tharoor said that he has asked the IITs and IISC to double their research work. "We have several universities with good teaching facilities, but inadequate or no research facilities," he said. "Although the IITs are top ranking institutes in the country which carry out much research, it is still not enough considering their ranking."

Tharoor added that under ideal conditions, at least 30% of a university's funding should be earmarked for research. "Today we have a mismatch between the education given by colleges and the skills sets sought by companies," he said. "That is why companies often put a new recruit under a year's training, despite his specialized education. An expansion beyond teaching might just help."

Agreeing to this, Bhaskar Ramamurthi, director for IIT Madras said their research contribution depended on the number of students who opt for a PhD on the campus. "We now draw in 200 students for PhD every year," he said. "We are trying to increase it to 350 per year by introducing a sandwich course comprising both masters and PhD."

But the outlook is not altogether grim, said Ramamurthi. "Today, India's ranking for publishing research papers has improved from 15th worldwide to ninth. The number of PhD students in IITs is four times higher than it was 10 years ago. All we need is for the new IITs to reach similar targets."

Coming out in support of Delhi University's decision to introduce a four-year undergraduate programme, Tharoor said, "It would be wrong for politicians to oppose the decisions of a university, when all they are doing is what they are meant to do; bringing in academic reforms." He said that while it is always difficult to bring in reforms, this one had the potential to deliver, and as such should be encouraged.

IITs need to spend more on research said Union human resource development minister Shashi Tharoor

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