In the quest for quality, there is a focussed approach to research and international collaboration in the next strategic plan of the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras.
Five years ago the IIT-M put in place a strategic plan to make a systematic analysis of its performance in comparison to foreign institutions. It studied the performance of its faculty members and implemented the Kakodkar Committee’s recommendation to produce more Ph.Ds.
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Professors must participate in at least the major conferences in their subject. The argument that air travel is expensive doesn’t hold good anymore. “If they are not showing up at conferences it is very negative. Equations change. From the Institute’s point of view it is foolish not to send a faculty member for a conference. Even for research scholars it is better to send the students to a conference. You can cut back on the scholarship instead,” he says.
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Recall factor
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Researchers must communicate. It is recall of a face and a name that matters even for researchers. So they must meet up and dine with them too. There is no place anymore for a “cubby hole” researcher. “If for major conferences you go as a team, suddenly the perception of the institute changes. You have to get over [the perception] that a foreign trip is a big issue. It is not. It is not an expense point,” he says.
“It is important to invite them or make sure they drop by, have people come, and only then research at a global level will take off. Then collaborations will happen. The best people are getting it done. That is also there in our strategic plan,” Prof. Bhaskar says.
Chair professor
A professor with 10 years’ service is eligible to apply for chair professorship. A financial incentive is provided from the institute’s corpus, raised from its alumni and donors.