The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has launched a ‘Young Research Fellow’ (YRF) programme coordinating with the Super-UROP’ programme at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Students from a third-year undergraduate and dual degree students of IIT-Madras or other institutes are eligible to apply for this program.
Around 20 fellowships are to be awarded in the first year of its commencement. This is a year-log program and will focus on the multi-disciplinary projects. This will offer one to one interaction with the IIT faculties. The program will facilitate the students to participate in research and avail a career and life coaching’ (CLIC) programme offered by the 1979 alumni.
The director of the IIT-Madras, Bhaskar Ramamurthi, said that “IIT-M is very much a research-intensive university where world-class research is a daily pursuit. This programme blends these two strengths by giving selected undergraduate students an opportunity to discover the excitement of research early.”
The MIT’s Dean of Engineering, Prof Anantha Chandrakasan, founded the ‘Super-UROP’ program at MIT. He gave some valuable advice on the inauguration of the YRF program that
Speaking about this initiative, Prof Anantha Chandrakasan, Dean of Engineering, MIT, who “I wish you all success for the YRF programme. Involving undergraduates in research will foster an appreciation for deeper learning and innovation, enabling their success in a wide array of career paths, including graduate studies.”
The selected students will be given a monthly stipend by the guides in the IIT-M. They shall further participate in the interactive lecture series on research skills. The institute said in a statement that “The Young Research Fellows will be strongly encouraged to publish their findings in reputed peer-reviewed international journals and to present their work at high-quality international conferences for which they will receive travel support”.
Further the statement said that “The year-long unique programme is designed to provide immersive and intense scientific exploration opportunities to the students, with the participants executing research projects in any academic department or across departments for inter-disciplinary projects”.
The institute also claims that it has received a lot of accolades from the students and the academic partners.
The Dean (Alumni and Corporate Relations) of IIT Madras said that, “The class of 1979 has championed a unique programme that is both timely and innovative. At a time when India is talking of self-reliance, this programme aims to create an interest in deep tech research among some of the best and brightest students in India.”
The IIT-M YRF was designed and developed by the alumni batch of 1979. They gave the complete set of program structure, fund-raising, financial strategy planning, and marketing for the program.