Now, train at a lab near you for PhD

AICTE to launch programme to promote research in technical fields, eyes 5,000 scholars in three years

Come April, India's premier research organisations - the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) - could help you clinch that PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) in the field of technology, if you are an aspirant.

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) will launch a programme next month, wherein aspirants can apply online to pursue a PhD programme sponsored by it. The regulator for technical education aims to get 5,000 PhDs through this new programme in the next three years.

"We are saying any research lab outside universities can become research centres for PhD aspirants. Whoever registers through this process will get a monthly scholarship of Rs 16,000 for two years and Rs 18,000 for the third year. We aim to get about 5,000 PhDs in three years," said Shankar S Mantha, chairman, AICTE.

A PhD aspirant will have to apply to AICTE online and provide a choice of five or six research labs that he or she wishes to pursue a PhD at. The application would be reviewed by an expert committee and then forwarded for approval. The research centres will also interview the aspirant and reserve the right to accept. The centres will also provide guides.

The scheme will be funded by AICTE under its Quality Improvement Programme (QIP), wherein the objective is to upgrade the expertise and capabilities of faculty members of degree-level engineering institutes, the National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and the National Institutes of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR). At present, there are 80 institutions under the QIP and AICTE plans to take that number to 200.

"If you have a structured methodology to increase the number of PhDs, it makes things easier for everyone involved. There have been several requests from different places for improving the PhD strength in our country, and we have been trying to work out how we could increase their number," added Mantha.

A DRDO spokesperson said students were allowed to pursue PhDs in various disciplines at their labs.

At present, India has around 35,000 PhDs in various disciplines. Of these only 8,000 hold a PhD in pure technical education. Experts say the shortage of faculty and research scientists in India is 150,000. In engineering, the shortage of qualified PhD faculty members is between 20,000 and 30,000.

Technical education, which includes technology, management, architecture and pharmacy, has around 450,000 teachers. But less than half of these are PhDs.

"This will be an interesting programme, with good potential. If AICTE implements it well, it will be a good step forward. However, getting good candidates, as well as advisors, is a challenging task, but not impossible," said Surendra Prasad, former director of Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi.

Institutes like the IITs have been aiming to promote research and improve the quality and output of research by bringing in young talent. At present, the IITs produce around 1,000 PhDs every year, against 8,000-9,000 engineering and technology scholars annually in the US and China.

According to the IITs, traditionally, people have been pursuing PhDs to be in academics. But with technology firms increasingly approaching the IITs and the Indian Institute of Science seeking talent for their research and development functions, more and more PhDs have seen this as an opportunity to earn more and join the corporate sector.

According to experts, with companies paying Rs 6,00,000-8,00,000 per annum, they are bound to be the preferred destination for many. Engineering institutions, on the other hand, pay just over Rs 3,00,000 per annum (however, there are benefits which are not monetised).

FRESH CHAPTER
|Any research lab outside universities to become research centres for PhD aspirants

|AICTE aims to get 5,000 PhDs through in three years
|The scheme will be funded by AICTE under its quality improvement programme
|At present, 80 institutions are under QIP; AICTE plans to take that up to 200
|A PhD aspirant will have to apply to AICTE online and provide a choice of five or six research labs
|Applications would be reviewed by an expert committee
|Research centres will also interview aspirants, and provide guides