TCS extends research scholarship for five years

Indian IT bellwether Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has extended its doctoral scholarship programme to do PhD in computer science for another five years and increased the number of research scholars to 200 from 198.

"We have till date supported 188 research scholars in 33 institutes across the country, including six who completed PhD so far and are employed in academia and industry research and development centres," the global software major said in a statement here Wednesday.

The programme, which supports 20 percent of the computing science research in the country, will benefit 40 scholars annually over the next five years.

Launched in 2010 to give fillip to quality research in computer sciences and engineering, information systems and technology and software engineering, the programme aims to promote development, innovation and boost the country's technology landscape.

"The programme has been created to improve the research talent base in the country and bridge the gap between demand and supply of quality scientists in computational science," TCS chief executive N. Chandrasekaran said in the statement.

Recent studies have also indicated the need for more research in computer science to develop intellectual property (IP) in the country.

The company has identified 61 top-ranking institutes and universities across the country which offers PhD in computing sciences.

"Our programme is free of any obligation and the sponsored research scholars do not have to join our company or share the IP of their work," the statement noted.

Besides cash and contingency funds for four years, with a provision to extend the support by a year, the scholarship entails travel funds for attending and presenting research work in international conferences and workshops.

"Our researchers, scientists and the CTO team offer mentoring, industry exposure, and insight into the real world scenario to the scholars. They also get an opportunity to visit our innovation and research labs," the statement added.