NEWS DAILY

MUMBAI: Even as India grapples with how to increase the number of researchers, IIT-Bombay recorded a slight drop in the number of PhDs this year. The Powai institute had contributed the highest number of 200 PhDs to India last year. This time the number was 179. Like previous years, this year too most of the PhD holders were from the chemical engineering department.

The positive sign is that the Powai institute is working towards developing it into a "top technical university driven by research". Once this is achieved, the PhD numbers are likely to increase in the coming years. IIT-B director Devang Khakhar said the institute had seen more-than-100% increase in the number of PhDs on its rolls in the last eight years — from 771 to 1,681 this year. And the number of those graduating annually has risen from 73 in 2001 to 2010’s 179 awarded at IIT-B’s 48th convocation ceremony on Friday.

"An interesting aspect of our PhD output observed in the recent years is that around 65% of them are in the engineering disciplines," said Khakhar. This year, the convocation is spread over two days when 1,691 degrees will be awarded. Of these 196 are five-year BTech-MTech dual degrees, 706 MTech, 83 masters in management, 45 masters in design and 508 BTech degrees. While the PhDs were awarded on Friday, the graduates will get them on Sunday.

"We can soon expect a substantial increase in the number of PhDs graduating from convocations like these," said Anil Kakodkar, chairman of IIT-B’s board of governors. This needs to be backed by comprehensive development of the R&D infrastructure.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, head of Biocon, who was chief guest for the convocation, urged IITians to be job creators and not job seekers. "India needs capable young men and women like you to take a responsible stance for inclusive growth of the nation. Look at what we have done with the Commonwealth Games. We need to hang our heads in shame.

Instead of showcasing our talent and technological prowess, there has been complete chaos and failure of trying to deliver a world class product."

Presenting the institute’s plans, Khakhar said a national centre for aerospace innovation and research, along with the department of science and technology and Boeing, is in the wings.