Sunday, January 10, 2010

Website for prospective and new faculty in IISc

Based on several requests on this blog and the suggestion by Bharat, my colleagues and I have set up a new website for prospective and new faculty in IISc. Do leave your comments here and we will try to update the website. Please also note that standard disclaimers apply and this is not authorized by the administration of IISc and does not represent the official view.

Please note that we started working on it only from 9th Jan, 2010 and, therefore, please consider it as a beta or first draft. Much of the material is taken from this blog and other websites but we have tried to put everything in one place. Most of the content has been uploaded by my colleagues.

It would immensely help if any new/junior/senior/retired faculty are willing to contribute to the website. Please send an email.

38 comments:

Anonymous said...

"In IISc, the following procedure is mostly followed for selection. It may vary slightly in other IITs. The application material is scrutinized by the faculty and references are obtained from the suggested persons and additional references within the country. The candidate is then invited to give a talk when he/she visits India. If that is not possible, a video conferencing (by skype etc.) is held where the candidate gives a talk as well as discusses the future research proposed."

Does it imply that IISc considers only foreign-based candidates ?

Vijay R. said...

Dear Prof. Giridhar,

I have been reading your blog for the past 6 months or so and have found it to be very interesting and helpful.

This new website is an excellent, comprehensive, and valuable resource. Many thanks to you and your colleagues for taking the time and effort to publish this information. Indeed a boon for folks looking to join IISc.

Best Regards,

Vijay

Anonymous said...

Thanks a lot for doing such a wonderful job.

It was long awaited. Nevertheless, it is not too late!

Thanks

Anonymous said...

Dear Prof. Madras,

An excellent job in creation of this website. I hope HR departments in IISc and IITs would take a note of it and develop their own websites and information handbook.

It would be nice if you could add about recruitment at senior levels i.e. Associate and Full Professors. Recruitment at senior positions may not be so common but if you could share your experiences on this website, it would be very helpful and make it more comprehensive.

Thanks again,

TA

Anonymous said...

Prof Madras, excellent work on the website. I wish every institute/university spend some time to get up this much of information in one place.

There is a question I would like to ask though (and, may be something you might wish to put on the site as well, since being an informal website, you would not really be answering on behalf of IISc).

Does IISc have any plans of making on-contract Asst Prof hires (I ask this given the 3 yrs post-doc experience, but relaxable if needed clause in the ad)? I do seem to recall somewhere that the IISc director was very clear that IISc was not going to consider contractual positions for hire.

Yet another suggestion - if some of your colleagues are willing to put up their experiences on applying to IISc and other institutes (IITs/NITs) that would be nice too. I recall that you have posted your experience in applying to the Chem Engg department a few posts back in your blog. That's the sort of stuff I am referring to.

Anonymous said...

How much does IISc pay you to put up this information? Can't believe someone will do it for free.

Gupta

skj said...

How long does it take from the initial application for IISC to contact the applicant regarding whether s/he is shortlisted for interview or not. I have applied for a faclty position in early Dec but havent yet heard anything back. Should I get in touch with the Dept chair & enquire about the status of my application?

Anonymous said...

skj,

You should keep in touch with your chair (w/o being pushy) or with another faculty member if you know any. However, you have to take into account the period of hodidays (or not?).

It is my impression that besides being very busy, the chairs receive several applications and one of the first "requirements" is that the candidate should be seriously interested in the position.

M.

Anonymous said...

Guptaji:

Did your mother ask money to deliver you?

Do not discourage people who do useful things, even if you uncapable of doing anything useful.

Anonymous said...

Sir,

The standing advertisement and the page on Recruitment at the new website are not consistent with respect to lecturer positions. Please update this with regard to lecturer positions.

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much for such hard work. The new website is really good and is filling in the gaps from previous posts.

Regarding additional medical insurance, are the values of the premiums (as posted in the link) monthly?

I have another question that may not apply directly to you, Prof. Madras, but maybe can be answered by someone else. Is it possible to have a small dog in the housing inside IISc. Do you know anybody that has one?

Thanks again.

K.

Giri@iisc said...

K, the premiums are yearly. Yes, you can have a dog under leash. I know of one person who has a dog - The director.

I have tried to update the webpage taking into account all your comments. Thanks.

Indraneel said...

"For the post of an Assistant Professor, the prospective candidates must

* have a Ph.D in the relevant area
* have three years of post-doctoral research experience (relaxable), and
* be preferably below 35 years of age".

Sir, if anybody starts his/her Phd after 30 and after doing Phd and a Post doc for at least 2 years, s/he will be near about 40. Will s/he be rejected just because of the age limit? will their Phd and/or the Post doc work not be considered? Please answer.

bsraj said...

Thank you very much for such a good work. I have been reading your blog for the couple of months and have found it to be very interesting and helpful.

Anonymous said...

Dr. Madras,

Thank you so much for putting this together. I wish there were people like you at the IITs as well so, life would be so much more easy for new faculty. But, on the positive side, you have inspired me to record my own experiences in the IIX I will be joining and share it in a similar way with fellow faculty members.

regards
Bharat

Anonymous said...

sir,

Thank you very much for responding to my comments. You are doing great work.

Anonymous said...

Looking at the section on leave (casual and earned), it seems that the only way to accumulate earned leave is to work during the summer vacation. What about faculty that work elsewhere during the summer vacation, do they get any earned leave for the remaining nine months that they work during the academic year?

Bharat

Giri@iisc said...

indraneel, read the word preferably in the advertisement.

Bharat, thanks for your kind words. Regarding, "do they get any earned leave for the remaining nine months that they work during the academic year?" The answer is no. I have now updated the section to reflect this.

Anonymous said...

Dear Prof. Giridhar,

I am doing my PhD in biomedical engineering in US with hearing science as an area of specialization. I will be finishing my PhD within 2 years and planning to do my post-doc for 2years. Afterward, I want to apply to IISc for a faculty position in electrical engineering. I would like to know what is the age constraint for applying to IISc?

Thanks a lot.

Regards,
Ananth

Giri@iisc said...

Ananth, the advt and website clearly states "preferably below 35 years"

Anonymous said...

Prof. Madras,
Sometime ago (maybe a few months) I asked if there was any provision to relax the age limit for women that took time off to have children. Your answer was that there wasn't an age limit.
Would you (or anybody else) elaborate on such "preference"?
Thank you!

Indraneel said...

Respected Sir,
Thank you very much for your quick reply.Sir please elaborate the sentence "preferably below 35 years of age" It will help many prospective candidate.Thank you once again for such a great work you are doing just for helping others.

Giri@iisc said...

I fail to understand on how one can elaborate the word preferable. Preferable means we would like to take candidates who are below 35 but can make exceptions in deserving cases. What is deserving will be decided by each department.

Anonymous said...

Prof. Giri,
Do the external members of a selection committee look at the posible candidate profiles/CV much before the actual committee meeting or do they look at it only on the day of the meeting.
Please give us glimpses of how the selection comm. functions. What is the role played by the external experts.
If one candidate is considered by multiple IIXs then how is the scenario handled when faculties from IIT-X (where a cANDIDATE has been offered a job but not accepted yet) is in the selection comm. of IIT-Y of the same candidate. should this not create bias and neutrality issues.

Suhasini Gururaja said...

Dear Prof. Giri,

I have been following your blog for the last couple of months and find it quite informative. This new faculty website is especially useful.

Thanks!
Suhasini.

Anonymous said...

There is ONE thing that Professor Venkatraman Ramakrishnan says in his interview (link in a previous post) that called my attention, positively. He said that somebody's value in US is given by what he can contribute with.

In US, candidates from minority groups may have the preference for a position when having qualifications EQUAL to another candidate. However, age would never be a factor in selecting a candidate. In fact, I noticed that last year (maybe due to the economical crisis?) all new hires in my university seem to be in their late 30's or early 40's!

Yes, older faculty means less years of work in the department, but doesn't the additional experience worth it? I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with such "preferences".

M.

Anonymous said...

Dear M,

I agree with you about this preferable "age" limit. Age should not be a limitation.

Thanks

TA

Anonymous said...

If you people disagree with the preference for age limit, then become selection committee members for faculty selection in IITs and change it. Sitting in the USA and commenting on this is easy.

Most of the faculty in my IIT join at the age of 27-28 and become full professors by the age of 36-37. How would a person who is selected at the age of 37 as assistant professor feel if his classmate is a full professor in the same department. Based on all this, only the preference is arrived at. Further, if someone has ten years experience, why should that person apply for assistant professor; he is eligible for associate professor.

However, as Prog. Giridhar said, it is a preference but can be relaxed in cases. It is also important to note that this preference is mentioned by MHRD and not by IIT. Also, all government jobs have age limits. Including IAS etc.

Regarding the commenter who wanted Prof. Giridhar to give us glimpses of how the selection comm. functions. He has mentioned earlier (in comments to a previous blog posts) that he has never been a member of IIT selection committees. He had also mentioned he has never been nominated for a fellowship. See this

http://giridharmadras.blogspot.com/2009/03/new-pay-scales-for-iitiisc.html

Considering his awards and output, I doubt whether the above statements are correct. But I do doubt he can say anything about selection comm.

Rajdeep

Anonymous said...

How would a person who is selected at the age of 37 as assistant professor feel if his classmate is a full professor in the same department.

How one would feel is completely upto the person who is applying for the position. But that should not be the basis for discrimination based on age. Perhaps "discrimination" is a strong word here but I fail to see how having a preference for candidates below a certain age is not discriminating (for folks who are past that age). This would be a serious no-no in US.

With regards to how I would feel, I would be just fine if my classmate is a full professor. He must be truly deserving of that position is what it tells me.

If you people disagree with the preference for age limit, then become selection committee members for faculty selection in IITs and change it.
How do I do that? I am 35 right now and am still pursuing my PhD. No, seriously...

Anonymous said...

Yes, US is a country that never discriminates based on age or gender. But pedigree matters a lot there. Venki could not even get a tenure track position in US for several years.

Consider this, a person finished B.Tech at 22 and take five years for doctorate. Thus, he/she has at least eight years experience (either pre- or post- ph.d). Yet, should he be equated to a person with zero postdoc experience?
In the same token, many government jobs have upper age limits; so does writing JEE or UPSC etc.

I am sorry that you guys have misinterpreted what he said. He did not say that people above 35 are barred from applying. However, in IITs, we do not look at age to eliminate candidates. We only look at age to see what a person with 8 years experience has done but does not qualify to become an associate professor.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for putting this together. Great insight into what to expect. I had a question about Childcare services within the IISc campus. Could you please cover that (both for infants and toddlers).

Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Dear Prof.Giri,
Do I have to have 6years industry/research experience after doing my PhD, to join as Associate Professor? My 4years experience is before doing my PhD & 3years POST-DOC. kindly clarify whether I am eligible to apply for Associate professor directly in IIT.

Anonymous said...

Eligibility does not mean selection. You can apply for the associate professor and also be asked to be considered for assistant professor.

Anonymous said...

It seems from the immensely helpful website created by Prof. Giridhar that you get earned leave of 1 day for every 3 days that you work during the summer months.

How does IIX keep track of how many days the professor worked during summer and other months? Is it necessary for someone to sign an attendance register everyday or is working from home also acceptable and trusted? If someone is in town but is not coming to campus during summer (for whatever reasons) will (s)he still qualify for earned leave?

Anonymous said...

Whenever a faculty is absent, he is required to fill a leave application. He is not required to sign attendance. Earned leave is claimed by claiming that one worked for X days during the vacation

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the reply Anon. It seems from your reply that the earned leave system is based on trust and there is no 'policing' going on.

In my IIT days profs used to sign attendance registers. Has that gone out of fashion for good? :)

Anonymous said...

Dear Prof. Giridhar,
I am one of the applicants of faculty position in IIT, IISc and IISER. Unfortunately, I belong to CASTE category and have not used any facilities in my education. Sorry, I am not disclosing my name.
I have first div./class throughout my education. I qualified GATE with all India rank within 10. I qualified NET-CSIR twice. I did my PhD from one of the top 50 institutes in the world. Although, my basic background is in Mathematics and Computer Science (from IIT), I did my PhD in wireless communications. I find that I am more interested in this field. I have one year postdoc experience in USA (one of the top 10 University in USA) and one year postdoc in France (one of the top 10 University in France) , all in Electronics Departments. I have 5 international journal and 9 IEEE conference papers. Still when I apply in Mathematics or in Electronics and Communication Engineering Departments, almost I do not get any response from them. One of the Head of department of Electronics and Communication Engineering replied me that I am not eligible in Electronics and Communication Department since my basic background is not same. However, I got an interview letter for the faculty position from one of the department of Electrical and Engineering, IIT. They did not allow me for the interview in absentia. Most of the institutes (IIT, IISc and IISER) don’t provide any acknowledgement of my electronics application. I also don’t get any final decision after the interview, which I feel very disheartening.

My questions are: Am I not qualified for the faculty position in IIT, IISc or IISER? Or they are discriminating me as I belong to CASTE category. I know several assistant professors (some of them are my class mates) in IIT who do not have good academic record and number of publication as I have. From my experience, I should say that most of the selection committees discriminate CASTE applicants. Otherwise, why am I not getting any position in IIT, IISc and IISER?

I know the pain of getting discrimination. Still I don’t speak out because I know no one will listen to me. If so highly qualified and highly posted people (?) believe in CASTE systems, then there is no question to remove the quota system from such high professional institutes (?). I know most of the people will go against me but please respond only those who don’t believe in CASTE system by heart.

Anonymous said...

Commendable initiative. Thank you and every other contributor for the new website.
Magesh N