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3,339 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 1801 – 2000 of 3339 Newer› Newest»@Ankur what do you think about this?
http://www.iitbhu.ac.in/RoI_23jun2014.pdf
Can anyone tell me what amount to expect for Post doctoral fellowship in Engineering department in IISc?
Thanks
We have had some interesting discussions on what administrators could do to improve research conditions. Could we also have some insights on what faculty could do as individuals to improve research and quality of students?
Thanks,
HS
@Anon June 27, 2014 at 1:40 PM
That investment exercise is so low-tech that it is tragically funny. The world of finance works at the rate of picoseconds (look up high-frequency trading) and the reply in your link is expected in 7 days. Besides, why only banks? Why not AMCs? Why not hedge funds? #facepalm #maygodsaveyoufromyourself
@ankur, most (well, it would be almost all) of the funds available with IIXs are taxpayer / government funds; what you are suggesting actually is that government should play the market (or government funds should be used to play the market); in general, governments do not and thus IIX do not. Where you do have a point is that endowment funds available with these institutions too are considered government funds - why not allow at least these to be invested freely a la Harvard or Yale. Perhaps, now is the right time to go in that direction as the endowments are relatively small. But as a previous post from me suggests, IIX have found some ways to deal with this.
@Ankur
Firstly, as far as I know (from interacting with people who actually work in the area) high-frequency "algorithmic" trading is not allowed on Indian markets under Indian financial regulations. These regulations might not even allow government entities such as IT BHU to invest in such high risk instruments, but I am less sure about that.
Secondly, it is not correct that finance is all about "picosecond" (I hope you didn't really mean that: even the best available processors on the market don't have that kind of clock rate, and a stock signal can barely travel 0.3mm in that kind of time. Microseconds, which is a million times slower, would be more like it) level high-frequency trading: high frequency trading is a highly niche sector even in less regulated markets such as the US. Further, even in the US, after the recent banking reforms, large financial institutions such as banks have had to separate their high-frequency trading operations from their other operations die to their higher risks.
@PS, By referring to high-frequency trading, I was only making an anecdotal remark. My point was that the document seemed atavistic and half-hearted.
@Ankur Kulkarni: Actually I don't see why it is atavistic in any sense. (In fact, I also don't see where it asks for a reply "in seven days", as you claim). All it is asking for is different rates of returns that can be guaranteed for different quanta of time, the shortest of which is seven days. It even asks for "special rates" that may be available. Not going for higher risk and higher volatility "hedge funds" may simply be a strategy for risk minimization, or even enforced by rules on how risky an investment of public funds is allowed to be.
@Ankur Kulkarni: Sorry, I now see where it says that replies are needed in seven days. But as it is, this seems like an exercise in getting a brochure of the available range of investment products, so not allowing even that much time would not make any sense.
The issue is that the rates of return one could get are volatile. That they are asking for a reply in 7 days shows that they either don't appreciate this phenomenon or that their interest is in bare minimum rates. If my grandmother, who has no interest in growth or returns but only wants a secure pension, was made in charge of these funds, that's how she would invest.
any comments on this news article?
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-07-17/news/51656737_1_assistant-professors-iit-jodhpur-acute-faculty-crunch
"... nearly two dozen faculty members have quit the institution in the past two years..."
I would much like to hear someone's inside opinion on the reason for this phenomenon. IITJ is in my home state of Rajasthan and I was looking forward to apply there in near future.
-PS
"IIT-Jodhpur offers starting salary of Rs 25 lakh to attract faculties"
I pray the reporters understand the difference between a "salary" and "startup grant", it is not something that can be pocketed :-) I do not know if building permanent campuses and facilities of the existing IITs (particularly new ones) have been a focus of any government. No doubt faculties will mushroom at few IITs that has those facilities. One should understand that professors are also human beings. They need a place to comfortably live, work, and earn some basic needs of life.
I do understand misreporting of the starting grant as starting salary. But my question was on a different story highlighted there.
Around 24 faculty members have left IITJ in the last two years. I suspect something isn't right there. Since this is an IIT close to my home, I had plans of applying there. I just wish to know if anyone here is aware of the reasons behind this high attrition rate?
-PS
Can anybody comment on whether the relocation allowance paid by old IITs for new faculty members joining from abroad is valid for airlines other than Air India ? Thanks in advance.
RS
@ RS (July 20, 2014 at 8:26 PM)
Yes old IITs do reimburse your for travel in any airline. You just have to make a case that Air India does not operate flight from origin. Writing a looooong letter explaining the same was sufficient in my case!
New faculty at old IIT
I got my reimbursement for a flight by Turkish airlines when I relocated to IITB. There was no problem.
I have been selected for Assistant professor position in both IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras. Selecting one between these two great institutes is an extremely tough choice. Hence, I would like to have the suggestions/views of the fellow readers about the two institutes on these parameters:
1. Research independence, i.e. the freedom to pursue one's own research ideas.
2. Overall research atmosphere and focus on research
3. Academic bureaucracy and smoothness of official procedures
4. Housing..especially the conditions, size, and allotment time of the new quarters. Also related, are there water availability problems in Chennai ?
5. Does city matter for an academic, i.e. Kanpur vs Chennai especially inside the gated campus ? Note there is no two-body problem and spouse employment is not an issue.
The intention here is not to offend or patronize any of these institutes or their faculty, but to get a fair/balanced idea from the experienced commenters on this brilliant blog. Thanks in advance and apologies for any inconvenience caused.
CG
Life outside the campus in Kanpur is horribly negligible. It is generally advised to not venture around late in the night. Women still can't drive safely. Airport is in Lucknow and it takes really long time to get there - crossing entire Kanpur through traffic-clogged streets.
Inside the campus, however, is very nice, clean and safe.
Oh, also, you have bits of extremes when it comes to the weather here.
@CG (wait a minute, those initials don't match any of the offer letters; incognito, eh). I think previous response has captured essentials. Academic freedom, administration, research atmosphere are comparable. Kanpur has better quarters, IITM is going vertical and iff you are Mumbai flat types, then you will find IITM OK. Chennai has a water crisis once in ten years (historically), next one is due anytime now, but city is much better geared up (desalination plants etc), so hopefully it may not happen. IITM campus does better than the city wrt power and water. But the big difference I see is city facilities at Chennai - dining out, entertainment / culture, medical facilities, connectivity. Strength of the department and Institute in your research area should be an important factor, you will have to weigh that. Hey, I heard about the dean (admin) at IITM, should swing the vote in that direction ;-)
CG, are you a south indian? 80% of IITM students and faculty must be south indian. Choose IIT-M.
North indian, hindi speaking? IIT-K
From east? choose iit kgp, there even faculty meetings are held in bengali.
I have been recently awarded the INSPIRE faculty award and had the following queries with INSPIRE awardees (or anyone who can help with this).
1. Do I have to strictly follow the 7L/yr rule or can I use say 15L in year 1, but still use 35 L for 5 years?
2. Can software/computer accessories be counted as a consumable or contingency for the purposes of this grant?
3. Do I have to stick to the breakup of usage I propose while accepting the grant, or is it possible to change it in following years?
I appreciate your help!
to new faculty above
1)7lakh/year rule is very strict. Nothing can be done with that.
2)Softwares, Computer, Laptop can be bought with contingency part only.
3)Breakup is also pretty strict. But they do allow little bit of changes with prior permission of DST.
All the best.
Dear giri,
how does this health insurance in IISc work. I have additional health coverage of 3.5 lacs from IISc. Does this health coverage applies outside karnataka like any other health insurance?
@Anon (CG): between Kanpur and Madras, if you have no two body problem, choose Kanpur, no doubts about it.
Housing in IITM will take indefinite time, more than a year in many cases, You will be living in a single room guest house till then.
It's more formal, strict in obeying protocols, and rigid. Things are slow and you can't do anything about it. IITK is more forward looking, more informal and relaxed, more dynamic.
These words were told to me (and I felt the same too) by someone from IITM.
This excludes 'research' perspective. The exact quality of research carried out will depend on what area you work in, and so either IITK or IITM may work equally well, or one better than the other. From social life point of view, IITM wins over IITK.
Weatherwise, Kanpur has severe summer and bad winter. Madras has ONLY summer. Even in November, you will burn with heat and swear you never want to live there - it's that bad !
If you are from south, go to IIT Madras. If you are from north, go to IIT Kanpur.
There are nearly 100 faculty who have moved from IIT Kanpur to IISc or IIT Madras over the last 15 years. It is obvious why, all are south indians specifically tamil or telugu speaking.
Will Asst Prof with Rs Basic-30,000 and Rs Gp-8000 automatically eligible for PB-4 37400 with Gp 8900
after working for three years ? or there will be an Interview process?
BR
@new faculty: softwares, computers can also be bought from equipment.
can any new faculty from IIT KGP comment on campus accommodation - how long it takes, general condition of the housing etc.
@ankur : thanks! thats a relief! are their any special procedure to be followed to be able to do this?
@Accommodation at IIT KGP:
The situation was very good two years ago, when I joined. Within a few months, many of us got 2BHK flats, 2BHK bungalows, 2BHK duplex bungalows etc. Until then we were either in the guest house or transit apartments (1BHK type). But in 2013-14, IIT KGP hired nearly 70-80 faculties at entry level and this created a tight situation.
The situation will again turn brighter in next 6 months, when the new 3/4-BHK flats (about 60-70 in number) will be ready to occupy. Of course, Asst Profs will not get them directly! Many seniors will move to the new buildings (the allotment is done on seniority basis) and the vacancy created by them will be filled up.
In summary, if you are joining KGP in next 2 months, you may have to wait for 3-6 months before you can move out from either guest house or transit apartments.
I recently approached an old IIT to be my host for Ramanujan Fellowship (RF). To my surprise,
I was told that the institute support only those candidates who have passed the selection interviews for assistant professor (AP).
Isn't it is weird that I have to get an AP position to apply for RF. On the contrary, the SERB website clearly says that RF is for those candidates who doesn't have a permanent position.
I would appreciate any suggestion about taking a career decision. I am finishing my Ph D from a reputed US university in operations research area this December. It is not worth trying academic job here, since all faculty appointments are from Fall. Not for this, but I am willing to join Indian academia mainly for family reason. Now, at this point, I have one recently submitted, and two in-process papers, that will be submitted by next month. So, realistically, I won't have any accepted paper if I apply right after my defense. I have an option of joining industry and continue working till these papers get accepted. I don't really want to do postdoc. Will it hurt my chance of getting into IIT if I join industry at this point and apply later, or would I have a better chance then?
No publications..no chance in hell in getting into IITs.
People finishing with Ph.D in IITs in OR have 5 publications..
@newfaculty, no special procedure. In your utilisation plan clearly indicate whatever you plan to purchase under various heads. DST will send you money after approval of this plan. If your institute objects, show them this plan.
I was reading about out of term promotions on this blog and surprised to see everyone talking about the quantity but not about the quality. In my view one Nature/Science paper in 3 years is more valuable than 30 papers in journals with impact factor 1 or 2. Dose it count where you are publishing or you have to just publish 30 paper irrespective of impact factor of journal
To the anon above:
Do not be an idiot. Please read the comments by PRof. Giri
I do not think IISc shortlists based on numbers alone - they would look at the quantity as well as quality. Other than Cell, nature/science, if you have several JACS/Angew etc., it will be looked favorably.
June 13, 2014 at 10:41 AM
Out of turn promotions are not based on number of publications - it is based on impact. The papers are sent for review to top scientists in the world and asked whether the people really deserve out of turn or whether normal is sufficient.
Numbers are often provided as a guideline not for counting.
Giridhar
June 19, 2014 at 10:42 PM
Of course, you have to first read properly to understand. And idiots are unlikely to realize that nature and science is not really meant for publishing from scientists in mechanical or electrical engineering.
To Mr Anonymous above ………… don’t be over smart……….
Mind your language……… your comments were uncalled for... It’s a public forum and the kind of foul language you are using shows your class……
Please read my comment carefully….. My first sentence itself clarifies that I am talking about the discussion on “OUT OF TERM PROMOSIONS” dated from 15th April 2014 to 18th April 2014. Please read all those discussions. In that discussion no one talking about the quality……..
Even prof Giri said
April 15, 2014 at 11:17 AM
“Let me recap. In IISc, you normally get promoted every six years. The usual requirement for this is ten papers in standard journals. For early out of turn promotions, you should show significant progress and 30-40 papers are required.”
The comments of prof Giri, which you are quoting they are in repose to query by a IIT faculty position aspirant.
And for you kind information this blog or discussion forum is not just ment for scientists from mechanical/electrical engineering, it’s a generic forum and my statement is also generic. Nature, Science and Cell represent quality and I am talking about quality in generic term and specifically talking about mech or electrical engineering. If you are from that scientific area that doesn’t mean all others who are discussing here are also from same field.
And Prof Giri’s in the comments you quote also talk about nature, science and cell do you mean to say that he is also an IDIOT.
Because of the over smart people like you who are sitting on the top of scientific pyramid and who are under the illusion that they are the only smart people and all others are IDIOTS, Indian science sucks…………………………
Because of people like you, not a single Indian institute is in top 200, not a single institute produce papers in nature/science and not a single scientist from independent India got a Nobel. And like a sour grape you guys say nature science, top 200, Noble are western phenomenon they are biased. Even if we buy this argument can you show any significant achievement by any Indian scientist in recent years……….
And over egoistic scientist like you who take pride in calling others “IDIOT” don’t normally have courage apologise publically for their foul language…………….
To Mr Anonymous above ………… don’t be over smart……….
Mind your language……… your comments were uncalled for...
It’s a public forum and the kind of foul language you are using shows your class……
Please read my comment carefully….. My first sentence itself clarifies that I am talking about the discussion on “OUT OF TERM PROMOSIONS” dated from 15th April 2014 to 18th April 2014. Please read all those discussions. In that discussion no one is talking about the quality……..
Even prof Giri said
April 15, 2014 at 11:17 AM
“Let me recap. In IISc, you normally get promoted every six years. The usual requirement for this is ten papers in standard journals. For early out of turn promotions, you should show significant progress and 30-40 papers are required.”
The comments of prof Giri, which you are quoting they are in repose to query by a IIT faculty position aspirant.
And for your kind information this blog or discussion forum is not just meant for scientists from mechanical/electrical engineering, it’s a generic forum and my statement is also generic. Nature, Science and Cell represent quality and I am talking about quality in generic term and not specifically talking about Mech or electrical engineering. If you are from that scientific area that doesn’t mean all others who are discussing here are also from same field.
Prof Giri’s in his comment, which you quote also talk about nature, science and cell, do you mean to say that he is also an IDIOT?
Because of the over smart people like you who are sitting on the top of scientific pyramid and who are under the illusion that they are the only smart people and all others are IDIOTS, Indian science sucks…………………………
Because of people like you, not a single Indian institute is in top 200, not a single institute produce papers in nature/science and not a single scientist from independent India got a Nobel. And like a sour grape you guys say nature, science, top 200, Noble are western phenomenon and they are biased. Even if we buy this argument, can you show any significant achievement by any Indian scientist in recent years……….
And over egoistic scientist like you who take pride in calling others “IDIOT” don’t normally have courage apologise publically for their foul language…………….
Hope moderator will not delete this comment again....... if so he should delete previous comment as well..........
To Mr Anonymous above ………… don’t be over smart……….
Mind your language……… your comments were uncalled for...
It’s a public forum and the kind of foul language you are using shows your class……
Please read my comment carefully….. My first sentence itself clarifies that I am talking about the discussion on “OUT OF TERM PROMOSIONS” dated from 15th April 2014 to 18th April 2014. Please read all those discussions. In that discussion no one is talking about the quality……..
Even prof Giri said
April 15, 2014 at 11:17 AM
“Let me recap. In IISc, you normally get promoted every six years. The usual requirement for this is ten papers in standard journals. For early out of turn promotions, you should show significant progress and 30-40 papers are required.”
The comments of prof Giri, which you are quoting they are in repose to query by a IIT faculty position aspirant.
For your kind information this blog or discussion forum is not just meant for scientists from mechanical/electrical engineering, it’s a generic forum and my statement is also generic. Nature, Science and Cell represent quality and I am talking about quality in generic term and not specifically talking about Mech or electrical engineering. If you are from that scientific area that doesn’t mean all others who are discussing here are also from same field.
Prof Giri in his comment, which you quote, also talk about nature, science and cell, do you mean to say that he is also an IDIOT?
Because of the over smart people like you who are sitting on the top of scientific pyramid and who are under the illusion that they are the only smart people and all others are IDIOTS, Indian science sucks…………………………
Because of people like you, not a single Indian institute is in top 200, not a single institute produce papers in nature/science and not a single scientist from independent India got a Nobel. And like a sour grape you guys say nature, science, top 200, Noble are western phenomenon and they are biased. Even if we buy this argument, can you show any significant achievement by any Indian scientist in recent years……….
And over egoistic scientist like you who take pride in calling others “IDIOT” don’t normally have courage apologise publically for their foul language…………….
Hope moderator has a courage to listen to other side of view as well and will not delete this comment again………………………………….
To Mr Anonymous above ………… don’t be over smart……….
Mind your language……… your comments were uncalled for... It’s a public forum and the kind of foul language you are using shows your class……
Please read my comment carefully….. My first sentence itself clarifies that I am talking about the discussion on “OUT OF TERM PROMOSIONS” dated from 15th April 2014 to 18th April 2014. Please read all those discussions. In that discussion no one is talking about the quality……..
Even prof Giri said
April 15, 2014 at 11:17 AM
“Let me recap. In IISc, you normally get promoted every six years. The usual requirement for this is ten papers in standard journals. For early out of turn promotions, you should show significant progress and 30-40 papers are required.”
The comments of prof Giri, which you are quoting they are in repose to query by a IIT faculty position aspirant.
For your kind information, this blog or discussion forum is not just meant for scientists from mechanical/electrical engineering, it’s a generic forum and my statement is also generic. Nature, Science and Cell represent quality and I am talking about quality in generic term and not specifically talking about Mech or electrical engineering. If you are from that scientific area that doesn’t mean all others who are discussing here are also from same field.
Prof Giri, in his comment, which you quote also talk about nature, science and cell, do you mean to say that he is also an IDIOT?
Because of the over smart people like you who are sitting on the top of scientific pyramid and who are under the illusion that they are the only smart people and all others are IDIOTS, Indian science sucks…………………………
Because of people like you, not a single Indian institute is in top 200, not a single institute produce papers in nature/science and not a single scientist from independent India got a Nobel. And like a sour grape you guys say nature, science, top 200, Noble are western phenomenon and they are biased. Even if we buy this argument, can you show any significant achievement by any Indian scientist in recent years……….
And over egoistic scientist like
you who take pride in calling others “IDIOT” don’t normally have courage apologise publically for their foul language…………….
Hello all, Is there any update about UGC-FRP, Is there any one got appointed? How smooth was the procedure? Looks like this program is so slow that they did not select another batch for interview for quite some time. If there is any UGC-FRP selected faculties, please share your experinece.
hy should I apologize? Because you can not read or post? and post the same comment six times?
you say"The comments of prof Giri, which you are quoting they are in repose to query by a IIT faculty position aspirant."
Do you know difference between repose and response?
Read my post before commenting
"Out of turn promotions are not based on number of publications - it is based on impact. The papers are sent for review to top scientists in the world and asked whether the people really deserve out of turn or whether normal is sufficient.
Numbers are often provided as a guideline not for counting.
Giridhar
June 19, 2014 at 10:42 PM "
Clearly, he is talking about out of promotions. If you do not understand, read the first sentence "Out of turn promotions are not based on number of publications - it is based on impact"
Because of me, there is no institute in top 200?? How many have you published in nature or science?
People who do not know the difference between blog and forum (blogs do not have moderators) or repose and response or people who post the same thing six times should not post. They should keep quiet and not complain about people publishing in low impact journals. At least, some of us publish something rather than people like you who say the same thing six times.
Thanks for letting me know difference between blog and forum. Typical Indian mentality, pick up small, irrelevant things and fight over it rather than looking at bigger picture.
BTW, I do have publications in Cell and Nature along with quite a few in journals with impact factor higher than 10.
Great you have publications in Cell, Nature and many with impact factor higher than 10. Your research advisor must have written the papers for you because you still can not comment why you did not read the following
""Out of turn promotions are not based on number of publications - it is based on impact"
And why you posted the same comment six times.
Why the Indian Prof. Sitting in Top indian institutes/ Univ. are so visionary that everyone appreciate the students from these institutes rather than the achievements of these Prof (whether in research/ technical discoveries)????? Except few brilliant scientists, most of these have some older excuses. They even do not want young faculty to progress and achieve what they could not. Always keep leg pulling.Another thing is they always shows their greatness over small indian univ/ inst. and never try to compete outside India. They always misuse the TAG of these older premier institutes. Even in recruitments, they always do discrimination. You see any institutes, you will always find some undeserving faculty because of their dirty politics and area politics. Learn a lesson from our PM and let us work hard to make India great rather than living EGOISTIC life.......
The brilliant Scientists from India who deserves to be in Top ranked institutes are serving in local state universities and those who deserves nowhere are serving in premier institutes. Can anyone tell me that any Prof. working in the field of Polymers in IITs or other top ranked indian univ/ inst. has CV somewhere near to the Prof. Sabu Thomas...
http://macromol.in/macromol/
Unfortunately he has so far not received any recognition for his contribution instead of working from a small Univ. However some Prof. (Many of them from one research group ) have received so many prestigious awards..Can some one tell us why???????????????
Again same reason cheap politics and false pride that only Prof. fro Elite Institutes deserve this..???This time my student turn next time urs..bla bla.............
This is an important concern in India and a belief that Professors working in premier institutes are doing good job over others is not true. many exceptions are there in both ways
People should be recognized by their work rather than the tag of the institutes. Unfortunately it is not happening in India.
Great accomplishments by Professor Sabu and really inspiring
I cannot understand the salary structure difference between IIX and university professors.
I know many assistant professors who have more h index and publication citations and finally got into the university jobs
India should follow performance oriented ....
Has anyone heard from IIT Roorkee about the interview for assistant professor?
PKR
Hi! I did my PhD from abroad in Engineering and now thinking about Post doctorate in IISc. Any suggestions on pros and cons?
Thanks
why why????? !!!!!
Re. post-doc at IISC
Assuming you have strong reasons for pursuing your postdoctoral research in India, your pros are those 'reasons', and may be some contacts that may be helpful in your future job search in Indian academia (too many 'may be's).
cons will be lower salary, less opportunity to make international network, and surprise/disbelief from peers.
Hello all, Is there any update about UGC-FRP, Is there any one got appointed? How smooth was the procedure? Looks like this program is so slow that they did not select another batch for interview for quite some time. If there is any UGC-FRP selected faculties, please share your experinece.
Hello all, Is there any update about UGC-FRP, Is there any one got appointed? How smooth was the procedure? Looks like this program is so slow that they did not select another batch for interview for quite some time. If there is any UGC-FRP selected faculties, please share your experinece.
To the Anonymous @ August 20, 2014 at 1:08 PM asking about Post-doc at IISc. I think it depends on the place from where you have done your PhD. There are not more than a few dozen universities outside India that can match IISc. I have an M.E. from IISc and a PhD from a top 5 US university (US news rankings). So, I can say this based on my experience/exposure. For example if you have a PhD from Ireland/UK (leave oxford cambridge and some few aside)/Europe (leave out top few in Germany/France etc), then I do not see a reason why people should question your move.
If you can be a post-doc at IISc and do good work (which you have to do anywhere you go), then only an irrational bias can affect your chances anywhere you apply.
IISc I believe has enough funds (not a lot, but enough I think) to give you good exposure.
It also depends on whom you want to work with I think. Finally, I think the major issue is lack of precedent. All people need is the first achiever, and the rest will follow.
PS: I am not trying to berate the PhD programs of any other country. I am just saying why not post-doc from IISc. May be IISc should sell it as if it is their best program.
Does anyone have any idea about the faculty recruitment dates at IIT(BHU)? Has anyone received a call letter?
SK
anon@August 26, 2014 at 5:24 PM
Which department you applied?.
I applied IIT-BHU by end of june and yet to receive any response.
My h-index is 6. Is that good enough to get a job in IISc, IITs or IISERs?
When is the next council meeting at IISc?
A copy of the e-mail to the Director IITGn , by "Aspiring Candidates" has been marked to several professors in IIx, accross
India, about a recent faculty recruitment in IITGn.
The e-mail deals with two aspects of the appointment.
1. The qualifications of the candidate appointed
2. Nepotism in the appointment.
The letter requests reassessment credentials of the candidate by a neutral and subject experts.
The letter is marked to some adminstrators as well.
In cases like this , the candidate alone cannot be completely blamed. If the candidate submits his/her CV and he/she gets a job why will he not take it ?.
The appointment would have been ratified by selection committee with experts in the field . There would be referees who would give letters of recommendations.
Questions should be asked to them whether they are satisfied with candidates credentials for a post in IIT.
There must be transparency in appointments , so that deserving and merited candidates are not ignored.
One thing that baffles many of us are , often we read that there are thousanda of vacancies in IIX.
At the same time we also read that (including in this blog) , many well qualified candidates are looking for placement.
Can something be done about this ?
@Anonymous said...
Yes, you are right. This nepotism is nearly in every IIT with worse in few's including IIT Kharagpur where faculty belong to one particular state. Some times this happens on the behest of Director/ HOD/ Interview committed member.Most of the time in selection committee members select the candidate belonging to their state or student of their known Prof.This practice is going in all IITs but no one dares to oppose as he/she has to face these people in one or another place.
See the faculty in Institute of Nano-science and Technology, Chandigarh. They belong to a particular state and also some particular Professors. I am not saying the candidates are not so good, but who knows far better candidates might have applied and are rejected.
@anonymous September 13, 2014 at 6:13 PM:
Please refrain from making general statements at the cost of maligning institutions reputation.
I am a non-bengali faculty in IIT Kharagpur. While it is true, that there are many bengali faculty members here, but we do have a substantial number of people from other parts of India (Orissa, AP, TN, North-India etc).
Although, I can not say, whether state-bias plays a role in the final offer or not (since I have no access to HoD-Dean-Director meetings), at least as someone who participates in screening and shortlisting applicants, I can say that more than 90% of the application from my department are from bengalis. I do not expect the IIT to decline application just because it is someone from the home state. It is natural for an applicant to apply to a place near his/her home town.
In any case, when I look around, I see substantial bengali presence in IISc, IIT Kanpur, Univ Hyd, and even in IIT Madras. This reflects the point that bengalis tend to prefer teaching positions to any other jobs!
A small correction first. When one prefers a candidate from the same region, it is called 'parochialism' and not 'nepotism,' which means favoring own relatives.
I believe that one of the biggest ills that is undermining the Indian academia and science establishments is parochialism. It is the big white elephant in the room, but no one talks about it.
With respect to IIT-KGP, I could not stop when someone tried to defend it. We all can look at faculty rosters available on the web and make our own judgements.
In fact, it is a disgrace to call it an Indian Institution, a more appropriate term would be a "Regional Institute of.." Same applies to ISI, whose faculty came from pan-India once upon time and not any more, and all such national institutions in WB.
W.r.t. the comment that Bengalis constitute major chunks faculties in other institutions, the same parochialistic tendencies by Bengali administrators cause this.
@ September 14, 2014 at 9:31 AM
Dude: You are ignorant, racist and a disgrace to the academia to make such unsubstantiated remarks against a particular region which has been producing the finest scientific minds since the last 100 years. Shut up and leave.
It will help if someone posts the email @September 13, 2014 at 11:55 AM is talking about.
Anonimus at 12:22 pm
The e-mail is long (about 90 lines).
It has been marked to more than 130 professors of the chemistry departments of IITB,IITKGP,IITK,IITM and IISc.If you know any professors in these departments you can ask them to forward it. It would be good if the discussions are carried out in the larger interest of several deserving and talented candidates who are waiting for a suitable placement in academia.
@September 14, 2014 at 6:42 PM, Please break the email into four parts and share.
@ September 14, 2014 at 9:31 AM
You are right that the Scientists from particular state as produced so many eminent scientist..However Unfortunately during the last few years other fraternity from the same state has balanced it my their negative acts by selecting the faculty from their own state wherever they get the chances...
E.g. Last year in engineering recruitment at IIT Roorkee a candidate native of roorkee only with B.Tech from IIT roorkee and PhD from NUS (Top 30 in the world) with postdoc experience was not selected because of the favoritism for area candidate that too with Phd from India only...
I do not agree that candidates from one particular state are interested in teaching while other not...Problem is that everyone wants to do teaching but they are not able to get chance BECAUSE of love for teaching by one STATE candidates and strong support to them by their beloved ones.....................
SORRY, if India has to develop this discrimination must be stopped and opportunity should be given to BEST one rather than the other factors..............
I have organised more than 70 faculty selection committees for two directors, so I think I can comment with some authority. Claims of nepotism and parochialism are far fetched, at best, and dreamt of by unsuccessful candidates. First off, selection committee expert members are drawn from other Institutions and the "home" institution has only HoD, Director etc. It is not feasible for HoD or Director to bulldoze over the experts. If experts feel that their voice is not heard and they are railroaded into rubber stamping, word will get around and other experts will decline invitations, the pool will dry up in no time. This is not happening.
I have the "complaint" email with me; as it makes very specific allegations and identifies an individual, it would not be appropriate to post it in a public forum like this, it may amount to libel.
I note that the same posting calls for "deserving and merited" candidates not to be ignored, while stating "One thing that baffles many of us are , often we read that there are thousanda of vacancies in IIX. At the same time we also read that (including in this blog) , many well qualified candidates are looking for placement."
Well qualified, by whose evaluation? If candidates feel that they are in a better position to evaluate than the selection committee, I think I know what to do with such applications. In almost all such claims, the point made is that "I have x publications in blah blah blah journal whereas the selected candidate has only x-n". If selections were to be solely based on such criteria, we would not need selection committees, a clerk and a spreadsheet is all that would be needed.
About IIXs and others attracting regional candidates, in view of my observation about selection committee composition as above, I can't see how the selection committee can do this (the expert members are most likely to be from other regions). As someone has already observed, it might be "natural" for candidates to select the Institution nearer "home" - I am from Chennai, why would I look at anything other that IITM? In the last few years, we are seeing a departure from this as candidates seem to be indifferent to this and prefer institutions based on other (work related) criteria. The apparent regional preference will disappear, if this trend continues.
Prof. Sriram (IITSriram)has a point; when there is an independent selection committee, how can one 'rig' the outcome? I think one can respond to this through an analogy with IPL and match fixing. There are umpires, match referees, and so on. Yet, everyone knows that some--if not all--matches are fixed and the modus operandi varies. In the academic and award selection context, interventions at key junctures will tilt the selection in favor of predetermined candidates. At IISc, for example, the divisional chairman has a lot of say in who is invited as selection committee members. Invariably, people who are easily pliable and/or from the same region are selected. Then, they are 'briefed' before the meeting. I have heard a number of horror stories--far too many to narrate here--to become completely cynical of academic system in India. In award and fellowship selection too, such manipulations are all too common.
In summary, everything is honest and straightforward, but only on paper, I am afraid.
Prof. iitmsriram
Would you have appointed the candidate discussed, in IITM ?
Ofcourse your field is different ,but you can talk to your colleagues
working in the field at IITM or
any IIx and assess the credentials
yourself.
@September 15, 2014 at 12:49 PM
Complete agree with you and also with Prof. Sriram.
However problem is that there are not always people like Prof.Sriram.
One recent story how recruitment is influenced..
One Prof. in Science discipline from a prestigious institute who was in interview committee asked only +2 level questions and not a single question related to research as he emphasized that since you have also to teach engineering students you must know these questions. In interview committee he only asked lots of questions while other experts asked just 1-2 genuine questions (Perhaps he was senior among all).Latter he recommended a particular candidate and rejected all others on the basis (as came to know latter) that they were PhD from Universities..
Unfortunately the same Prof.(In his capacity as Head of an institute), has also recruited several candidates from universities (mainly from one state)..The there was no argument that only IIX candidate are better..So one can understand how VALUES and selection rule varies from person to person and for person to person...
Oh, come on now; how much control do umpires and referees have over a match, compared to the players? I think this is a very poor analogy. If the starting hypothesis is that everything is fixed, it would be very hard to prove conclusively otherwise.
I can't say much about awards and fellowship selections, but it is too much of a stretch to say that faculty selection committee composition is manipulated in order to influence the outcome. The list of experts starts from departmental suggestions, ok, the conspiracy has to start there. The selection committees have to be approved by the Board of Governors, so, the conspiracy has to include them too. But then, yes, the Board membership itself can be manipulated by ... there is no end to this track.
As the email made specific allegation on an individual, did a quick check on google scholar - the candidate is in bio-sciences / crystallography and has about 20 journal publications with about 150 citations, most of the papers are in Acta Crystallographica (C and E) which appear to be journals of reasonable repute (section D seems to be better). Perhaps, someone familiar with the field can comment on this, whether this is dismal or par. The email also asks if the candidate's prior work experience was verified - a quick google check showed me at least one entry where a senior scientist had listed the candidate as a Post Doctoral associate, so there is little reason to doubt the claimed experience; I am sure the Institute would have asked for experience certificates which clarify this aspect. Finally, I suspect this will boil down to an aggrieved candidate arguing "but I have 30 papers and more than 200 citations" (so, therefore, I am better). Like I said, if faculty recruitment is to based only on numerical data such as above, we don't need selection committees, we can do with clerks. I am sure the selection committee had access to more detailed information in order to make a decision.
The email concludes with a call to probe by RTI and CBI. If someone is aggrieved, they can start with RTI request asking for identity of all the selection committee members (if that is not known already; at IITM, all candidates who appear for interview are informed of committee composition), that can be followed up with polite emails to the expert members as to what, if any, was found deficient in the aggrieved candidate, so the aggrieved candidate can address this perceived weakness.
There are a number of candidates with impressive numbers who get the numbers by being part of an active group and when probed by selection committees as to their individual contribution, things fall flat. IIXs are perhaps not the right places for such candidates; they may be very effective and productive researchers as part of a group at national labs and such but that is often not what it takes to be a faculty member at an IIX. I cannot find fault with a selection committee that comes to such a conclusion, I don't think this has anything to do with nepotism or parochialism.
I will like to highlight a part of Prof Sriram's comment -
"There are a number of candidates with impressive numbers who get the numbers by being part of an active group and when probed by selection committees as to their individual contribution, things fall flat."
Recent IIX selections (In my opinion) has been going by the number of
publications irrespective of the contribution of the applicant.
This in general has caused the applicants to view the selection as an outcome directly related to
"but I have 30 papers and more than 200 citations".
It has to be thought whether the candidate was part of a big and active group with a large clout
or a researcher working alone with minimal supervision!
Dear IIT Sriram,
Selection committee is selecting applicants only based publications. I'm a bit flabbergasted to look at profiles in IISERs or newly formed IIT's where the selection is purely based on the Command form Director. You may see that the students of directors or their friends are selected. Here IIT Sriram may argue that this does not happen as he has seen 70 selection committee. But this is FALSE. I also see selections in IITM based on pure bias. For example there were no selections for Asst Prof in the last few yrs at IITM. This is all the game of big GODS sitting at top positions. Now I do not like a reply from IIT Sriram commenting that we are sour grapes . Please agree that biased selection is being followed and this has to change.
Not-sour-grape anon claims that " I also see selections in IITM based on pure bias. For example there were no selections for Asst Prof in the last few yrs at IITM. This is all the game of big GODS sitting at top positions".
Duh? Typo? I don't know where our friend gets information from. In the last 4 years, 57 + 34 + 29 + 26 = 146 assistant professor offers have been sent out, covering all departments (in 2011, '12, '13 and '14 respectively). IITM has an annual recruitment calendar for the last 4 years, before that it was sporadic; there was a gap before 2011, perhaps explaining the higher number. Faculty recruitment ad comes out every Feb / Mar and offers are sent out in July. There is also a rolling ad that runs throughout the year and visiting appointments are offered to candidates selected against the rolling ad, to be subsequently considered against the annual ad. Some specific departments may not recruit asst profs in specific year due to local reasons. For example, BioTechnology did not recruit asst profs in 2014 as there is a temporary space problem due to delay in construction of 2nd BT building. If our friend would care to share a specific department that is believed to have biased recruitment, I will be happy to share the selection committee membership of that department in the last few years, so we can all gauge the likelihood of bias. Most of the selection committees include visitors nominees as the interviews for professor and asst professor are conducted together. Visitors nominees are nominated by the visitor, i.e., the President of India and it would be really far fetched to accuse these distinguished scientists of bias or being party to biased selections.
Or maybe, I am missing something. The post states "Selection committee is selecting applicants only based publications. I'm a bit flabbergasted to look at profiles in IISERs or newly formed IIT's where the selection is purely based on the Command form Director." So, is the selection based on publication record or the command of the director?
Great Accomplishment by ISRO today..Congrats to everyone. One must note that the scientists in ISRO are not from Elite institutes and are product of local Indian universitie...
No lack of talent in India. Indian youth just need the opportunity and platform..
Has anyone received call letter for faculty interviews at IIT-BHU?
I heard shortlisting has been done on july first week for few departments in IITBHU. But I don't know whether recruitment process started or not.
The following blog may also be of interest to your readers:
http://mediocrityrulz.wordpress.com/
Anon at October 1, 2014 at 3:49 PM:
Interesting blog :)
The only problem with anonymous blogs is that you can never be sure how much of it is true and how much is made up! Many people confuse between anecdotes and generalisations...
I am currently an Assistant Prof. in an established IIX. I am due for promotion to Assoc. Prof. next year and things are on-track.
After my promotion, I would like to move to a different IIX. However,
I have some prior industrial experience that I would like to use and see if I can be recruited as a full professor.
My question: is it possible to bypass the govt. rule that requires 4 years as Assoc. Professor at an IIX before someone can be recruited as a full professor? Are IITs allowed to make exceptions?
Dear Professor,
I am working abroad and planning to come back India. I have applied for Ramalingaswami fellowship of DBT and results are awaited (since last 8 months). DO you have any idea when the results may come? Actually I have to decide now.
Dear All
At present i am an Ass. Prof. at IIX on Contract basis and planning to move to some other Govt. Institute. Do I need an NOC from IIX to apply as I am on contract at the moment?
Like other Govt. organisations, the latter Institute requires application through proper channel, along with an NOC. I am confused if I also require one because of the contractual nature of my job.
Thanks in advance for your reply.
SS
SS,
"At present i am an Ass. Prof. at IIX on Contract basis and planning to move to some other Govt. Institute. "
Yes, you need NOC. Never move from IIT. It is the best government job. Other jobs may require attendance and also listening to others.
In IIX, you do not need to come at all and no one will ask you. If you are asked to teach, you can come to IIX, teach and then go home. Maybe 1 hour per day.
"Yes, you need NOC. Never move from IIT. It is the best government job. Other jobs may require attendance and also listening to others.
In IIX, you do not need to come at all and no one will ask you. If you are asked to teach, you can come to IIX, teach and then go home. Maybe 1 hour per day."
Thanks for you reply and information.
Whats your take on IIX to IISER ?
SS
"Yes, you need NOC. Never move from IIT. It is the best government job. Other jobs may require attendance and also listening to others.
In IIX, you do not need to come at all and no one will ask you. If you are asked to teach, you can come to IIX, teach and then go home. Maybe 1 hour per day."
Thanks for you reply and information.
Whats your take on IIX to IISER ?
SS
SS,
your question is valid. However, IISER is not like IIT. In IISER, you are required to do research. It is a new institute so you may be expected to do administration.
In IIT, you can be promoted from assistant to associate professor with no publications. Difficult to get that in IISER.
Maybe if you are interested in research, IISER will be better. To enjoy life without any work, join IIX.
Sad to see the government job and life without any work attitude!
Hope that it will get better and people would like to deliver 100% to teaching and research!
I second this comment. See how strongly he is stressing no work aspect. Looks like long way to go for India..
Dear All
Did anyone had interview at IIT KGP recently. I had an interview six weeks back but I did not hear any decision yet.
Please share if someone had any info.
-SH
Anon@above
You may receive it anytime as they generally take 45 days to send official letter.
May I know in which department you had an interview?.
It was in Mechanical Engineering...I atleast prefer to know some decision -accept/reject....
They will communicate only if you are selected.
All the best
oh Thanks..Then I will take it my candidature was rejected....
Similar situation happened at another old IITs. I did not hear anything after the interview process (Mech Engg).
Considering I was shortlisted for interview, I believe my profile is decent enough. But it appears I am making some mistakes in the interview process. Both the interviews were in skype.
If someone suggest me on how to tackle the interview process it will be helpful.
Advice from senior professors will be very helpful.
- SH
I just observed that IIT Jodhpur now explicitly mentions a CPI/CGPA cutoff for faculty candidates that stands at 8.0/10.
I graduated from IITK with a 7 point something in BTech and had 9 point something in MTech. I have PhD and postdoc from fairly good universities with a good research output. Should I not bother to apply at all? This seems a bit absurd.
Do other IITs follow similar criteria (even though not stating as explicitly as IITJ has done here)
http://iitj.ac.in:8080/Advertisement/Advertisment%20No.%2010.pdf
-PS
PS above. Leave Jodhpur to camels and horses. Even those animals, have some sense.
Dear All,
I am planning for Associate Professor promotion in IIX next year. It will be third yr of my Assistant Professor (on contract) rank.
I have spoken to our Director and he is positive about it and commented that for exceptional candidates, exceptions can be made with approvals of BOG and MHRD.
I know its not usual and hence I am seeking your opinion on this, even though our Director has positive opinion on this. I know there are cases like this before in IIX. Please comment.
Prof. Sriram,
Based on the comment from Anon October 30, 2014 at 6:16 PM, I also heard something similar from one my colleagues that this is possible (but very rarely).
Please comment.
Hello all
Thanks a lot Prof. Giri and Prof. Sriram for handling the questions patiently.
I share some of my experiences about the faculty applications at IIT. I did my MS, PhD abroad (not US), but among the top 25 institutes in world. Currently I am a post doc with a national fellowship since 2013.
So, here it goes. I applied to two old IITs in april 2013 but mentioned in my application that I will be graduating within 5 months. Only the defense and graduation ceremony is pending.
Surprisingly, I got a e-mail from one of the old IITs in June 2013 asking me to visit the institute for a seminar and asking me the info about graduation date and reprints of the published paper. I promptly replied about my potential arrival in sept/oct and sent the papers. There was no e-mail response after that. When I contacted them again in Oct I was informed that my application was put on hold until you graduate. They replied back that they will reprocess my application and will get in touch with me soon. Meanwhile I joined post doc and and again left India after waiting a month in late 2013.No reply after that from that institute. When I contacted again after 8 months, they replied to apply again due to administrative reasons. I did so. Within six weeks after the application, they suddenly called me for a interview with a prescribed date (10 days notice). After presentation, the questions raised were irrelevant to the topic.Some questions were about, how you present X and Y topics to undergraduates (I admit i did not answer those questions well). The interview was over and no response after that. All these things look too strange.
While on the other IIT, they shortlisted me and called for interview after 8 months. Since I joined postdoc, I told them my situation and asked them to reconsider my application later. Surprisingly, they called me again last month for interview. I participated in skype. The first day was 20 min research seminar which was quite inadequate to squeeze the research work clearly. The subsequent day was interview with director and selection committee. That's highly unclear to me. The interview lasted only 5 min. One of the selection committee member asked questions which is not related to research topic. When I told him my research work was not on that line. He said fine,and that's it. They immediately disconnected the video call and went for the next candidate. The interview lasted only 4-5 min. I really wonder why they handle interviews like this? Can the selection committee members who were not present during the research seminar can decide the candidate's ability in 3-5 minutes. The whole process looks unclear to me.
Can anybody comment on this? Sorry for a long story.
Well, anything is possible. As per the current recruitment rules, " For appointment as Associate Professor, one should have a Ph.D with first class or equivalent in the appropriate branch with a very good academic record throughout and a minimum of six years Teaching / Industry / Research experience, of which at least three years' should be at the level of Assistant Professors, Senior Scientific Officer1Senior Design Engineer."
If someone is appointed as associate professor without fulfilling above conditions, such an appointment can be challenged in court and the court will strike it down. However, as above rule would have been adopted by the respective IIT Board for implementation, the Board can consider making an exception to it. Even if the Board makes an exception (with appropriate reasoning), AG audit can object to the Board making an exception in violation of the directives of the MHRD, in which case approval would have to be sought from MHRD also.
These would have to be truly exceptional cases.
Hello iitmsriram, will they consider post doc research term in this 6 years research experience eligibility? 3 years as post doc and another 3 years as a research scientist in a research University with reasonable number and quality publications will be sufficient to be considered for Associate Professorship? Thanks.
Dear Prof. Sriram,
Based on your comment on October 31, 2014 at 2:35 PM, you mean, the only safe option is to get the approvals from BOG and MHRD for making such an exception case approved.
Am I reading you right ? Thanks.
OK, forgot to incorporate the erratum: "Ph.D with first class" should actually be "Ph.D. with first class at the preceding degree".
Anon1 asks if 3 years post doc plus 3 years as research scientist will be sufficient (to be considered for associate professor). Answer - depends. If your title was not assistant professor (tenure track) it may bot be considered sufficient. At IITM (I suspect most others would do similar), we try to see if your responsibilities were like a regular tenure track faculty (the walk and quack test) - formally guiding grad students, writing independent project proposals and writing your own papers (other authors are all students). If not, you will not be considered for associate prof, but will only be offered higher salary as asst prof.
Anon2 wants to know what is the only "safe option". Yes, what I point out is the only "safe option". However, even without the "safe option", it is most unlikely that anyone will go to court and it is quite likely that AG audit will not bother. Instead of going to court, "aggrieved" individuals are more likely to use it to score points - if xyz was given special treatment, why not me? If BoG has approved, this gives some external view that someone has considered and found the candidate to be exceptional; this is really something for the director to decide. The director should be able to tell the exceptional ones apart from the pretenders; and tell the pretenders on their face "look, you may consider yourself exceptional, but the selection committee and myself do not think so."
Thank you so much Prof.Sriram to clarifying my question about Associate Professorship.
Dear Prof. Sriram,
Thanks a ton for your clarifications.
Does anyone know when will be the next selection committee interviews? I will be grateful if anyone who knows let me know. Thank you very much.
Does anyone know when will be the next selection committee interviews at IISc? I will be grateful if anyone who knows let me know. Thank you very much.
Selection committee meetings are not held on a fixed schedule. The council meeting is at end of Dec and it will be held before that for this cycle.
Thank you Prof. Giri for the reply. I was curious because I saw in one of the comments from 2012, the dates were written for the selection committee interview and also the council meeting for different department, so thought some of you might be knowing the dates earlier. Thank you.
Anonymous @October 31, 2014 at 12:29 PM
Sorry to hear about the process you went through at the old IIT's. I presume the new IIT's are not any better. In my personal experience I feel that either you should be popular among the expert committee or someone should push your case. The quality of recruitment is declining in all IIT's either old or new.
The only answer you may get again like from Deans like Prof Sriram is either Sour grapes or think your exceptional but not the selection experts. This is the standard dialouge, but I can challenge the expert committees. Anyway as you have correctly stated the experts are not real experts in your field.They then ask to prove themselves infront of the committee that they know some great physics. I can't understand this recruitments in INDIA where they call applicants from all backgrounds. I think one should try to improve one particular field in each IIT or IISErs in Physics, chemistry or maths. All candidates from all fields cannot be called . This is the backlog of recruitment system in INDIA and why we compare with US or UK. IF you see their faculy advert particular area is clearly mentioned. they have the vision and they go forward . We want to be jack of all trades but master of none. Unfortunately I'm writing in this blog for longtime for quality research recruitment but I hope this blog although reaches lot of faculty aspirants and Dirs but none really listens to the cry of the faculty aspirants. Unless we change the system of recruitment we still will have problems and will never compete with even standards of western uni.
Just continuation from previous comment, in IITM they fix already candidates before recruitment. For example a Female candidate was recruited in Science and her Husband is already in Engg Dept. So what Prof Sriram will answer for this? again Sour grapes asusual
anonymous at November 11, 2014 at 5:46 PM says "a Female candidate was recruited in Science and her Husband is already in Engg Dept".
You mean to say that both a husband and a wife cannot be smart enough to get faculty positions in the same IIT?
Dear Anon Nov 12 6:29 pm, of course not, such things are not possible. There must be some similar sinister design through which the young lady got her PhD at CalTech. Similar for the MSc gold medal.
Hi, I have recently appeared for the interview of Astt. Prof at an old IIT (science stream). There were a total of 7 candidates called for the interview and few appeared in person and few over skype. How many astt prof. position can I assume?
Another thing I would like to know from Prof. Giri and Prof Sitaram that does the performance at the interview matters more than the number/quality of publications?
Regards
PKR
I meant Prof Sriram..sorry for typo...
I found that the hiring process in IIXs are mostly fair and square. the faculty hiring always has a little of subjectivity attached to it. So there are always people who feel they were unjustly left out. However admins like Prof. Sriram also need to acknowledge that experts in selection comms are not always right. So good candidates do get sidelined since the experts are pure wrong in their judgments. The reverse is also true. So we do get bad hires as well in IIXs. In the absence of any weeding out process (IISc has now a good tenure process)these bad hires remain in the system and pull the standard down apart from creating disruptions.
Funny enough.. IITs boast themselves for world-class teaching and research, even though less than half of their faculty can be considered worth their positions at IITs. Except IISc almost all IIXs have become mere re-habitation centers for those who are highly qualified but not fit for any challenging job.
Anonymous November 14, 2014 at 4:38 PM
I find your comment funny. Most of the faculty have industrial experience from very good companies in abroad or from India. If they wanted they could have continued in their jobs and became managers in those companies. Please check for the profile of faculties in IITs which are doing well.
Anon states "However admins like Prof. Sriram also need to acknowledge that experts in selection comms are not always right". Of course, acknowledged. The selection committee makes a call based on its best effort and sometime (not often, but rarely) this is a misfire. Our host here, who is an outstanding researcher, has been turned down. Also, selection committees sometimes have to take a call based on department looking to hire in certain areas only and this can lead to turning away good candidates in other areas, this cannot be attributed to failure of the selection committee.
"Our host here, who is an outstanding researcher, has been turned down."
While it is a nice thing to say, I am sorry to say that if Prof. Giridhar applies even with his record again to chemical engineering of IISc, he will be turned down now. This is because he does not fit with the culture of the department.
"selection committees sometimes have to take a call based on department looking to hire in certain areas only"
Very correct. I was not selected in IIT-G and IIT-M but was selected in IISc. Actually, a selection committee member from IISc told me that he did not select me for IIT-G because the department did not want to recruit in that area but he pushed for my selection in IISc !
Anon@"November 15, 2014 at 12:07 AM"
Why do you think Prof. Giridhar does not fit the culture of the department? Just curious..it is obvious you are also a faculty in IISc and you may be aware of the culture.
Prof. Sriram says misfires happen rarely. I do believe in this statement. However, certain hires are done on favoritism granted to candidates known to some senior/influenced faculty in the department concerned. They do not come under the category of 'misfires', which Prof. Sriram may not like to acknowledge on a public platform. I raised the recruitment of two duds in IITM in 2012, when Prof. Sriram was the Dean, Admin. In 2014's hiring process I can easily challenge two promotions: one Assit -> Assoc and one Assoc -> Prof in a department that falls under Mechanical Sciences category in IITM.
One correction in my comment- November 14, 2014 at 4:38 PM:
"Except IISC..." was to be written as "Except IISC and to the large extent for IITB & K..."
@Anonymous November 14, 2014 at 4:38 PM:
I think you did not fully understand my comment. I meant that less than half of the faculty are worth their positions in other IIXs.
A-concerned-IITM-alumnus
Dear Anon@November 15, 2014 at 3:37 PM,
Certain departments such as Aero, Civil, Electrical, Chemical, Mech Engg are anti publishing. If a faculty publishes more than 2-3 papers a year, he/she will be constantly made fun of and will be ostracized ! For many faculty in these departments, publishing more than 2-3 papers a year means poor quality. Therefore, you will not see many faculty in these departments publishing more 2 papers a year. That is wnat I meant by culture of the department. Candidates with many publications are not welcome in these departments.
Materials Engg is a department in engineering which encourages publishing.
I am in science department and I do not see this "anti publishing" attitude..but I have heard it is also seen in biology but I do not know..it is far away !!
IIT-M has hired many duds. Many are in mechanical sciences as well.
IITM alum anon claims "However, certain hires are done on favoritism granted to candidates known to some senior/influenced faculty in the department concerned". This is most unlikely. The department has one voice in the selection committee (the HoD) and this too is not there in professor selections. I can't see this lone voice prevailing over the external experts and the Director.
My query seems lost in the prevailing conversation. I would like to know from Prof. Giri and Prof Sriram that does the performance at the interview matter more than the number/quality of publications?
Regards
PKR
@PKR, really, does this need to be answered? Put yourself in the selection committee, what would you do? Ignore the publication record? Ignore the interview performance? As I have stated (the obvious, I think) before, if interview performance does not matter, we would not need selection committees, a clerk or a simple computer program can do the job. From time to time, we get candidates with very strong publication records but who just cannot stand and deliver in a class room. IITs usually give such candidates a miss as teaching is taken nominally around 30 - 40% of load at most IITs. Selection committees take both interview performance and record into account.
And, the number of positions is usually not fixed though areas may be.
I have one QUESTION to the recruitment committee members of all top institutes/ Universities in India:
In their opinion "Do talent lies in the person or in their institute degree"?
What I have felt from this blog that in India, in interviews mostly preference is given to the institute from which ONE has done his degree.
However, here are some questions I would like to be answered. Before this I would like to make clear that
1) Based upon my experience I would like to make clear that IITs and NITs are mostly famous for their B.Tech. only and not for research as claimed by these institutes. Such students deserves faculty position in India in any institute irrespective of their earned degree.
One can easily assess the quality of their research (Please leave aside IISc, TIFR, NCL where researchers are doing excellent work). Most of the Indian Universities some time do better research than most of the IITs faculty irrespective of the limited facilities.
So here are my questions now:
1) One student does his B.Tech from Govt. institutes (IITs/NIT/ Govt. Engineering College)and end up doing Ph.D. degree in India due to non awareness or some other reasons. Then even after doing PDF from abroad that student is not preferred in faculty position in India in spite of their better publication and academic record.
However, in most of the cases there are many students who get their B.Tech. from private colleges and due to their awareness end up doing PhD from overseas and preferred in faculty position in India.
So my question is why this Institute TAG matters in India.
2) Same ISSUE lies with science students in faculty recruitment. Most of the students (Please note that India resides in Villages and most of the students are not familiar with such opportunities and comes to know only during their PhD or after PhD)who even does their M.Sc.from private institutes/ universities (as they could not get admission in universities)ends up doing PhD from overseas and gets faculty position in India due to their so called "ABROAD" degree.
Unfortunately the students who did PhD from India and even have better academic/ Publication record than these are not able to get the position.
In another case, students who do not have PhD from IITs are also not preferred in spite of the fact that even doing PhD from universities they have better publication record and also they end up doing PDF from better universities overseas than those with PhD from IIT.
So why they are not preferred?
When we do not believe in our own "TALENT" how we can progress.
ISRO is progressing because of Local TALENT and not because of IIT/Overseas degree.
Faculty recruitment must be based upon INTELLIGENCE rather than TAG of institutes.
(FYI-I am faculty in one of the top Canadian University and formerly have worked in US university. My PhD is from local Indian University).
"Faculty recruitment must be based upon INTELLIGENCE rather than TAG of institutes."
Of course, it is. There are several IISc Ph.D students who are faculty in IIT/NIT. Go to the web page of Prof. Giri and look at his students and where they are. All of them are B.Tech from non-IIT/NIT.
I agree completely faculty recruitment should not be based on tags .
Also, I feel many of nonperforming faculties enjoy the tags of the premier institute and get over respected than others in universities/institutes.
They appear to be in every panel irrespective of their accomplishments.
It is not nice to say that the blog host is there because of the tag of the premier institute.
Absolutely not. I mentioned non performing faculties,
everyone knows about the performance and accomplishments of blog host from his web.
Whether anybody received interview call from IIT-BHU recently?
Dear Prof. Giri,
Can we apply to two departments at IISc for faculty position at the same time? And If we come and give the presentations at two departments, both the department likes the candidate, then will the candidate be given the chance to choose or the departments themselves choose? Thanks in advance for replying.
Dear all,
Thanks a lot for the information shared on this blog. I am one of the aspiring candidate for faculty position in India. My area of research is wireless communications.
I would like to know your suggestion about faculty positions at IIIT such as Bangalore, Delhi and Hyderadbad when compared to new IITs such as Hyderabad and IIT Gandhinagar. Given a choice, which one you prefer (if research is the only criteria and location is not a constraint). What are the advantages and disadvantages of choosing IIIT over new IITs?
Thanks again. Looking forward to some suggestions/guidance.
Anon@November 22, 2014 at 2:59 AM
Yes and Yes.
IITH Faculty Recruitment
1. Did anybody receive interview calls from IITH recently?
2. If yes, when did you apply?
3. How often they recruit in a year? once or twice?
Dear Prof. Giri,
I applied to few depts at IISc many months back and got an informal update that there was a change of director, which caused recruitment delays. Could you plz tell me when the current round of selections happen?
Many thanks
November 23, 2014 at 6:34 AM
There was no recruitment delay due to new director. The new director was appointed in Mar/Apr itself and all selection comm were held regularly.
anyone received interview calls from IIT Jodhpur & Mandi?
MIT offered help, not IISc, says Murthy
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/MIT-offered-help-not-IISc-says-Murthy/articleshow/45291351.cms
This is an apt comment Mr. Murthy made. I guess.. most of us including Mr. Murthy are aware of the fact that even our premier institutes are littered with the faculty, barring a few exceptions, who can not solve such complex problems.
A-Concerned-IITM-Alumnus
A-Concerned-IITM-Alumnus at November 27, 2014 at 3:03 PM:
I think your concern is only partly correct. Yes, it is true that there isn't much industrial collaboration at IIX. But it is not true that the reason behind this is lack of abilities of faculty. In fact, most faculty work on much more difficult and much more fundamental problems in comparison to Indian industries.
Take Mechanical Engineering for example, there is hardly any good quality research being undertaken by the big companies like Tata, TVS, GE etc. inside India. Collaborations with them wouldn't allow me to work on the interesting and challenging problems that I want to work on. This is, however, different from my postdoc in Germany where I worked on an industrial project sponsored by BMW that allowed me to do good and interesting Science.
P
Dear Prof. Giri,
I noticed that you are associated with two departments at IISc, chemical engineering and SSCU. I would like to ask you if there any advantages of being associated to two departments w.r.t. facilities and so on? Do you need to teach the courses at both the departments? Do you know if there is a way for the new faculty to get associated to two departments so that they can avail the facilities of both the departments? Thanks a lot.
A-Concerned-IITM-Alumnus,
I think the reason is not lack of talent. I think the reason is that the Kafkaesque bureaucracy, untrusting or even hostile attitude of administrators (who are also other faculty, often from a deprived generation) and lack of systemic incentives and individual recognition for excellence, humiliates, depresses and eventually ruins the zest for research of all but a few thick-skinned faculty.
You can see evidence of this on the ground. IITs have been hiring people with great potential since about 2008 (since the 6th pay commission - roughly a year before this FAQ post started). Now would be a good time to take stock. How many of them have achieved their potential? And how many have degenerated into pade-shadows of their earlier selves, still talented but drained and defeated? I think a sadly large number are in the latter category.
I completely agree with Ankur's statement:
".....lack of systemic incentives and individual recognition for excellence, humiliates, depresses and eventually ruins the zest for research..."
When all universities abroad have incentives, then why not IITs ??????????????????????????? Its disgusting. We all loose the motivation behind excellent research ...
Any opinions ??
Anjur is right on spot. I experienced this. Senior academic administrators are well aware of it but doing little or nothing about it.
A Senior Professor
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Dear Prof. Giri , Prof. Sriram and other faculties at IIX,
How important is research proposal relative to publication record while evaluating faculty candicates.
I am asking the above question because, suppose a candidate works in diversified fields and has significant publications in each field. Then each IIX may like/dislike a certain field. For e.g. candidate does experiments, theory and simulations but IIX_1 is interested in experiments and IIX_2 in theory and so on. Now, how will the candidate know what to focus on in the proposal even before visiting IIXs.
I hope you will throw some light on this and give some tips.
Thank you
The anon posters above..please do not forget that things that Prof. Giri has said before here and Prof. Balaram put it eloquently "IIX has benign neglect for people who perform."
IIX is a government job. Nobody cares a damn whether you work or not work. They may be some minimum requirements for promotion like 5 papers in 5 years, 1 ph.d student etc. So, people work towards working for these requirements. Beyond that, do not expect to be appreciated if you publish 50 papers in 5 years. You will be treated the same.
Same number of students, same number of space, same money, same salary for everyone. We practice socialism but expect capitalism in output.
So, you might wonder why people talk about increasing research output and rankings etc. Then, please read this.
http://dsanghi.blogspot.in/2011_02_01_archive.html
"One of my colleague once said that we talk about PhD program because it is in fashion to talk about research, and we need to justify not doing research. But we really don't want to admit more PhD students because we are afraid we will have to work harder. "
Take examples everywhere. Hard working professors in IIX work hard because they are self motivated. They will not get 1 rupee more either in research or personal money. They will not be given even one research student extra that prescribed maximum in the institute. No one (Expect their friends) will appreciate what they are doing.
This is reality. IF you do not know what is the reality of a government job, do not join. And repeat after me: IIX is a government job.
Senior prof in IISc.
Thanks IISC Prof for your note about IIT ... Govt Job.
I also know several people who work in universities having great citations and impact factor and recognised poor in India.
How much working in premier institutes uplift someone recognition without their performance is a major question.
in India
Grants in India are sometimes denied to faculties in Universities who have performed well than one in premier institute. A fact difficult to digest.
Why 50 papers in 5 years? There are even some faculty who publish 50 good papers in 1 year, patent, teach and also bring projects. They are also treated the same..not even more space or students or research/ equipment money from the institutions..forget personal money.
IIX runs primarily on motivated faculty and staff who work irrespective of rewards and without expectations. The admin knows that they work because of self motivation and nothing needs to be done.
THANKS A LOT (ANONYMOUS PROF.of IISc)for revealing the fact. I think this is the main problem in India. Hardworking Prof. are always discouraged for their work and even some time insulted behind their back claiming that their work is not genuine since the criticizers do not not want to do work their self.
Same thing happens sometime when we apply for faculty position in IITs (Especially New) and its worse implementation is in NITs.
I am currently working as Scientist in USA and I have 80 SCI Journal papers, 1 US patent and 10 published books with 35 book chapters (I am 33 Years old). Couples of weeks earlier, I have applied to Director of all CSIR Labs, Directors of NITs and Some New IITs and two old IITs. Unfortunately, I have got e-mail from only two CSIR lab including NCL)and one IIT while no others even never replied.
I have one request to Prof. Giri and other Prof. who are in several MHRD committes to make sure that at least in the NITs the Directors should be from among the faculty of IITs/ IISc. Most of the Directors of NITs are Prof. who have worked in these RECs earlier and have same mentality and do not encourage research or even some time are against Science disciplines. You will see that most of the NITs still do not have M.Sc.programs while those NITs where Directors are from IITs, they are doing good job.
Those who are from former RECs, are doing best only in some cases in infrastructure and do not encourage research. I believe that if India has to grow, the head of Institutes should be Visionary and faculty promotion should be based on Performance as is in US rather than seniority as practiced in our country.
People like Prof. Giri should be appointed as Director of such institutes including IITs, only then we can expect India to grow in research as well as ranking. Otherwise, whenever world ranking comes, we will have to always use the same excuses which we always read and most of the faculty defend themselves (because they do not do work). Most of the faculty enjoy the reputation of these institutes,that is maintained by the BRILLIANT undergraduate students of IIT/NIT rather than their work.
Dear anon wondering about research proposals, I think the best thing for you to do would be to visit each of the prospective IIXs on your own. Invite yourself for a day at each of these places - most HoDs will agree to put you up in the guest house and provide a seminar slot, you may have to pay for the travel (won't hurt to try to get HoD to spring for it, many of them will). Feel the place out, talk at length to some research-active individuals in the department and that will give you the hint as to which direction(s) to push. It is ok to have multiple diverse research interests and many IIX are waking up to finding ways to accommodate such talent. But be modest and realistic in writing out the research proposal - something that projects multi-crore layout in, say, a 5 year period, would be seen as grand standing and carry a negative impression (for the most part; there are exceptions).
anonymous 30 nov 1042: An NIT Director's pay is 75000 + 5000 special allowance. A Professor with 10+ years' experience in an IIT has a basic of 79000 (in HAG scale). When DA etc is on 79000 vs 75000, an IIT Prof has to take a pay cut to become an NIT Director. That is why, I feel, after HAG was introduced no IIT Prof has been appointed an NIT Director. By the way, a Univ VC's pay is also 75000 + 5000 spl allowance. Wonder why some IIT Profs are Univ VCs! We have to wait for the 7th Pay commission to bring some order here. But then there will be another problem somewhere else!
November 30, 2014 at 10:42 PM:
Please post your comment on the other post by PRof. Giridhar, that will be mire relevant.
I have a question for experienced faculty here. Recently DST has increased the salaries of JRF, SRF, etc. I want to the implications of this for existing projects. For example, if the salaries head in an existing project may have enough money in it according to earlier salaries, but insufficient according to new salaries. Will the funding agency, in particular DST, release additional funds to meet the increased salaries?
@Ankur, there is a faq at the DST website according to which "How will the revision in fellowship be implemented in projects? Do the fellows have to write to the funding agency or will they initiate the process themselves?
The fellows working in DST (including SERB) and DBT projects can be paid the enhanced fellowship from the available project grant from Oct. 2014 onwards by the implementing institutions provided the fellows satisfy requirements mentioned in clause 5 of the OM and eligibility conditions. Principal Investigators are advised to send the details of additional budget requirements due to enhancement to the Program Officer concerned to sanction additional budget."
@Anon commenting about IIT Prof vs NIT Director salary, your calculation is a bit off the mark. 10+ years is OK but the + hides years. Yes, if you start with min prof salary and accumulate increments, you will cross 79000 at the 11th increment, but that will apply only to someone who became prof just after 1.1.2006 - and this will happen to such cases only in 2016 or so. For those who were profs before 1.1.2006, the "bunching" in the fitment (of the 6th pay commission) adds years to the +. For example, as on 1.1.2006, I was 6 increments into the old prof scale but I hit 79000 only this July and that too after getting one HAG increment along the way. Anyways, I digress. HAG (min 67000) and NIT Director (75000) are higher scales and will get better fitment when the next pay commission comes around. This also impacts future pension (once again, fitment will come into play) so the pay loss will likely be more than made up in pension. Academic environment at NITs is quite different from IITs and I believe that is the reason many IIT profs are not interested in becoming NIT directors. Many of the first NIT directors (when RECs became NITs) were from IITs, but this is no longer happening.
Thank you Prof Sriram.
Does anyone know if the DST Fast-Track program still on or has it been replaced by some other program of SERB?
Anon (December 1, 10:51 am) laments that only 1% of IIT undergrads do PhDs at IITs. While this is true, it is not necessarily surprising or an insurmountable problem. Even in USA, the best undergrad students of universities other than MIT/Berkeley/Stanford etc. join higher ranked universities. Thus, the best undergrad talent gets poached. However, universities that are ranked 10-15 dont cry hoarse over it. They find other talented students from elsewhere and continue doing their research. IIX should reach out to students - most students from non IIX dont know about all the opportunities available at IIT. In India, we produce 1.5 million engineers per year -- surely we can find a few talented people, can't we?
HS
Does anybody know when is the council meetings for different departments at IISc? Thank you.
When will be the result Update for INSPIRE Faculty Award 2014(Session-II)
Can anyone tell me how often does the departmental level shortlisting committee at Mechanical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur meets? When is the next meeting?
Sorry for posting it here. Please sign the petition if you agree. I wont discuss further on this topic here as this space is meant for prospective faculties.
https://www.change.org/p/indian-science-congress-association-stop-providing-a-platform-for-pseudo-science-in-102nd-indian-science-congress-2
Hi All,
Can anyone provide insight into the time frame from the presentation to decision at IIT, Kharagpur?
I recently got interviewed for School of Bio sciences and I am wondering about the time for a decision as I have another job offer that I need to join soon. Also will there be another round of interview for final decision?
Many Thanks,
Shevgaonkar (IIT Delhi Director):
h-index = 6! LOL
Dear All, I received a offer from IIT Mandi. Is there anyone who received offer from there?
- Harish
hi harish:
congratulations! Which dept in IIT Mandi
Thanks a lot. Mech. Engineering
- Harish
Is there any news on the result Update of INSPIRE Faculty Award 2014(Session-II) ??
Any news of DST-INSPIRE Faculty 2014 (II)?
Any news about UGC FRP?
Dear Prof's,
I am bit confused, Why in IIX recruitment faculty give so much importance to post doctoral. All my seniors joined as assistant prof. in US universities after PhD. Post doctoral in engineering has nothing new or exciting to learn especially in my field Human factors. In US people who do not get assistant prof. position opt for post doc. But in India they regard post doc with very much respect. Do you think on contract position is better deal than post doc position in US.
Why is INSA delaying to publish the result for DST/INSPIRE faculty award 2014, session 2? Strange thing is that they have already published the advertisement for INSPIRE Faculty,January 2015 !!!
dear anon @January 12, 2015 at 11:41 PM, if you got all your degrees in India, IIX would certainly look for some overseas post doc exposure. If you got your PhD overseas, I don't think any IIX will look for any postdoc experience, in engineering (most science departments do). However, there is a difference in pay scale placement between fresh PhD and PhD with 3 years experience, I don't know if that is what you are referring to. Fresh PhD "on contractual basis" is not a contract position, strictly speaking, though some IIXs operate it so; for example, at IITM, as and when three years experience is reached, the position automatically rolls over into regular position (no interview, no application, nothing).
IIT B Or IISc - from an entry level faculty point of view:
Dear Prof. Giri, Prof. Sriram, and all other Profs.,
Thanks for maintaining this blog.
I would like to seek your opinion on Faculty position in IIT B Vs IISc. I have been offered a entry-level faculty position in IIT B and IISc, so i would like to know your opinion on IISc Vs IIT B from a faculty view.
what are pros/cons for an entry-level Asst prof in IISc Vs IIT B. Which one will you recommend, if a candidate has offers from both IISc and IIT B?
As for as i understand IISc is more research oriented , offers better research environment and facilities, higher rank Masters/PhD scholars, and relatively less teaching load. Position is for a 5 years term and then renewed.
what about the initial research grant and other research facility? How about inter-disciplinary research collabration/sharing equipment facilities at IISc?
In IIT B (or any other IITs), there is a lot of undergrads so teaching load is relatively on higher side. MS students are also inclined more towards getting a job rather than doing research, so quality of research may not be as good as in IISc; however IIT B is more industry oriented, so getting research funds from industry may be easier (just a personal opinion). IIT B is also giving 20-25 L as start-up grant.
City-wise, both Mumbai and Banglore seems to be fine.
Please share your views.
Thanks
f a candidate has offers from both IISc and IIT B?
IISc, only if you really want to do research.
As for as i understand IISc is more research oriented , offers better research environment and facilities, higher rank Masters/PhD scholars, and relatively less teaching load.
All the above are correct.
Position is for a 5 years term and then renewed.
Yes, you may be expected to publish around 10-15 papers and graduate a Ph.D. None of this is required in IIT-B. In IIT-B, you can get promoted without a single publication or Ph.D student.
what about the initial research grant and other research facility? How about inter-disciplinary research collabration/sharing equipment facilities at IISc?
Everything is better and higher in IISc.
In IIT B (or any other IITs), there is a lot of undergrads so teaching load is relatively on higher side. MS students are also inclined more towards getting a job rather than doing research, so quality of research may not be as good as in IISc;
All the above statements are correct.
however IIT B is more industry oriented, so getting research funds from industry may be easier (just a personal opinion). IIT B is also giving 20-25 L as start-up grant.
IISc gives nearly 50 lakhs as startup grant. They have even given 2-3 crores in deserving cases.
Research funds from industry are the same in both iit and iisc.
If you want to do research, choose IISc. If you just want to teach 1-2 hours a day and have a cool life, choose IITs. they are excellent engineering colleges. IISc is a research university.
In IISc, the number of Bhatnagar prize winners is higher than the number of Bhatnagar winners in all 15 IITs put together.
Senior IISc prof.
IIT vs IISc is a fairly straight forward decision. Do you like to teach and work with undergraduate students? If yes, choose IIT. If you find teaching to be a distraction and would rather do research all the time if possible, choose IISc. Both institutions are well funded and I really don't think this is a significant factor - you will be more likely limited by your ability to find enough good research scholars to work with you. IITM is about the only institution with a significant MS (research) program, neither IITB nor IISc have this; they both have MTech / ME program which is essentially course based two year time bound program. For research scholars, you will have to look to the PhD program. Of course, ME and MTech students can also do some research within the confines of the time bound program. Both IIT and IISc have similar career progression tracks, not much difference. In my view, essentially boils down to the statements I have made at the top of this post.
"IITM is about the only institution with a significant MS (research) program, neither IITB nor IISc have this;"
Not correct. IISc has a large M.Sc (Engg) program, which will be renamed as ME (research) soon. This is a research masters degree for the engg departments. Roughly 100 graduations per year, primarily in electrical sciences.
anon states "IISc has a large M.Sc (Engg) program". OK, correction, IISc also has a decent sized MS program. But here are the numbers. IITM has 900 MS scholars on roll (from annual report available on the web). I am not able to get similar data on IISc, extrapolating from other sources led me to a number around 200 - 250 (and IITB is very small, less than 50).
INSPIRE result is out:
http://www.inspire-dst.gov.in/July2014_session_II.pdf
I have received the inspire faculty award. I am in the process of applying to few IIT's for permanent position as well. While applying for permanent positions is it a plus to mention the award or should I let them know only after I receive the offer from the IIT's?
@January 24, 2015 at 6:41 AM
It hardly makes a difference for the committee. Your selection for faculty position is independent of your inspire fellowship. I have seen many candidates with inspire fellowship being rejected for the permanent position.
Dear All..
Just a basic question:Does post-PG experience is considered for determining the salary for an Asst. Prof. in IITs? I have 4 yrs of post-PhD and 2 yrs of post-masters experience. will i be eligible for only 1 increment (4-3=1) or 3 increment (4+2-3=3). If not, then is there any importance of post-masters working experience ??
@Anonymous..
Some IITs are considering post-master experience while some are not..i noticed that IIT Hyderabad is taking this experience into account ..not sure about others..
Can anyone highlight the importance accorded to research statement/plan for Assistant Prof. selection at IIX?
Should one stick to only a particular research topic or include 2-3 topics?
How detailed should it be or a generic view is to be presented?
Thanks
SM
Dear Prof.Giri, Prof.Sriram, and others.
This blog is extremely useful resource for faculty aspirants apart from discussing contemporary issues on academia. I have been following for over 3-4 years.
I received an invite for research seminar and interaction in IIT Kanpur.
Does it mean interview will take place after the seminar?
Typically, how long (months) the recruitment process takes from the date of Seminar to final offer/decision?
what are the further stages?
I have been patiently reading earlier comments on this thread but couldn't find earlier comments specific to Kanpur.
I don't know any existing faculty members in IIT Kanpur. Any guidance in this regard will be helpful and very much appreciated wholeheartedly.
Many thanks
AnonCP
AnonCP,
Try sending mail to the Dean of Faculty Affairs at IITK. As I understand it, IITK process is for department to screen candidates through presentation / interview and then make a recommendation to the Institute. After the Institute committee also concurs, the formal selection committee (with external members) will interview and decide. No idea on time frame, the Dean mentioned above should be able to help.
Dear Prof. Sriram,
Thank you for taking time and providing direction. It is very much appreciated. I will contact Dean Faculty affairs as advised. I didn't receive reply for this query from my department.
AnonCP
I just received the Interview Call for UGC FRP scheme.
Please share your interview experience.
Thanks in Advance
Hi, When did you apply for this program? Did you apply in Life Science stream? Please let me know. Thanks
@ Anonymous said,February 5, 2015 at 11:14 AM
I applied in Feb, 2013 (Physics)
OK, Thanks. Looks like it is very slow program, indeed unreasonably slow. Better you contact some one directly to get tips for interview.Good lucl
Hello,
Can anyone know how many times one can apply for the INSPIRE Faculty? One of INSA support member is saying that candidate can apply only once during his period of 28-32 yrs old. If first proposal is rejected then he can not apply second time for FACULTY. IS it right?
Thank you in advance.
Can anyone highlight the importance accorded to research statement/plan for Assistant Prof. selection at IIX?
Should one stick to only a particular research topic or include 2-3 topics?
How detailed should it be or a generic view is to be presented?
Thanks
SM
@SM: February 7, 2015 at 3:51 PM:
I'm also writing it currently. I plan to include 2-3 inter-related topics in the statement. However, that also depends on the institute. Some of them require a two page document, while some require only a few paragraphs.
-P
@SM
Research and Teaching statements are important and should convey the future direction of the candidate, so that one can evaluate the value addition by the candidate.
I would suggest to include more than one topic. Having more than one topic (but not too many) helps in judging the width of one's research and is important for the future work that one is proposing to pursue.
If you can somehow show (implicitly), how your research will help others in the department (by showing that you have complementary skills or you would strengthen an area which is currently not so), it is an added bonus.
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