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«Oldest ‹Older 401 – 600 of 3339 Newer› Newest»Ramanujan fellowships are accepted only by nomination. By the way I called DR KOhli today and he said that my application was successful for Ramanujan fellowship and the results will be placed in web very soon.
I have few questions regarding Inspire faculty award. Can the experts answer them in detail?
1) What are the exact difference in salaries and privileges b/w an Inspire faculty and an AP on contract?
2) (a)Do Inspire faculties are eligible for taking up PhDs/MSc students for doing proposed research? (b)Also do they have authority to hire manpower from their award money for doing proposed research? (c)Can they be provided PhDs/MSc students from the host institution for doing research in projects which are different from their proposed Inspire award project or they get limited to pursue just that one project?
3) Are they eligible for independent office space and residential apartments just like APs on contract?
4) Is it possible to change the host institution midway of the Inspire fellowship owing to a mismatch with the mentor. Or bcoz of different priorities of the host institute which you were not aware of at the time of choosing the host.
5) Do the Inspire faculties supposed to also pursue the proposed research by themselves just like postdocs? I have heard that many of the host mentors consider this award as a super-postdoc under their guidance and not as a AP comparable faculty position.
Regards
AA
Dear Anon, one who wrote at July 18, 2012 2:50 PM,
Congratulations for having been selected for the Ramanujan Fellowship. All the very best.
Thanks for your answer on the mode of application.
ABCD
>> Anonymous said...
By the way I called DR KOhli today and he said that my application was successful for Ramanujan fellowship and the results will be placed in web very soon.
July 18, 2012 2:50 PM
>>
Congrats. I am too nervous to call him !
@Anon, 2:44 AM,
Thank a lot. This helps.
SO I hope I got it right. So any new Assistant Prof is entitled to 60 days of vacation (per year) with pay both @ IIT and visiting institute. Do you know if visiting needs any permission/official docs to be shown to IIT for new recruited faculties..?
Thanks
@Anon, 5:02 PM,
It's your vacation leave, so you are free to spend time anywhere in the world. But officially it is necessary to provide address where you can be reached during your vacation. And it's always nice if you take your parent institute (IIT) in confidence, i.e. to inform them 8with offfer letter etc. from visiting institute) that you will visit so and so places during vacation. :-)
Hello All,
I just want to share my interview with physics committee for INSPIRE.
The talk went on well and I thought they will ask questions based on my research
The questions I think were browsed from internet about my subject. Nevertheless I feel OK
about that and I could answer. But then they started asking about LS and Jj coupling mechanism in Quantum mechanics.
I did not even understand the question. And one guy started asking why the TV signal is lost
while raining. These questions I do not know where they get from. Annoying, I think I thought only asst Prof
needed training. I think senior Professors should go to orientation program in the US or Europe
before they sit in the interview.
Regards
Inspire aspirant
@Anon, 5:02 PM,
Thanks a lot ! This helps indeed :)
Hello All,
I just want to share my interview with physics committee for INSPIRE.
The talk went on well and I thought they will ask questions based on my research
The questions I think were browsed from internet about my subject. Nevertheless I feel OK
about that and I could answer. But then they started asking about LS and Jj coupling mechanism in Quantum mechanics.
I did not even understand the question. And one guy started asking why the TV signal is lost
while raining. These questions I do not know where they get from. Annoying, I think I thought only asst Prof
needed training. I think senior Professors should go to orientation program in the US or Europe
before they sit in the interview.
Regards
Inspire aspirant
@ AA,
I have tried here to answer your questions to the best of my knowledge. These are just my answers and not anything official.
1) What are the exact difference in salaries and privileges b/w an Inspire faculty and an AP on contract?
Ans:
Salary: Inspire faculty gets a fixed pay of 80k a month irrespective of the city. After tax deductions one can get around 70k in hand (bank). OCAP salary is based on a pay scale (30k+6k+xk), where HRA and special allowances depend on the city. If you are in a non-metro small city, where HRA is just 10% (lowest), an OCAP can get around 55k in hand per month after tax deductions. In both cases, the faculty does not contribute to the new pension scheme (NPS).
Privileges: OCAP is entitled to the other benefits provided by the institution like CPDA, seed grant, medical benefits, LTC (not very sure), etc. These benefits are not provided to Inspire faculties.
2) (a)Do Inspire faculties are eligible for taking up PhDs/MSc students for doing proposed research?
Ans: In my IIT, inspire faculties can take Ph.D. students, but only jointly with a regular faculty member. My IIT does not run a M.Sc. programme yet, so I am not sure about the rules.
(b)Also do they have authority to hire manpower from their award money for doing proposed research?
Ans: Yes, the grant money can also be used to hire manpower. This is governed by the policies of your host institute.
(c)Can they be provided PhDs/MSc students from the host institution for doing research in projects which are different from their proposed Inspire award project or they get limited to pursue just that one project?
Ans: In my opinion and also in reality, one cannot work just on one project for the whole term of 5 years. Inspire award undertaking states that the awardees is free to apply for any competitive grants from any funding agencies, in a way encouraging the faculties to initiate more projects. Refer to answer (a) w.r.t Ph.D./M.Sc. students.
3) Are they eligible for independent office space and residential apartments just like APs on contract?
Office spaces are decided by the host institution. In my IIT, two faculties share an office and is the same (at par) with inspire faculties. Regarding quarters (institute residences), inspire faculties are not eligible at most of the IIX. But OCAPs are eligible.
4) Is it possible to change the host institution midway of the Inspire fellowship owing to a mismatch with the mentor. Or bcoz of different priorities of the host institute which you were not aware of at the time of choosing the host.
Ans: I think there would definitely exist a possibility to change the host institution, but you need to ask DST regarding the procedures. My opinion is based on the provision in inspire award, where are faculty is allowed to switch from the inspire position to a permanent position at another institution at anytime during the award period and move the funding.
5) Do the Inspire faculties supposed to also pursue the proposed research by themselves just like postdocs? I have heard that many of the host mentors consider this award as a super-postdoc under their guidance and not as a AP comparable faculty position.
Ans: It is sad, but true that some of the host institutions consider the inspire faculties as postdocs, esp. because of the eligibility criteria. In any case, the inspire awardee pursues the project independently (without any advisor). It all depends on how you are viewed and treated in the institute, rather than how good you do your science.
Regards,
Chris
Folks,
Please check the classic Faculty advertisement in Times Ascent (today) for Sikkim University:
First pay Rs. 300 as processing fees. And then,
Direct quote: There will be a Written test and/or Skills test before the interview for all the advertised positions.
@ Inspire aspirant
I too appeared for the physics committee. However I had the impression that the committee conducted itself very professionally and asked relevant/good questions. Overall I had a very positive experience regarding the interview (selected or not!).
I urge all candidates to refrain from making such comments while the selection procedure is underway. You are most welcome to post your experiences once the results have been declared!
[I am forced to post this comment as anonymous.]
I'm glad that you had a positive experience! Although I did not write I had a negative experience in the prev post! Nobody expects a question at sr prof level asking questions why you lose signal while raining and stuff!
This is why I said they should go for orientation programme
Hi all,
I have a question of newly joined faculties @ IITX. Although feedback from other old faculties are also welcome.
Can someone inform me the procedure of recruiting undergraduate Research Assistants (B.Tech students) immediately after joining the institute as Asst. Prof ?
How do the undergraduate students know about a open RA position for a project in a specific group? For example, I need few undergraduate RA's in my project who are skilled in XYZ. How do I start the induction procedure ??
Thanks a lot.
anon summarizes "It's your vacation leave, so you are free to spend time anywhere in the world. But officially it is necessary to provide address where you can be reached during your vacation. And it's always nice if you take your parent institute (IIT) in confidence, i.e. to inform them 8with offfer letter etc. from visiting institute) that you will visit so and so places during vacation."
This is not correct, rules vary from IIX to IIX, so check with yours. You are not free to spend time anywhere in the world - even if you are going abroad on your own personal business using your own money, you still need permission, as a government servant. And, depending on the IIX, it may or may not be permissible to take up any paid position, even one that pays only a fellowship (as you continue to draw salary at your home IIX). I believe IISc allows you to take 60 days in summer on a fellowship like this every year, but IITM will allow this only once in three years (you can take up unpaid assignments or you have to take leave without pay from IITM).
According to Prof. Giri's site,
" IISc allows you to take 90 days in summer (May, June, July) on a fellowship like this every year but the fellowship should be called honorarium"
If one spends all 90 days in IISc, then they get 30 days EL.
@Anon 11:27
This is how I recruited undergraduate students as research assistants (summer interns):
1. Got a research fund.
2. Applied to Dean R&D and Director to recruit summer interns, and the reply was that it's not supported by the institute rules.
3. I posted that as a comment on this blog for my institute director to read.
4. The institute director found some "exceptional" rule through which I could pay the interns.
5. I put this information on my website, and got lots of auto-generated spams and a few genuine applications. Hired the interns and worked with them to get some results. Some of them were excellent to work with.
@ Prof. Sriram,
Thank you for your feedback.
IITM allows only once in 3yrs to go on visiting position with pay (and parallel salary @ IITM)?? or is one @ IITM allowed to take visiting position every yr if he agrees to get only paid from visiting institute abroad (and no pay from IITM)?
Thanks.
@ Prof. Sriram,
It is very strange. You mean permission to take up visiting position (fellowship) is needed from IITM during vacation period as well ?? Personal vacation can be used for any reasons by an individual!!
Its a vacation, then isnt it up to the faculty to do what he wants during that period?
Prof Sriram, has any administrator at IITM made an attempt to liberalise these rules and bring them to a standard that one would expect from a world class university?
@iitmsriram and others In continuation to the slow and outdated administrative procedures in IITs, I have felt that IITs though institutes for technology, they are quite aginst technology when it comes to using it to improve the environment!!
For example, using smart card for access everywhere in IITs (Hostels, labs, main entrance) is damn easy- but they do not do it though there are a lot of theft. They do not use something Oracle Apps to process leave applications, data management, purchase etc which is used in most good universities in the world. Al these things are very much possible in government set-up as well. Public sector banks doing it! We still need to write physical letters for everything.
I am working in a university abroad. When I needed to book an air ticket, it took just one day. No physical paper involved. I had write a email to Head, he forwards it to School manager who wrote to Travel agent (who is registered with university). Once I gave the nod, the purchase order is raised by manager, approved by Head and sent to Travel agent. All electronic and Oracle Apps used. I had tickets in my email by evening.
Now, imagine how much time it takes in India!!
@ Ankur,
I agree with you. These rules needs to be liberalized just like any other North American/European Institute.
What is staggering, is why would one have to take permission from IITM before going abroad for visiting position during vacation (considering that visiting positions are mostly honorarium/fellowship based and not regular salary)?
What do you feel..
In my current University, all faculty members are issued two credit cards - one for travel related stuff (air tickets, taxi, hotels, etc) & another for purchases (books, computing hardware for students, etc). Each card comes with an average credit limit of $15k and each transaction has be less than $5k.
At the end of the month I have to take/post the credit card bills along with receipts to the departmental finance officer who processes the payment using money from relevant funding codes assigned by me. The receipts are also carefully filed by this person for audit trail purposes.
No higher level authorization or oversight is involved but each year I have to sign a formal document confirming that I have read, understood and complied with all the regulations set by funding bodies that sponsor my research. When my students file a claim for eligible expenses only my signature is required to process this claim. I believe this is fairly standard practice across most US Universities.
Larger purchases ($5k+) are a different matter altogether but as a theoretical researcher I usually have to do that only every couple of years when I upgrade my group's servers.
Anon Uncle
@ Prof.Sriram: If its a vacation for 2 months @ IIT, then why does one have to ask for a leave? It is an official leave for 2 months for all faculties. Then why one has to specifically seek permission?
A faculty may be invited by different institutes in visiting positions for delivering talks/seminars/research etc and paid honorarium for his visit (as consolidated amount). Why is the process made so complex ?
Hi all,
I have a question of newly joined faculties @ IITX. Although feedback from other old faculties are also welcome.
Can someone inform me the procedure of recruiting undergraduate Research Assistants (B.Tech students) immediately after joining the institute as Asst. Prof ?
How do the undergraduate students know about a open RA position for a project in a specific group? For example, I need few undergraduate RA's in my project who are skilled in XYZ. How do I start the induction procedure ??
Thanks a lot.
@iitmsriram "You are not free to spend time anywhere in the world - even if you are going abroad on your own personal business using your own money, you still need permission, as a government servant."
I thought we lived in a free democratic country!
regards
RN
@RN, Yes we live in a free country, but we are also bound by terms and conditions of our employment. No doubt that we can improve and liberalize many of them, but even in the US/Europe there are a number of rules. A french collaborator told me that she has to get admin approval for abroad travel. As a grad student in the US I was officially allowed only 2 weeks of holidays per year according to my graduate chair (I did the mistake of asking him once!) and one additional week as medical leave. But its never really enforced.
Likewise, even if you are at an IIX, you can go anywhere without informing admin but if there is any issue (like an accident leading to insurance claims) without your IIX letter of approval of your leave, you could be in trouble. Many embassies ask for letter of approval from your employer for your VISA! Note that these permissions are normally granted, so in a sense its more like informing admin rather than a boss approving after a rigorous process!
I do, however, think that we should formally change the rules which now say "seek approval from admin" to "inform admin".
"I do, however, think that we should formally change the rules which now say "seek approval from admin" to "inform admin"."
Vishu, very well put. As system where approvals are required is built on distrust. One is assumed to be a crook for even wanting to travel, and only one who is certified and approved to be a non-crook is allowed to travel. A system where disclosures are required is built on trust and is generally healthier. Most IIXs generally have a benign environment so these approvals may come just for asking; but in the hands of the wrong person this rule can become a weapon for harassment and insult.
In IISc, as I have written before, the vacation is for the period of May 1 to July 31. If you work 90 days in this period, you get 30 days EL.
The rules of IISc clearly state that you have to "inform" the chairman for travelling within the country and claim "work on duty" "leave on academic work". During vacation, you are required to inform the chairman about the possible address that they can reach you. No permission is required. There is a standard form where you claim vacation, put the dates, fill up the address, sign it and hand it over to the office.
Giridhar
When one play Chess/Cricket, players have to follow some rules otherwise why visitors will come and watch the games?
I agree with vishu, ankur and prof. giri. For IITB also there is a standard format and just need to inform and approval is automatic for those days within vacation petiod. It's always nice also to inform institute for personal safety etc., as vishu mentioned above. But the reply from iitmsriram shows that IITM is really different, or showing the power of administrators, as people were discussing in this forum earlier. It's time to get changed & progressive IITM :-)
IITM administration is one reason why I never applied to IITM. Thank you iitmsriram for showing the true face of IITM administration!
Well in one of the places I was told that one could be arrested if one left without the official permission letter for leave. Is this possible?
@Giri
I believe what you say applies for local travel and I agree that we just have to email the chairman informing about travel.
For international travel we do need a formal approval. At least that is my experience in one instance when I travelled abroad where my leave on duty was "approved" by the registrar. Of course, there were no hassles in getting this done. The procedure is a bit long, old-fashioned letter typed, signed by me with my seal, and then counter-signed by my chairman :-), followed by a letter of approval from registrar. I wish this process can be simplified.
IITM recruitment results will be online tomorrow :)
Best wished to those going to be selected, as you will soon fall in the hand of backward IITM administration.
@vishu,
Thanks for your comment.
Regarding traveling abroad, permission from chairman, divisional chairman and registrar (the same letter is routed through the above) is required. But this is only for official travel and not for travel abroad on vacation. If you travel abroad on vacation, you should inform the chairman but no approvals are required. Approvals are only required for foreign travel on duty.
Thanks
Giridhar
Hello ALL,
I agree with Prof. Giri. The rules @ IISc are very healthy and supportive. He mentioned clearly that "approvals are only required for foreign travel on DUTY". But not during vacation where only informing chairman is enough. This is fair enough !
My main concern is why is official permission needed to take up visiting position abroad paid as honorarium during VACATION ? This is not considered a regular salary thus getting drawing salary @ Home IIT should be okay along with it.
Can all of you please share your experience and rules regarding this at your own institute ?
@Anon,5:07 PM,
You are right. As mentioned by Prof. Giri for IISc, at IITB also same format is used, persmission necessary for official visit and just informing admin. about your address during vacation period. You can draw parallel salary/fellowship/honorarium (whatever you say) during this vacation period (each and every year, soon after your joining the institute) from visiting institutes abroad and also from parent IIT, like IITB and IISc as I can see, but may be not true for IITM :-)
@ Anon 5:18 PM,
Thank you for informing me about IITB rules and protocols related to this.
It makes sense :)
@ Others,
Looking forward to your feedback for knowing about your own IITX rules about this.
"If you travel abroad on vacation,"..I meant personal visit with your money, no official permission is required.
@ Prof. Giri,
"I meant personal visit with your money, no official permission is required" ..Does this mean for taking professional visiting position abroad (as honorarium) during VACATION, you need to seek permission/approval and not just inform (by filling some form just as formality) ??
Thanks.
I was recently told that any govt. of India employee (therefore an IIX prof) needs to have a 'no objection certificate' when travelling abroad (for personal or professional reasons). In my experience many embassies require this for issuing visa. But I was told that without this document the immigration people in Indian airports can legally stop you from leaving. Doesn't happen often, but there is such an archaic rule. Can anyone please shed light on this?
-Newbie
@Newbie,
This is bogus ! You need the invitation letter from the organization which is inviting you. That fetches the visa and if you have the visa, how can someone stop you from leaving ?? I don't believe this !
Well to get a visa you need a no-objection letter from your institute.
Also, as a government employee I think one is supposed to inform of foreign vacations (Possibly for audit purposes i.e where did you get the money etc etc).
@Newbie
Well, I have never been asked to produce my institute's no objection letter for the immigration.
@ Anon, July 19, 2012 7:42 PM,
As far as I understand, you are involved in visiting positions abroad during vacation period @ IIT.
I shall appreciate if you kindly share your institute specific rules in details about visiting work during vacation period (including paperwork, formalities and approval(if necessary))
Thanks in advance.
Vishu, Prof Giri,
Thanks for clarifying the issue. Am glad to note Prof. Giri's comment that no permission is required if one travels abroad with one's personal money on vacation. That makes perfect sense. Informing the Chairman/Director/Dept may be done on a courtesy basis and for one's own safety in terms of accidents etc.., but should not be mandatory.
The impression I got from iitmsriram's comment was that one needs to take permission to do something on their own free time with their own resources. That seems outrageous in a free country.
On the question on taking up a visiting position during a vacation, I think its more than fair that one needs to seek permission or is required to notify. There should be no issues with that.
regards
RN
@Anon Uncle
Thank you for sharing your experience regarding the path in Academia.
As you would know, these days landing an academic position (even a short term one) is becoming increasingly competitive and difficult in the west. Since you have been part of faculty search committees, am sure you would have seen that there are at least a 100 or more applicants. That is the first step of filtering. And if you are lucky enough to get a tenure-track position, then process of tenuring is brutal especially with the funding environment.
In your opinion, is it possible? and how good a chance is there for some young faculty to start at an IIX, build up a good publication record for a few years and then get a tenured position at top10(or even top 25) school abroad.
thanks
Anon rookie
I think Prof. Giri was offered a position in a top 10 school a few years back and he did not want to return. However, in the blog, he had written that this was not a tenured position but a tenure track position.
They have been a few who have left IITs and joined abroad after a few years but it is quite difficult.
There are not many outstanding researchers in IITs, unfortunately.
@Anon at 11:01
When you say its quite difficult, is it because of the quality of research of the faculty?
Or is it something more systemic, like being recognized
as a quality researcher, bureaucratic and other entry barriers?
Anon rookie
@ RN,
Well there is always a distinction between taking permission and notifying someone for taking up a visiting position during vacation.
If you have just notify as a courtesy/formality to admin, its perfectly fine. But if you have to seek permission during vacation for taking up honorarium visiting position (where there is chances that the authorities might say NO), then it does not make sense. Its unfair. Visiting proves immensely beneficial sometimes to strengthen international collaborations.
I hope you agree !!
@ Anon rookie,
I mostly think its difficult because of the publication record. Due to low funds compared to western universities (even though IIT might provide best funds in Indian standards), objects the publication record in sound international conferences which in turn may hamper Journal publications. Moreover, lack of foreign connection in research (lack of visiting positions) also plays a factor. Finally, the mindset of the research group (M.Tech, Ph.Ds) might not be well suited to rigorous research. They may lack the push as in the west. There are many M.Tech who go out without publications and Ph.D's with low publications. If this continues then switching to jobs in the west may be difficult.
@Anon 11:40,
I think informing the institute should be fine. There should be no barriers in taking up visiting positions anywhere in the world during free/vacation time. This will encourage international collaborations and will help bring research on the world stage.
regards
RN
@RN,
I agree with you mate ! Thats what I was suggesting here. But got shocked when I heard from iitsriram that you need to even take permission/approval (not just informing) during vacation to take visiting position abroad !!
Hello All,
I have been reading the blogs about taking visiting position abroad during vacation.
Let me tell you something. I have been researching in the west for last 5 yrs and its a fact that 70-80 % of the Professors have not even heard about IIT Research. Some know because of Indian immigration (who are from IIT) but rest have no clue that IIT can be considered as a world class institute. This is all due to these barriers of not allowing to take up visiting positions anywhere in the world during free/vacation time (due to unnecessary permission/approvals etc which can just be done by informing). Lack of popularity !! It creates 2 major obstacles: a) One cannot easily switch between IIT and Foreign Universities b) Hinders strong international collaborations..I feel this needs to be addressed seriously.
I said "even if you are going abroad on your own personal business using your own money, you still need permission, as a government servant" and this is what the government service rules say. Of course, IITM also automatically gives the required permission for anyone asking to go abroad either on personal trips or for official purposes (never mind what some IITM bashers want to believe and have put down here). There are some restrictions on taking up paid positions during vacation as it may amount to taking up a second job. Yes, free country, whatever, but government servants are not permitted to take up second jobs. IISc has been liberal in applying some of these rules and IITM is perhaps a bit more conservative. Oh, yes, government servants including all IIX employees can't get passports without a no objection certificate. If I leave it here, some anon will state authoritatively that IISc and IITB give no objection certificates on the spot simply on thought triggered demand whereas IITM mostly refuses to give after making you apply in triplicate and therefore one should not apply to become faculty at IITM. IITM gives no objection certificates for passports (and foreign visa applications) usually the same day they are asked for. I have only applied for US visa and they don't ask for this NOC, but I see people requesting NOCs for all kinds of foreign visas, so I presume some countries ask for this when you apply for a visa.
There are many strange government rules and whether IITM implements them or not, these rules exist. For example, all government servants need approval to appear on TV or radio broadcasts, or even to write something in a newspaper, with some exceptions. Yeah, yeah one more reason not to apply to or accept a faculty position at IITM ...
Oh, forgot. Pl add :-) at appropriate places.
About vacation / visiting appointments etc. It may not be a big deal in US univs as faculty get 9 months salary only. IIX pay 12 months salary, so it may not be out of place to put some restrictions on what you do during vacation. In which other job would you get three months paid vacation? Or sabbaticals? Typical US sabbatical arrangement is half salary from home institution and half salary from host institution, but standard Indian practice (followed by all IIX, including IITM) is full salary from both, so, yes, during the sabbatical period, you can get double salary. Not bad, no?
@iitmsriram, anon and others
Agreed that these archaic rules exist. Has IITM or any IIT/IISc taken it up with the Govt. or HRD in abolishing/modifying these constricting or superfluous rules. IIT/IISc prof's though technically govt servants are not exactly like IAS/IPS officers. International collaborations are the life blood of researchers and we cannot live inside our own glass house.
These rules may just be a mere formality, but their existence can be used as weapon against faculty by administrators who do not get along with a faculty or another. Abolishing these rules will bring more autonomy and greater freedom to faculty, which I think is not a bad thing.
regards
RN
@ RN,
I agree with you. If there exists rules of not even getting an Honorarium for visiting positions abroad during vacations, then it is simply not justified !! Visiting is a must for all faculties every yr so that international collaborations can bring the research to world level.
@ itmsriram,
"Yes, free country, whatever, but government servants are not permitted to take up second jobs" ..what do you signify by second job ?? Is getting an honorarium during foreign visit (in vacation) a second salary ?? Not just IISc but IITB also does not restrict a faculty from getting paid an honorarium for his visit abroad during vacation.
Could you please shed some light on this ?
@ iitmsriram,
I think the point made here is justified. Its very strange that honorarium visiting potion for 1-2 months abroad is considered a 2nd Job @ IITM....?
Is it really possible to develop international collaborators without visiting them and their lab and that too for free?
"Not bad, no?"
Yes it is bad. Prof Sriram, I am afraid, you have missed the point. We all understand that there need to be some limitations and constraints associated with the job. But the process of imposing them makes the whole difference. The administrative approach at IITM seems to be that you first impose restrictions to prevent all kinds of wrongdoings. A faculty is then expected to seek permissions and approvals to remove these restrictions. This is a negative approach. A positive approach would be to not seek to plug all wrongdoings, but instead promote right-doings. You can penalize wrongdoings.
For eg, in the foreign travel case, you could ask that a faculty informs admin of travel plans within 8 weeks prior to departure. And admin undertakes to inform the faculty of any objection these plans within 6 weeks of departure, with the rider that no response from IITM within the time frame will be taken as approval or consent for travel. This way the default position is of approval and the onus is on the admin to register its objections, rather than the onus being on the faculty to seek permission. This process promotes good planning and organisation. In the exceptional case of urgent travel, you can impose the current route of taking permissions etc.
@ Ankur,
Spot on !
The negative mindset @ IITM (or any other if they behave similar) needs drastic alteration. Moreover, how can one establish foreign international collaborations without visiting them and that too for free ? Its amazing concept from IITM.
By the way, ankur IITB is flexible with honorarium based visiting during vacation? Do you know about rules from other IIT about this?
Thanks
You are right ankur. first imposing restrictions and then ask faculty to beg for permission is a negative attitude of an administrator as mentioned above and seems to be practiced at IITM.
Anon above, 1:09 am, yes, at IITB you can accept honorarium during your vacation abroad with institute salary. it is allowed and as mentioned above by others, it is necessary if we talk about international collaborations, research, publications, foreign student guidance etc. more.
As iitmsriram mentioned, no, it's not enjoying 2 salaries, because for 2 months vacation, it's honorarium, there is a difference between salary which is regular and honorarium which is temporary. as indicated above in another post, there are few differences between iit faculty and govt. babus (ias, ips etc.), even while following duty norms etc. which is in IITs hand as autonomous institute and IISc is right and use the autonomy properly.
@ July 20, 2012 1:29 AM,
Its good to know that IITB does not exhibit this authoritative illogical arguments (like considering 2 salaries) ! Off-course its implied and understood everywhere that honorarium based visiting is not at all a regular salary !!
IITM must realize that these rules are repelling applicants from applying and joining the institute..as well as forbidding them to do international collaborations. Its shocking to know that how can one use his own personal money to bear the visiting expense without accepting the honorarium of foreign visit during vacation..
@ Anon, 1:29 AM
Thanks its useful information to know about IITB visiting policy.
Could you shed some light on other IIT rules (except IITM) about visiting ?
Thanks a lot.
Hi All,
Can anybody tells me if CSIR labs and other Govt. Research Institutions like Raman Research Institute or Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics provide Rs 3 lakhs/3year fund for attending conference abroad like IITs/IISERs. Thanks a lot.
SP
All postings above prove that only good players (good researchers) can become good coaches (good administrators) in future in academic institutions, e.g. IISc, IITB. And bad players............
@ July 20, 2012 2:29 AM,
I echo what you opine !!
Forceful deployment of bad protocols causes repulse among potentially high quality aspirants and creates unnecessary bottlenecks in producing world class research for existing ones.
Really, IITM rules are shocking where honorarium (for 1-2 months) is considered 2nd salary !!
So are international collaborations at IITM done through email and telephone ????? !!
Seems to me that only IITB and IISc have any semblance of being a world class university.
how does one rate these inst. compared to others in India? are they really a cut above?
@ July 20, 2012 4:15 AM,
Well, true IISc and IITB are really better. But I am not sure about other IIT's such as IITK, IITG, IITJ, IITH, IITD etc ..?
@ Others, Anon,
I am looking for others opinion to tell us about the visiting position rules abroad during vacation period.
Please put in your feedback for this hot topic of discussion.
Hello ALL,
I definitely back IISc, Bangalore as one of the best in the world. I have worked in an engg dept as a short term researcher there and my experience dealing with them was memorable.
They were supportive, prompt and professional.
Hello,
Yes we would all like to know about the visiting research rules abroad during vacation period (including honorarium rules) at all IIT's except IITM. This will help prospective faculties to decide which institute serves their long term research goals and faculty freedom.
IITB we all know is very flexible and supportive. What are the rules for other IIT's ?
@Giridhar - Thanks for the clarification on personal vs. official travel. Makes sense.
Hi everyone,
I am a scientist appointed in ICAR. I had a small technical query about the scheme of grating 5 non-compounded increments to PhD holders.
As per CCS (Revised Pay) Rules 2008, Rule 9, "the rate of increment in the revised pay structure will be 3% of the sum of the pay in payband and gradepay applicable, which will be rounded off to the next multiple of 10."
My query is that whether this rounding off will be on 1 increment or sum of all increments.
For example if rounding is on one increment: One increment = 21600 * 0.03 = 648 = Rounded to 650; 5 non-compounded increments = 5 * 650= 3250; Final basic = 15600+ 3250 + RGP 6000 = 24850
For example if rounding is on final amount: One increment = 21600 * 0.03 = 648; 5 non-compounded increments= 5 * 648 = 3240 (No need to round off as already multiple of 10); Final basic = 15600+3240+RGP 6000 = 24840
Do anyone of you have the idea how rounding off will be done?
Best regards
Just to let you know that I had applied to IIT Indore several months back, even did not receive an acknowledgement so far.
Childrens of lesser Gods!
@IITM Professor Sriram,
Is it today that the IITM faculty selection list expected to be finalized? If so, when can the candidates expect the intimation?
Has anyone been intimated about IITM selection results?
@Anon, 5:33 PM, 5:47 PM, 5:48 PM,
Wait, wait, see iitm website. Today is the 49th Convocation. So everyone must be busy there. And on Convo day BOG Chairman comes and signs all offer letters, so you may expect results soon.
Hello,
Yes we would all like to know about the visiting research rules abroad during vacation period (including honorarium rules) at all IIT's except IITM. This will help prospective faculties to decide which institute serves their long term research goals and faculty freedom.
IITB we all know is very flexible and supportive. What are the rules for other IIT's ?
Well, true IISc and IITB are really better. But I am not sure about other IIT's such as IITK, IITG, IITJ, IITH, IITD etc ..?
@ankur writes "This way the default position is of approval and the onus is on the admin to register its objections". What objections? My post notes that approvals are given automatically. I am not aware of a single case where approval has not been given. There may be some accounting issues like on duty, special casual leave, vacation, earned leave etc, but everyone gets the approval. And, my comment "not bad no" was in the context of typical sabbatical provisions.
It is also interesting to note a mindset in some anon commentators. I have only noted that there are some restrictions at IITM on taking up external paid positions; here is my exact wording " There are some restrictions on taking up paid positions during vacation as it may amount to taking up a second job." - there is no bar on accepting travel and local hospitality (living expenses) and any honorarium intended to cover this is not considered a paid position by IITM either. But before I can reply, some anons want to pile on and conclude that IITM is evil. To reiterate, IITM allows you to take up regular paid (salaried) position during summer only once in three years but if the external support in intended to cover your costs in the form of an honorarium, faculty members can avail this every summer. Over 150 IITM faculty members have gone abroad during this summer for various durations (few days to few months). This figure is of the same order as at IITB, so I am not able to conclude that IITM protocols are preventing people from going abroad, except in the minds of some anons here. Most rules are only subtly different between IITs (could be quite different at IISc) and I have not come across any drastic differences across IITs on any rule that might influence a faculty member to choose one over another.
@ iitmsriram,
Thank you for the clarifications.
It clears the cloud of doubt in the mind of many prospective faculties. Due to lack of transparency in your comments, we all had a different perception (which off-course has now been cleared).
We can all now happily consider IITM for future faculty positions !
Prof Sriram, an arrangement where approvals are given automatically and one where no approval is required by default, are qualitatively different, even though operationally they make look the same. You seem to have tried to make things efficient by giving approvals speedily; I am saying give approvals by default and deal only with objections if any.
The way I see it, the ideal arrangement should require no faculty to petition an administrator for things he wants to do to excel at his job. Else we have the terrible thing that happened when Saswata wanted to pay his grad student a topup. He only needs to be stopped if he what he does can cause any problem in at the institute level. Besides, this particular foreign travel approval is only an example. What about other cases where approvals are not automatic or quick? Doesn't requiring approvals make things cumbersome for faculty? And as administrator how many vacuous approvals will you keep processing?
I am also sorry to have spurred other anons to attack you. Other anons, Prof Sriram has been extremely gracious in discussing these things with us. It is not classy to deride him anonymously.
@ Ankur,
You are right. No approval (just notifying) is better than automatic approval.
Faculty must have all freedom (by at the same time being withing the norms of the institute) to excel in his job.
There is no doubt about this. For e.g. Prof.Sriram has cleared the doubt about accepting Honorarily Visiting Positions abroad in vacation as a faculty @ IIT, but subject o automatic approval. This is unnecessary paperwork and formality. One should be allowed to just fill a form and inform the admin before leaving for such positions. This gives a solid chance for the New Professors to excel in their research.
"I definitely back IISc, Bangalore as one of the best in the world. They were supportive, prompt and professional."
I think IISc has a huge variation. Some departments are great in professionalism and doing things democratically while others excel in functioning in archaic outdated ways. I believe that for an young researcher the best thing to do is to find colleagues who are supportive, talk about research and try to bring any positive change.
@ankur wonders "And as administrator how many vacuous approvals will you keep processing?". Yes, I spend hours doing this - because there is still some abuse, obvious abuse, usually seniors from my deprived generation. One approach is to say forget it. But that may set a bad precedent for todays younger generation to follow ...
I completely agree with Ankur's comment that "an arrangement where approvals are given automatically and one where no approval is required by default, are qualitatively different". In the second case, it gives a power to the administrators to harass a faculty member whose opinion doesn't match with the administrators. In the first case, the administrators have no such power. That's why the administrators prefer the first option, whereas any young faculty would prefer the second option. It's a remarkable attitude that the administrators of IISc and IITB have relinquished this power to attract better faculty member.I can tell that my IIT (Guwahati) administrators haven't done so, and I can see that IITM administrators are also not willing to do so. As a result, it's not a matter of chance that IITB is often ranked the first among IITs and IISc is often ranked first among the research institutes of India!
@saswata
"It's a remarkable attitude that the administrators of IISc and IITB have relinquished this power to attract better faculty member."
If you are talking about power to grant permission to go abroad, at least in IISc, the admin does indeed holds the power. It is only for the domestic travel that we just need to inform. I don't see significant differences between IITM or IISc or IITG in this matter, so we are all pretty much equal! Please check my and Giridhar's earlier comments.
@vishu
In IITG, one needs to take approval even for domestic travel. I agree that IITB and IISc administrators have only relinquished some minor part of the power that they hold, and therefore such attitude has to be lauded only a little bit! Of course, they can improve a lot in other aspects. (As Anon uncle suggests, giving a credit card for each research grant is a routine thing in US universities.) The administrators of IITG and IITM can at least show some intent to relinquish minor power if they want to attract and retain good faculty members!
Just to add, since most aspiring IIT faculty members are in my age group, I have a very clear idea of the preference of recent Ph.D.s w.r.t. choosing an old IIT (I don't have such information about the choice among new IITs and Roorkee). In particular, IIT Kharagpur is the least preferred followed by Guwahati, and Madras. IIT Kharagpur administration went ahead to suspend a faculty member, and that has clearly created a ripple among aspiring faculty members. Many faculty members use Guwahati to start their career as the recruitment policy if flexible here, but a number of faculty members have left the institute or are applying to other IITs mostly due to personal issues and partially due to the administration. And for Madras, I can tell that I know two very good candidates who refused to apply there citing the backward administration as the reason!
I do not personally benefit by making this information publicly available for the concerned administrators. My only hope is that these administrators become more progressive.
). In particular, IIT Kharagpur is the least preferred followed by Guwahati, and Madras. IIT Kharagpur administration went ahead to suspend a faculty member, and that has clearly created a ripple among aspiring faculty members. Many faculty members use Guwahati to start their career as the recruitment policy if flexible here, but a number of faculty members have left the institute or are applying to other IITs mostly due to personal issues and partially due to the administration. And for Madras, I can tell that I know two very good candidates who refused to apply there citing the backward administration as the reason!
I do not personally benefit by making this information publicly available for the concerned administration. My only hope is that these administrators become more progressive.
@ Vishu,
I still emphasize that no approval is needed for going abroad on a visiting position during VACATION (just informing should be enough). Well off-course as IITMSriram pointed out that automatic approval is given, but it still creates paperwork and chances that a faculty may be harassed.
Thats how a better system works efficiently !
@ Saswata: Agree with you. Its no doubt that young faculties would prefer academic freedom to excel. But anyways, we should be happy that at least we are given automatic approval for taking honorarium visiting positions during vacation !! :)
@ SASWATA:
What did you say? at IITG you need to take permission for domestic travel during vacation??????????????????
are you talking about professional or personal travel??????????? (no matter in both cases it is ridiculous !!)
@ sasawata:
Just to add up, is it automatic approval of the permission (domestic and international like how Prof. Sriram said in IITM) or frustrating ?
Let me also add to what Saswata is saying as far as young faculty are concerned. Often academic freedom made the big USP of IIT faculty positions. Academic freedom matters to young faculty, but only to an extent. It matters to the extent that it takes away a few constraints from research. What matters as much is whether one has the capability to utilize this freedom to succeed, and which includes things like admin efficiency, flexible rules, congenial environmen, ample funding etc. Shortcomings on these fronts cannot be compensated by the promise of more academic freedom, especially freedoms irrelevant to research like freedom to teach and grade students the way one likes.
Young faculty are not hermits meditating in a forest nor are they saints willing to dedicate their lives merely to "train the next generation of engineers" and they certainly are not people looking for a quaint early retirement to twiddle with some hobbies. They have things to achieve for themselves (especially those with postdoc experience; they would have already built a reputation for themselves). They are part of a global faculty market and want to deliver at globally competitive levels. For this they expect global standards of support. If IIXs tap into this energy, the could hit top 100 ranks in 10 years. Else we will have this conversation again 10 years from now.
@ Ankur,
I agree with this. Academic freedom with respect to research is what we are talking about. Enough funds and license to do international collaborations (courtesy international visit) are the primary requirements !
Regarding your comment that only faculties with post-doc exp have already built up reputation, I do not agree. People with Foreign Ph.D with tons of National level/state level research awards from Ministry, Patents and high quality tier-1 research journal and conf papers (around 40 papers by end of Ph.D itself) do also have extremely strong reputation already. Some of them have during Ph.D already got nominated for prestigious Marquis Whos Who in the World award and research excellence from Govt.(which 80 % post-docs may not have and only few faculties @ IIT have gotten it at Assoc.Prof level). All these guys want to maintain their international standard !!
Get these people in and give them desired hassle free academic research freedom. Check the rankings of IIT after 5 yrs. The results will speak itself !
@Anon 8:29
The leave application form can be seen here: http://www.iitg.ernet.in/saswata.sh/leave_form.pdf
All leave applications except casual leaves (8 days per year) require permission here; just informing is not enough. This includes going to a Himalayan trek with your own money during the vacation period without having any duty attached to you! I hope everyone understands how ridiculous IITG administration is.
@ saswata:
Really Ridiculous!! okay, so faculties have to take permission, but is it like automatic permission like IITM with only paperwork (like prof Sriram told) ??
Or has there been illogical rejections to the leave (without any reason) ??
@Anon 9:25
So far, it has been automatic for me. But the process typically takes three weeks, and this means that you HAVE to apply 3 weeks in advance. And, then the loophole exists to harass a faculty member as they have done to me when I asked for Ph.D. top-up salary within institute rules.
IIT Guwahati has more ridiculous rules. Each M.Tech. and Ph.D. student needs to sign on a register everyday. Each student in the institute needs to take a no-objection-certificate from each faculty members of his/her department when he/she finishes the course. Each faculty needs to fill-up more forms (called "station-leave" forms) even after the leave is sanctioned. Finally, the most ridiculous of all: if any faculty member wants to travel beyond ~300 Kms from IITG even on a weekend, one needs to "inform" the department early.
Sounds similar to a prison environment? Of course, Prof. Barua and his Deans spend hours everyday over signing on so many forms. This leads to a h-index of 3, which is hardly surprising!
@ saswata,
Very ridiculous indeed, agree.
Regarding "Each faculty needs to fill-up more forms (called "station-leave" forms) even after the leave is sanctioned."..what is this for ??
And moreover the BIG question of all: Has there been any rejection till now to any faculty on the travel issues:Domestic or International ?? I am asking because if there is automatic approval (even with delay of few weeks) I would still bear with it, compared to travel rejection (even with invitation letters)?
Thanks.
Saswata above,
In a way, all this is really eye-opening. Thank you for exposing the hurdles that a Faculty faces on the "ground floor".
Aspirants outside of the Institute rarely get to know what is going on inside, if at all, its through (paid) news in Newschannels/newspapers. Lets just hope that other faculties in other IIXs are just as forthcoming and blunt...
@Anon 10:09
I don't know why a "station-leave form" needs to filled-up even after the leave is sanctioned. The forms don't end even after you come back after the leave is over. You need to fill-up another form called "re-joining" form. Please don't ask me why these forms are there, you may direct that question to the Director Prof. Barua. I know he reads this blog regularly after finishing his daily "duty" of signing on all these "very important" forms.
No, I haven't heard any case where a leave had not been sanctioned during the vacation period. I will gather more information and then update.
@Anon 10:14
Most of the draconian rules and forms are given on Intranet, which can only be accessed from inside the institute. The "good rules" are given on the Internet. I consider it as my duty to expose the ground reality to prospective faculty members, even at my own personal cost and time.
Let me end this leave-related discussion with a poem copied from Prof. Dheeraj Sanghi's (another crusader against the draconian IIT Directors) blog. In summary, it means that the faculty members in India need to come out and speak, rather than sitting silently and hoping that a change would happen. I request the anons and silent readers to come out in the open.
First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
"Patents and high quality tier-1 research journal and conf papers (around 40 papers by end of Ph.D itself) do also have extremely strong reputation already."
Then one should NEVER apply for position in IIT-Madras. I got my Ph.D from IISc (research supervisor is a good friend of Prof. Giridhar) and had published 18 papers. Came to USA to do postdoc and applied to various IITs following the advice of the site.
Two weeks back or so, I was interviewed by IIT-M. The director asked me how I published so much for my Ph.D and why all of this is important. I pointed to him that the papers were in high impact journals, of very good quality etc. He said that unless the papers have any social impact, all these are useless. When I told him that I am a scientist and not a technologist, he was very unhappy.
I was waiting for the result for IITM today but luckily I got an offer from another established IIT today. It is a no brainer where I am going to join.
@ July 21, 2012 10:40 PM,
Its good to know the inside story. Its horrible and depressing.
Anyways congos for your selection @ IIT. But would you let me know when did you apply and how long the whole processing took??
Thanks.
@ saswata:
Thanks. Will wait for further updates.
Hi All,
Does anyone have any updates about the upcoming selection cycle of August @ IITD?
Also any recruitment cycle for IITB in August 2012?
Thank you all.
I applied in Jan. I was interviewed by Skype in April/May by the department of the three IITs. IIT-Hyd did not even acknowledge my application.
The selection committee by the IITs were held in June and July. Only the interview by IIT-M was depressing but the department was nice.
I applied in Jan. I was interviewed by Skype in April/May by the department of the three IITs. IIT-Hyd did not even acknowledge my application.
The selection committee by the IITs were held in June and July. Only the interview by IIT-M was depressing but the department was nice.
--
Do I know you? You say that your advisor in IISc is my friend.
Giridhar
2July 21, 2012 11:11 PM,
Thanks ! Was your seminar/interview conducted all in one day? Do you when is the next selection cycle for the IIT's that you applied and also after how long did they notify you that you will be interview by the selection committee? I am still waiting .....will appreciate if you classify the types of questions asked in seminar/interview and in selection committee interview.
Thanks a lot.
No, Sir. I have never talked to you but I have seen you have coffee with my ex-research supervisor.
@ July 21, 2012 11:11 PM,
Thanks ! Was your seminar/interview conducted all in one day? Do you when is the next selection cycle for the IIT's that you applied and also after how long did they notify you that you will be interview by the selection committee? I am still waiting .....will appreciate if you classify the types of questions asked in seminar/interview and in selection committee interview.
Thanks a lot.
@Saswata:
I admire your courage to expose the inefficient administration in IITG. I also hope you have like-minded colleagues who will support you in case of any punitive action by your administration. It should not come as a surprise if such public embarrassment will cause the administrators to rethink their policies and we start seeing some positive changes in the administration at IITG.
Having said that, readers would like to read more such instances of inefficient administration, archaic practices, etc., from readers of this blog working at other IIX.
-Wilkerson
@ Wilkerson:
Cannot agree with you more. readers are highly curious to know more about the administration @ other IIT's.
@ Saswata:
Hats off to your efforts !!
anon states IITM director "asked me how I published so much for my Ph.D and why all of this is important" and goes on to advise "one should NEVER apply for position in IIT-Madras". The response of this anon to the question at the interview has something telling - it appears anon cannot place the 18 papers in high impact journals in a research context that can be explained in a few sentences. Might as well have responded that "my guide is good and by following guide's instructions, I produced lots of papers". If I am not mistaken, I walked by when this exchange was going on (our anon friend might have noticed). Being able to place one's research in a broader context is something expected of a faculty member.
About the calendar / timing, IITM advertised at the end of March. (So, anon's January application would have been against the standing advertisement, but IITM invited all such pending applicants to send an updated bio to be considered against the March ad). The closing date on the advertisement was in early May, the interview call letters were sent out at the end of May / early June for interviews in end of June / early July (minimum three weeks notice). IITM reimburses full airfare for candidates within India and upto Rs.25000 for candidates from abroad, so three weeks is not a bad notice. Offer letters went out on July 20. Overall time frame will be similar for IITs that place similar ads and do bunch of departments at a time. Some (IITB, for example) do one department at a time, so time frames can be shorter (or longer) than above.
To the person with 18 pub and got bad experience in IIT-M:
If you have answered like this "my guide is good and by following guide's instructions, I produced lots of papers"; its no wonder that you have not got the offer from IIT-M.
Please do not mislead prospective faculty about any particular IIT. I have seen lot of people in this blog are in "grapes are sour" mood. If one doesn't get the chance in old IITs they just cant accept the fact that their interview went wrong. I am not denying the fact that many deserving candidates got rejected...but its not like that all the rejected candidates were exceptional or genius. If i am not wrong i can also identify this candidate (with 18pub phd from iisc) in IIT-M interview as i was present there as another faculty candidate.
Peace dude!! u are in the right place which u really deserve!!
M
M,
Read the comment properly. I did not respond like that. That is the opinion of iitm sriram who says my answer was equivalent of this. I said, "My papers center about the ...and I have made a fundamental contribution to this area in the following way. While my initial papers reported the phenomena, my next set of papers were on modeling the same phenomena by a new technique developed by me. Because both my observation of the phenomena as well as modeling of the phenomena was new, I was able to publish a lot of papers."
Do not criticize me without reading what I said.
Anyway, I am happy going to another IIT.
M,
I am also surprised that you claim to have met me during the interview. I was interviewed by skype. Unless you were in the interview room along with the selection committee members, how did you meet me?
I gave a talk at IIT Kanpur in April. Can anyone comment on the selection process?
Do they also follow procedures like selection committee etc?
@Sanjeev (July 04)
Comments:
``Why should someone mention they got the Bhatnagar or that they have so many publications etc. The most famous faculty in chemical engineering, Professor Kumar and Kumaran. They have outdated pages but everyone knows...
In India, we do not trumpet our achievements...Giri's home page has so many details including list of publications and what his past students are doing...how does it matter and who cares ??''
Anonymous Reply: As a Chemical Engg faculty in IIX, I know both Professors Kumar and Kumaran. Yes I agree with Sanjeev that Prof. Kumaran is excellent based on Prof. Kumaran's contribution on fundamentals and applications results in highly ranked journals. Prof. Giri's volumnous work resulted in approximately 300 journals with more than 35 h-index. On the other hand Prof. Kumar had very few papers. He worked in only ONE/TWO area. Most of his works are with Prof. Gandhi.
Prof. Kumar published hardly 70-80 papers but their impact is not good. He has a very good political connection. However, Prof. Kumar is a very nice speaker. In fact, we have very good political leaders who can even talk better than Prof Kumar. In fact, his few papers were contributed by most of his good students. Some of his good students did not get even faculty job in IITs as they got bad recommendation letters. One of his FAVORITE students is a faculty in IIX and I find that he is not doing anything innovative!
Profs. Kumaran and Madras contributed significantly in academia and they appreciate their students' skill to contribute further in academia. They are the key leaders in Chemical Engg in our country.
@Anonymous: July 21, 2012 10:40 PM
You should not be disappointed. This is quite common. In fact, I have heard that a few candidates with good publication records were interviewed in old IIX. Boss, you are a possible threat to the senior colleagues who do not even have 20 papers in their whole life. The comments what you received is the outcome of their frustration, agony and failure(?). In fact when I was turned down promotion in an IIX, I saw my 2-3 colleagues got promoted with much less papers! This IIX system does discourage people who publish, but you should ovecome, and win the game! All the best for your new job in an IIX!
@Prof. Sriram
I am again disappointed with your response to the anon to whom you suggested to reply "my guide is good and by following guide's instructions, I produced lots of papers". You have written that "I walked by when this exchange was going on" which clearly tells that you heard only a MINOR part of the conversation. How can you come to the conclusion that the applicant couldn't explain his research accomplishments in a paragraph or that (s)he blindly followed his/her guide's instructions?
As I have told you yesterday, I know two excellent candidates who didn't apply to IITM citing backward administration as the reason. Such replies from you, whom I used to appreciate a lot due to your suggestions on this blog, are not going to improve the credibility of IITM administration.
Prof. Madras,
Can you please let me know whether NITs also reimburse the relocation allowance (air fare for family) for candidates coming form abroad to join as AP?
Hi,
What I dont understand is that what is the purpose of asking such questions like "....how I published so much for my Ph.D ...." ?
What is it the interviewer is trying to judge from the answer of the question? I believe the candidate did answer correctly...so what are they seeking for ?
I'm a recent recipient of both Ramanujan and inspire fellowships. The Idea of these fellowships is that they could be availed in any IITs/IISc/any labs. But when you approach the IITs they say that they consider these fellows only for regularly appointed faculty. Infact they atleast respect Ramanujan but Inspire they don't even want to listen the name. one faculty wrote to me that Inspire is awarded for low quality aspirants.I can't understand why and for what purpose are these fellowships instituted by DST. I think DST should strongly advise these institutions Afterall everyone goes through the same selection process.
@ July 22, 2012 7:12 PM,
Its unbelievable !
You mean IIX do not consider OCAP for Ramanujan , Swarnajayanti, INSPIRE, etc ?
But its not right, they should.
Can anyone comment on the selection process @ IITK.
Do they also follow procedures like selection committee etc?
I called Mr. Kohli yesterday for Ramanujan fellowship. He said the results would be send through post in 10 days. Apparently, he gave the same reply 10 days ago also. He said the results would be out by July 1st week in the last month. I am not sure what is the problem in posting it on their website.
When I asked him whether the selection has already been made he did not answer and told the same reply that it would be out in 10 days. I am not sure whether he really knows what 10 days is.
I called him last week and he said that I was selected referring to the selection list and also said that they will post in website soon .
If you look at the past announcements of Ramanujan, they have appeared at least three months after the selection has been made (the date of the selection committee meeting is mentioned in the announcement). July meeting. Oct announcement, Dec meeting Mar announcement, etc. Going by this trend, since the meeting was supposedly held in early May, I don't expect the announcement to come before first week August. Btw, does any one know when the next meeting will be or was held after the May meeting?
Hi Saswata:
I am Anonymous: July 21, 2012 10:40 PM
I fully agree with you and please note that entire administration with competent authorities have in general poor credential except IISc. As they do not have much papers, they will continue to behave in a same manner. It may be in any IITs except IIT K. However, you may find a few PRODUCTIVE good faculty who are not liked by administration.
For Ramanujan Fellow aspirants:
Dr. Kohli talked about this "10 days" even in early May, during the Ramanujan fellows conclave at Pune. We should appreciate him in the sense that he doesn't change his words too often, and have maintained consistency till late July.
Someone wrote me an email asking why I have problems with so many administrators. I replied: there are so many problematic administrators, and that's not my fault!
This is what our anon friend posted originally. "The director asked me how I published so much for my Ph.D and why all of this is important. I pointed to him that the papers were in high impact journals, of very good quality etc. He said that unless the papers have any social impact, all these are useless. When I told him that I am a scientist and not a technologist, he was very unhappy."
Now, there is nothing in above about any other manner in which our anon friend replied. I walked by and was there long enough to witness most of this and the interview then moved on to something else with one of the subject area experts - anon friend could confirm or refute this. It was based partly on my recollection and more on the original posting by anon that I suggested that our anon friend appears to not have been able to place his research in a broader context. If indeed there was another exchange and our anon friend did put the specific work in context, then whatever I stated is irrelevant. Our anon friend has replied, meantime, but I am hard pressed to see in that response also how the work is placed in a broader context. Of course, anon friend wants to remain anon and cannot give too much specific details which might help and place the work in a context, so, let us leave it at that.
And, Saswata, how much does admin determine faculty selections? The selection committee consists of two subject matter experts from external institutions, the Director and the head of the concerned department (plus a couple of mostly silent members). So, the selection is going to be largely driven by technical experts. And, the two candidates we talked about, well, one is a department level problem - what can central admin do about it? Faculty within the department decide who they would like to be the HoD, central admin cannot throw these HoDs out unless there is major cause for action. And, the other candidate who does not want to apply because he read something in the newspapers about something that might have been said by the Dean of Students about some student issues. I think that is a bit of a stretch. I think faculty candidates should be more thoughtful than taking such important career decisions based on newspaper reports that might or might not be the whole truth. A personal visit to the department and Institute might present a completely different picture.
@Prof. Sriram
As we discussed earlier, I agree that one of these two candidates had problem with the HoD and the other one had a problem with the IITM administration issuing a notice to all female students to be escorted by male students after 11 pm. (I forgot the issue yesterday, but remembered it today.)
See I understand that one should visit the department, interact with the faculty etc. before taking a decision. But please understand that a candidate would not even visit an institute if (s)he has a (perceived) problem with the administration. In such a scenario, if you comment like that ("my guide is good and by following guide's instructions, I produced lots of papers"), it would again create a bad impression on an applicant's mind who was possibly unsure about joining IITM.
Finally, I would like you to agree that a Director asking "how I published so much for my Ph.D" is insulting to a candidate! The second part of the question "why all of this is important" is relevant and I don't see any problem with it. (I am assuming that the correct interaction has been presented by the anon.) This anon even doesn't know whether (s)he has been selected for IITM, but has already decided to move to IITK. If all these happens for a comment, I think you would understand how sensitive comments can be in a practical scenario. [I personally don't get much emotional with comments by Directors/Deans; otherwise I would have left IITG long time back. But many people do; that's all I wanted to tell you.]
July 21, 2012 11:11 PM,
Extending my heart felt congrats for your selection @IITK, I would be very appreciative if you let me know whether IITK agreed to conduct your interview with selection committee over skype.
Also, usually the seminar followed by skype are conducted in successive days..but from your case it seems that you had it a gap of 1 month. Can you shed some light on this ?
Thanks in advance.
@July 21, 2012 11:11 PM,
Just to add up, I am specifically directing my question to the candidate recently selected @ IITK on July 21, 2012.
Though feedbacks from others are also welcome.
I think we over speculating the case of the 18 paper anon. The director's comment could well have been intended to test the anon's composure. Without the anon or Prof Sriram coming out with specifics we can't say more.
However Prof Sriram I do sense a certain status-quoism in your defence of administrators. I think that more than anything else will put off young applicants, the performance of IITM on the ground notwithstanding.
Can someone please answer to my post about IITK...its very urgent in kaing a decision.
Thanks.
Perhaps Prof Giridhar can shed some light on this --
I was under the impression that Ramanujan selection meetings are held every six months, so about twice a year. In 2010 there were two meetings for sure. But I just noticed that in 2011, there was only one meeting (Aug 2011). Was there no selection meeting after that one? Aug-May is a long gap and the committee would have received a large number of applications in the interim and may make selection harder. Prof Giridhar, do you know what the reason behind this is?
@Ankur
Some fellows were selected in early 2012 as well, which means there was a meeting between Aug 2011 and May 2012.
Thanks Saswata. Are those results not available on the internet?
@Ankur:
No, that list has vanished! The list where I had been selected is still shown as the latest list!
Anyway, DST has published a book with the profiles of all Ramanujan fellows (distributed only to the fellows, and not outside!), but they lack server space to keep all the selection lists on their webpage (pun intended)!
Is there an increase in Fellowship for Ramanujan like Inspire at the moment or is it the same Rs 75000 and 5 lakhs grant
Hmm... I applied for Ramanujan fellowship in the first week of Jan 2012. So far I haven't heard anything from dst regarding my application. Is it time to forget about it?
Saswata, are you sure about the selection committee meeting between aug 2011 and may 2012 ?
How is IIT Kanpur for young faculty? I am surprised that people here never compare IITK/D with IISc, while IITM/B are often compared.
I am not asking about the selection process at IITK -- which I have heard is very transparent and efficient.
In particular, I would like to know mindset of Professors there, administration, promotion, funding, freedom, student resources.
If someone who recently joined IITK or have interviewed with IITK, may shed some light. Comparison with other IITs, and esp. IISc would be great.
-T2T
"feedbacks from others are also welcome" says anon about when / how seminars are held. I can share what is done at IITM plus add on my advice. Timing depends on the number of candidates and the schedule of the selection committee. If the number of candidates is reasonably small, seminar and selection interview are usually held on the same day and with large (>25 or so) candidates, there is no choice but to run these on successive days. However, with single day program, sometimes, there is a squeeze on the time allotted per candidate. In such cases, the department is encouraged to separately hold longer seminar sessions earlier (which will, of course, not be attended by the selection committee members), so the candidate gets a better chance to present the technical aspects of the research. Several departments (including mine) invite candidates to spend a day at the department anyway or at least have a longer separate Skype session so both candidate and department get a better mutual feel. Even if the department does not explicitly invite, I would suggest candidates get in touch with the HoD and ask for when would be a good time to visit the department since you are planning to be around anyway from blah to blah. Modern technology, video conferencing etc etc are all nice, but nothing to beat showing up in person and presenting your research with all the excitement you have for it. On selection / interview day, you are likely to be a bit nervous - if you have ice cold steely nerves, you don't need any advice. When you make that separate trip to the department, you are going to be among people like you, faculty members who have a healthy disdain for administrators and you can interact much better. And, when you come back to the selection committee, the familiar face of the favorably impressed HoD will be there to help put you are ease.
Any news about IITM faculty recruitment results? If any of the faculty applicants received the info, please consider to inform here.
Yes IITM has sent letters only to selected candidates
on june 20. people who did not receive a mail are not selected :(
@T2T, 6:52 AM,
Yes, people compare now IITB with IISc more than IITK. Though IITK is well known research institute among established old IITs. But progress of IITB in recent past (in terms of admin. and recruitment and less official delays) is noticeable more than others.
Also you can expect IITB recruitment and other admin related culture now in atleast other 2 old IITs (IITD, IITR), as both the directors are from IITB and they were well known admins. at IITB in recent past.
About selection at IITK, it is bit length/elaborate than other IITs as I personally felt. May be IITK is the only institute among other IITs, who give separate exclusive about 1 hour long seminar time at department for the new candidates. It may vary from dept. to dept. but for big dept.s at IITK it is usual. After that long seminar followed by Q&A and interaction with faculty members, DFAC (department faculty committee) meet on a suitable date before the date of selection (interview) is scheduled and recommend names to IFAC (Institute Faculty Committe). IFAC then may chnage the names in the given list by DFAC, but mostly accept it as it is. Then on interview date candidates appear for interview in front of selection committee. It's really transparent ofcourse and mor than that more detailed and vigorous, rather than giving just 10-15 min. for presentation. More to add, on the date of interview, inside the room also the candidate may be asked to present for 10 min. which will be additional. But it is not the case always, it's optional and depends on the committee members. So you can see, at IITK it takes longer time usually, compared to other IITs where seminar and interview are together (on same day or on two consecutive days).
All,
If anyone has the "missing" Ramanujan Fellowship list posted around March 2012, could you please share on scribd.com with a link.
Thanks.
Are you sure about the March 2012 list? I am surprised to hear about that !
Yes, there was a March 2012 list. It has magically disappeared from the website.
@ Anon July 23, 2012 1:00 PM and T2T:
I am a new faculty in IITB. I want to add that the selection procedure that you have described for IITK is very similar to that of IITB (at least in my case). I felt that the process was very transparent. But because of all the steps involved it can take long (often 8-10 months) from first application to offer.
@iitmsriram,
Thank you for the info. What happens when the applicant has applied for visiting (tenure track) position (since he missed the adv.) ? What are the steps after the HOD informs him that he is shortlisted ?
Thanks in advance.
@July 23, 2012 1:00 PM, T2T and anons,
Its disappointing to know that IITK process is lengthy. After I applied the HOD replied that he is willing to schedule a seminar for me. So I requested him for a skype interview and after his request, I sent him my skype id. But since then it has been around 10 days but no answer. Could you advise me whats is going on ?
Thanks.
@July 23, 2012 1:00 PM, T2T and anons,
Adding up, the HOD @ IITK did not reply me yet with the scheduled seminar date after upon his own request, I sent him my skype details.
Wait , I was told explicitly at IITK that they do not consider SKYPE seminars atleast in Physics, So I had to fly to INDIA and they do not pay domestic flights as well :(. ofcourse they paid me 3rd AC train fare some few thousand rupee :(
July 23, 2012 8:28 PM,
May be they are not considering Skype based seminar too..that's why they are not replying ..How many days you had to wait before you got the seminar date (after you were informed that you are shortlisted) ?
@rkumar, "Anonymous July 23, 2012 11:05 AM"
reg IITM faculty recruitment results: can someone who has received an "email" from IITM about the selection please confirm ...
@Anonymous: when you say "IITM has sent letters", you mean email+snail mail or just the latter?
can anyone who has received an email notification about selection please let us know?
anon wants to know "What happens when the applicant has applied for visiting position?" Well, the department handles the process till the formal approvals step; if the department is favorably impressed with the application, they will invite you to give a seminar (Skype or in person) and then (or even without the seminar) the department recommends to the admin to make a visiting offer. There is a standing committee that meets approximately once a month (more often if needed) that will then approve the departmental recommendation and send it on to the Board of Governors. The Board meets once in 3 months (July, Oct/Nov, Dec/Jan and Mar/Apr) and once the Board approves, the visiting offer is sent out. Depending on when the department makes the recommendation, it can be two weeks to 3-4 months before the offer is issued.
@iitmsriram,
Thank you for the info.
Once "...the department recommends to the admin to make a visiting offer.", then is the candidate informed about his selection through email? Or he has to wait till the official letter arrives.
Is the visiting (tenure track) faculty entitled to have startup funds and have Ph.D candidates?
Thanks.
@dd
I did not receive any email from IITM and hence I assumed that I have not been selected. As far as I understand from the information given by the department during the interviews, they will send an email first and the the appointment letter by post follows.
Dear rkKumar, If you have not received email by now from Dean Academic I'm sorry to say that your not selected. But I wish you all the best and I'm sure you will have success in future applications. I'm in the same shoe as you are and the department strongly recommended my application and even in the interview I felt I did really well. But then I really do not know why I was not selected.
Seeking opinion abt IIT-Gn, IIT ropar and IIT-Mandi?
Can anyone tell me how are these new IITs performing? I saw that IITGn might have fired some faculty? are they in Sci dept or Engg dept.? Also is it really true that they hire as OCAP although one has 3 yrs pdf experience?
Finally what abt IIT Mandi? Is it true also in IIT Mandi that some faculty got fired. I am really concerned abt this since I dont want to came back from USA to join an IIT where there is no job security..
Seeking opinion abt IIT-Gn, IIT ropar and IIT-Mandi?
Can anyone tell me how are these new IITs performing? I saw that IITGn might have fired some faculty? are they in Sci dept or Engg dept.? Also is it really true that they hire as OCAP although one has 3 yrs pdf experience?
Finally what abt IIT Mandi? Is it true also in IIT Mandi that some faculty got fired. I am really concerned abt this since I dont want to came back from USA to join an IIT where there is no job security..
Forgot to put my signature
Thanks a ton in advance
Nick
IIT Gn has definitely had layoffs, or voluntary quits in Physics - you can see just two faculties, earlier there were 5 different candidates.
Not heard abt others
Just wanted to let people know that I had my INSPIRE interview today early morning and my experience.
I had prepared 10 slides and was planning to talk about doctoral, postdoctoral and future work. But I think the interviewer was satisfied with seeing only my doctoral work and wanted to see future work. But the future work also depended on my postdoctoral work, so I asked for a few minutes to present that. After that the interviewer seemed content and wanted to end the interview. It seemed like they were a bit pressed for time.
What I liked above anything else was the conduct of the interviewer. He was inquisitive, scholarly and polite. It seemed like he was keen to understand with clarity whatever I have done. There definitely were no value-laden remarks (like the 18 paper anon received). Even when I was asked to explain applications of my work (which is always a problem for a theoretician :P), it seemed he was genuinely interested knowing them, rather than in picking low-hanging fruits to dismiss my work.
I was also very satisfied with the way the INSA staff has organised this whole thing - they were very courteous, sent out timely reminders/confirmations, and were clear in their communication. I even received a call on my phone before the interview asking me to be ready. Only thing was that they started earlier than they promised (they were going to start at 6.30am my time, but when they called me, they wanted to start at 6.10am); so I had to scamper to office. Those who have their interview in the future should anticipate this and prepare accordingly.
@iitmsriram,
Thank you for the info.
Once "...the department recommends to the admin to make a visiting offer.", then is the candidate informed about his selection through email? Or he has to wait till the official letter arrives.
Is the visiting (tenure track) faculty entitled to have startup funds and have Ph.D candidates?
Thanks.
Hi All,
Has anyone heard about any updates of being shortlisted for seminar/interview @ IIT-Guwahati ?
@ Saswata: Do you know how far is the processing and when is the probable emails going to be sent to the shortlisted candidates?
Thanks.
Just for info IITM physics received 220 applications this time and they offered only one position. If the competition for academic positions is so tough at Phd level. Imagine the how this could be for other jobs in India.
@Anon 7:32
No, I don't have any information.
Anon 11:05 above,
In the US, typically one gets ~500 applications for each position so the scene isnt "better". There is a severe glut in number of PhDs - how do you expect to choose 1 candidate from 220, of which atleast 22 must be of nearly equal merit ?
@Anon July 23, 2012 10:45 PM and Others
I have received the email from IIT Madras today (2 hours ago) and I am selected :) May be the admin is doing the process one after the other.
IITM Physics department received 212 assistant professor applications, 30 were called for interview and 3 have been selected and sent offer letters. (and rkumar is not one of these unless it is a pseudonym). IITs don't hire to fixed number of positions, so if, say, 4 candidates are found equally good, all 4 can be offered.
Visiting faculty are not eligible for start-up grants at IITM. This is usually not a major issue as in any case, new faculty are encouraged to apply for start-up grants only some months after they join so that other requirements like lab space, students etc are taken care of / on track. Visiting faculty can be guides, but they need to take on a permanent faculty member as co-guide. Likewise for applying for external projects.
(at IITM), when departments recommend for visiting faculty appointment, HoDs inform the candidate (admin will not). These are usually not turned down in the subsequent approval stages yet admin cannot inform the candidate as it is officially "pending".
iitmsriram,
Thank you for the info. I have 3 questions:
Q1) But it is true that visiting(tenure track) faculties are like contract faculties (for fixed 1-2 yrs) before they appear for selection committee for regularization. Then why is start up not allowed?
Q2) Are visiting(tenure track) faculties are not eligible for start up grants like OCAP/regular faculties then one has to wait until some funds (after applying to external govt agencies) comes in. Can you shed some light on it ?
Q3) Are visiting(tenure track) faculties eligible for Ramanujan, Inspire etc awards for grants ?
Thank you.
Dear prof. Barua,
Can you please shed some light on the probable date of informing candidates about being shortlisted for seminar/interview @ IIT-Guwahati ?? How many days prior to the seminar/interview dates the candidates will be informed ?
Thanks in advance.
responses to anon July 24, 2012 6:05 PM
(1) VIsiting faculty are "like" faculty on contract but not the same - for example, they have not been interviewed by a selection committee. Some privileges available to contract / permanent faculty are not available to visiting faculty.
(2) I am not sure I understand the question. Startup funding is not there, but yes, you can apply for projects and use that money when it comes in. But if your work is such that you need more investments from day 1 to be productive, you should really make some arrangement with the HoD and the Director so that some money is there upon arrival. Tell the Director at the interview that you need x money startup right away and if you look like you are good for it, the Director will find the money.
(3) These fellowships don't require you to hold a job, so there is no issue. The fellowship may pay more than the visiting salary.
@ iitmsriram,
Thank you for the info. It helps.
1) Extending the Q2, there needs to be some funds available for buying some SW/HW for the group. Without this nothing is possible. Also, how does visiting faculty pay the salary of the Ph.D/M.Tech students ?
2) Once the candidate gets the confirmation of visiting faculty from HOD, is he eligible to be nominated for the Ramanujan, Inspire etc awards (I am considering that institute nominated mode applicants have stronger chances of acceptance than direct mode) ?
Thank you.
Hi,
Can someone please discuss about the probable date of informing candidates about being shortlisted for seminar/interview @ IIT-Guwahati ?? How many days prior to the seminar/interview dates the candidates will be informed ?
Thanks in advance.
@ rkumar:
Congrats on your selection !!
Hi All,
I have 3 questions for all experienced Profs (Dr. Sriram and Dr. Giri) and also new Professors @ IIT/IISc.
1) I believe the new faculties are provided with Ph.D/M.Tech students right after they start. What I am wondering is whether the modest start-up grant provided enough for paying the salary for students? Or is it payed through some other funding source ?
2) What has been the general acceptance rate for new faculties of getting funds from external govt source ?
3) Since the start-up funds provided by the IIT is very modest, hence is it really possible for majorly theoretical researcher to kick start the research and develop the basic version of his research lab?
Thanks in advance for your valuable inputs.
Hi All,
I have 3 questions for all experienced Profs (Dr. Sriram and Dr. Giri) and also new Professors @ IIT/IISc.
1) I believe the new faculties are provided with Ph.D/M.Tech students right after they start. What I am wondering is whether the modest start-up grant provided enough for paying the salary for students, besides creating the lab/kick start the research? Or is it payed through some other funding source ?
2) What has been the general acceptance rate for new faculties of getting funds from external govt source ?
3) Since the start-up funds provided by the IIT is very modest, hence is it really possible for majorly theoretical researcher to kick start the research and develop the basic version of his research lab?
Thanks in advance for your valuable inputs.
Hi All,
I was reading the "Ph.D. Ordinances and Regulations -Revised up to 84th Meetings of the Senate" in the IIT-Guwahati website.
Following up from the questions posed by some anon, the ordinance states "He/she receives
assistantship from the Institute or fellowship from CSIR/UGC or any other recognized funding agency." Does this regular salary in form of 'institute assistantship' or 'funding agency' include any payment (partially or full) from the research Grant of the professor (considering that the professor does not want to pay any top up salary) ???
Looking forward to Prof. Giri and Prof.Sriram for their feedback.
Thanks,
AWI
My apologies, just adding up to my post above, I am talking about the salary of regular Ph.D students and its salary payment source.
Thanks,
AWI
@AWI
Regular phd students are almost always paid by the institute or the fellowship they have. So you dont have to worry about it unless you want to top it up.
Anon July 25, 2012 4:29 AM:
#3: In my experience, yes.
All (well, almost all) grad students get government scholarships at IIX, so there is no compulsion to pay them out of start up or other grants. This HTRA / HTTA usually comes with a requirement of providing x hours per week of work as assigned by the department - typically for running labs / tutorials etc. Grad students can be hired on projects wherein they will get higher (50% or so) payment and in this case, they are also spared the departmental chores. Some (not all) IIX allow a hybrid where students can draw government scholarship and a top up from grants. We have been witnessing some argument here on this blog as to how this operates at IITG. At IITM, there is no provision for top up monthly scholarships, but grad students on government scholarships can be paid on hourly basis (with some hours/month limit) from projects as a form of top up. There may be some department level issues about allocation of students, has to be worked out at department level.
Nomination (under Institution mode) for external fellowships has not yet taken off at IITM, though the procedures are in place, so can't comment on how it will work and how it will be received by the funding agencies.
I have just heard from my friend of IIT Madras that Prof. Giri's 2 former students are offered Asst Prof positions at IIT Madras. In fact, one student got offer in two departments. Congrats to Prof Giri and his academic tree!
Does anybody has any information about when the INSPIRE results will be out?
Can anybody share in detail his/her experience of faculty recharge interviews.
Do they ask for presentation or was it just an interview?
I have another question....
Which one would be better out of UGC-FRP and Inspire? It looks like Inspire is only for 5 years but Faculty recharge is likely to be extended upto superannuation (though with intermittent evaluations.
LA
@ Vishu:
Thank you for the info !! I appreciate it.
@ Prof. Sriram:
Thank you for your insight ! I appreciate your help.
Hi,
Can someone please discuss about the probable date of informing candidates about being shortlisted for seminar/interview @ IIT-Guwahati ?? How many days prior to the seminar/interview dates the candidates will be informed ?
Thanks in advance.
I just came back from ugc-frp interview. Chemistry interview is going on now and the committee is really apex. They have two national institute directors and two top guys from Pune in the board. They called eighty people for interview this time and ten to fifteen of them opted for Skype. For each person the committee ask questions for twenty minutes. Most questions are fundamentals based on the work and proposal. Some guys came out irritated. For me it was ok. The results will be known only by end of September. I don't know how many vacancies are existing in chemistry. To be specific to ur question, they don't need any ppt presentation. It's just face to face discussion. You have to tell them what you did for ph d and post doc and what are your future plans. They have organic, inorganic, theoretical and physical chemistry experts in the board and they ask really fundamental questions related to your work. :)
inspire may land you in good places, this frp program is intended for state universities I guess.
The interview venue is next gate to the east gate of JNU campus. If you can't find it, go to east gate, they will give you the right direction. Its on the same road, same side 200 m away from east gate of jnc.
Can someone tell me about IIT Mandi?
Is it also common in IIT Mandi that OCAP faculty got fired by Director there? How is IIT Mandi director? I am asking this question since I heard that their Director doesn't care about faculty..faculty houses (temporary) are the servant quarters of PWD rest house. They take long time to provide mere 5 lacs seed grant to the faculty since they send the proposal to external reviewer for expert comment...is that true?
i need few information abt IIT Gn and IIT ropar also...
as somebody confirmed that faculty got fired from IIT Gn as well...but what abt their general faculty treatment..same goes for IIT Ropar also
Nick
Why doesn't anyone comment on the important issues such as: IIT-Guwahati shortlisting date for seminar/interview, IIT-Gandhinagar etc
"Why doesn't anyone comment on the important issues such as: IIT-Guwahati shortlisting date for seminar/interview,"
Only institute administrators know such answers. Unless someone holding a position like Prof. Sriram (in IITM) responds from IIT Guwahati, it's difficult to know the answer. But, you can always email/call the Faculty Affairs office or the department HoD.
@ Saswata: Thank you for the info. I shall email the HOD.
But from experience (your own and others) what do you think, latest how many days prior to the seminar/interview date will they notify?
^
For me, they notified 7 days in advance. I don't know about others.
@ Saswata:
Thanks a lot !
"Prof. Giri's 2 former students are offered Asst Prof positions at IIT Madras"
Isn't it unusual that two of his students get selected for the same department by the same selection committee? Not to question the competence of the student or guide but are they working the same area??
Prof Sriram, I was just looking for a simple clarification. Are faculty required to pay any rent or fee for on-campus housing? If so, how much are these rents?
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