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3,339 comments:
1 – 200 of 3339 Newer› Newest»The selection committee for Physics was held on 14 Jun. The selection committee for chemical engineering was held on 11 Jun. All selection committees will be completed by Jun 20. Please do not ask me about the results..I do not know. Ask the chairman of the department or the divisional chairman.
Regarding recommendation letters from other sources, it is the prerogative of the department. Some departments ask recommendation letters from references not mentioned by the candidate.
IISc has a centenary postdoc scheme. There are a few postdocs under this scheme who work with assistant professors.
Thanks
Giridhar
Since many people had a word regarding website maintenance in IIX's. I too want to add something, forget about the faculty homepages just see this main website of one NIT to see how worst a website could be.
www.nitk.ac.in
Any updates/news on Ramanujan fellowship results for 2012 ?
Hi,
any info (positive or negative) received by any blogger's regarding iisc physics faculty selection.
email to chairman physics please
To anon above:
Did you receive any info from chairman physics.
thanks
To comment above
Yes, I contacted the chairman, they would want to reveal on 23rd what a big suspense :I)
To anon above:
That means after the council meeting on 22nd.
to anon above:
When did you give the interview? in April?
why dont you email me (thirubhuvan@gmail.com)
we can have more conversation
check ur email
Chairman will reveal only after council meeting on 22 June. Better to contact him on Monday, 25 June.
does anyone have any information on the state of hiring at IISER-TVM and also any experience as to roughly how long it takes for someone to get an interview call if selected?
I don't think IISER TVM is on recruitment mood. It's in the shifting phase to new campus
Any news from IIT-G Physics shortlisting...nothing on the website except the interview dates. Thanks.
Dear itsscience,
IISER TVM is the slowest IISER in making recruitments. What i have heard is that they have a big guy at the top for recruitments who is a pain in the nose in making decisions. They offer positions 6-8 months after visit/interview. In the last few years by the time they offered, people had taken up jobs elesewhere.
reply to annonymous at 2:51 and 2:41 pm: Thank you very much for your response, yes i heard about the slow recruitment. I had put in an application 2 months ago and havent heard from them...so need to know whether it is still alive!.
Thanks for all the replies. Is there any info on when the shift to the new campus will happen?
May I also know if there is some info on how often the selection committee convenes in IISER`s to shortlist people for visits/interviews?
They also take only 5-6 Ph.D students in chemistry per year.
The selection committee meets only once in six months there.
The registrar and the director are from IISc--what else do you expect--slowness in name of quality.
IITG rec for physics is underway and they are contacting prospective candidates
Dear Anon at 3.01pm,
At IISER TVM, 2 months is nothing. I applied 9 months ago, got no reply for any mails/phone calls. Then finally after calling a 'contact' at IISc for facilitating my visit, I could visit TVM and give a talk 3 months ago. So far no news. I am told, due to such delays IISER TVM lost some good people. May be they will learn their lesson.
Vinay
Need a job in IISER TVM - use contacts from IISc or U of Hyd. Otherwise, you stand no chance.
I think contact is the only way to get a job nowadays. Most of top guys are white corrupt and encourages malpractices.
i have no experience in administration so senior faculty reading this blog can correct me if I am wrong. To me a recruitment committee meeting once in six months at a new IISER like IISER-TVM is strange (unless they are not getting enough applicants?). It is even more weird that it takes 9 months for a interview call and another 6-8 months after interview to know the results. A year or more is like eternity in a post-doc`s life!!! I will not be surprised if this delay is a deliberate attempt to cool the scene so that candidates they prefer can be sneaked in through the backdoor (like it was suggested by some here). If true, this is a sad state of affairs!
same with IITH , does MHRD has any say in this matter other than exams
To Anon at 6:00 AM above,
IIT-J selection interview was definitely the worst I've attended. The Director spent the time rubbishing my CV and arguing that "sine is a linear function". Needless to say, I'm happy they rejected my candidature...
anon @June 21, 2012 8:45AM says "recruitment committee meeting once in six months at a new IISER like IISER-TVM is strange". Why? All the new IIX have to worry about growing faster than their infrastructure growth can support. And, as they are all in transit campuses, building infrastructure has to be done thoughtfully lest it becomes wasted expenditure. Given above constraints, I believe they are all doing a reasonably good job. Regular faculty offers would need to be approved by the Board of Governors (or equivalent) which would typically meet once in 3-4 months, so it can take months after interview to get an official offer for a regular faculty position (if one uses a "standing" selection committee). The other option is to use a calendar, working backwards from the Board meeting in which case offers will come soon after interview, but interviews will be held only once a year or so. Conspiracy theories are usually seeded by sour grapes.
"Conspiracy theories are usually seeded by sour grapes."
Thanks iitmsriram. I was about to say something to this effect, but you put far better than I could. Guys, if you have a specific case to narrate, please do so with relevant details and preferably with your true name. Cowardly, anonymous and vague instigation such as "I think contact is the only way to get a job nowadays. Most of top guys are white corrupt and encourages malpractices (anon June 21, 2012 6:00 AM)" is BS we can do without on this forum.
I agree with iitsriram that it is perfectly OK for a institute to go slow on recruitment in case the infrastructure is not keeping pace with faculty recruitment. But in that case they should not put up a running advert for faculty which gives false hope to applicants. I also understand department chairs not responding to individual e-mails since the numbers are overwhelming, but then what prevents them from sending a notification mail after selection committee meeting ( can be done by a secretary!) informing unsuccessful candidates of the outcome? Does that also need to be approved by Board of governors?? that would be a joke since the number of unsuccessful applicants must be staggering!!! The large number of anonymous post here (like this one) could also be due to the fact that there is no faith in fair treatment!. I also do not understand what difference a name does to assess the merits of issues raised in a post.
thank you all for the responses to my original query. Although some of my questions remains unanswered my curiosity has been well and truly quenched.
I do believe that contacts do make most of the recruitment process. Since your Prof was in the selection committee no need to say you will get that job. This is not the case in INDIA but also abroad. Anonymous writing does have freedom to express the views. This is not cowardly but presenting the facts.
Many new Directors of IIT do recruit only candidates recommended by their friends. I'm quite sure that they do this only because they do not want to venture new research area (playing safe). IIT SRIRAM whatever you say to convince,(sour grapes etc) the fact of the matter is recruitment process is slow in most of the institutes regardless if new or old. I do agree that funding from govt agencies are slow, but this is also mainly managed by academicians. We need to have the tendency to accept when we do errors. The main reason for insufficient research funds is not because of politicians but academicians since they too play politics.
I agree posting anon has its advantages. We should be thankful for Prof. Giridhar for allowing us to do so. All other blogs by academicians including nanopolitan, dsanghi are moderated. Academicians should be willing to take criticisms as well as praise anonymously.
I agree with these comments. I think justification given here is correct. why IIT do not put the name of shortlisted candidate on their website publicly (applicable to IIT M also) and also for selected candidate as well? This will make system transparent.why do not these professors implement these reforms?
Ankur wanted specific cases mentioned...before we do may I ask for Prof.Giri`s permission to cite names?
Dear Anons who have replied today to Profs. iitsriram and Ankur,
I completely agree with you all. Can one person who is hovering in this website say that they got appointed without any 'contacts' of any kind but purely based on their cv and research plans? I should guess none.
All anons are trying to bring out some improvement in the recruitments by sharing their experiences. Ofcourse they can not reveal their identity because they are still looking for jobs in India. If you are all interested in discussing only salary issues, then God help you!
Sour grapes comment is in bad taste.
Vinay
Why do you need Prof. Giri's approval to cite names? You write what you want and let him delete it if he finds it offensive. I have noticed that he does not even delete comments that are aimed at him !
To Anon at 1:29 PM,
Thanks to Prof. Giri for providing a forum where frank exchange of views can take place:
I spent about 2.5 years applying to almost every major Institute/University in India by responding to specific advertisements, sending a cv+research+teaching plan and having my recommendation letters sent. I received barely 1-2 acknowledgments, and almost no follow-up of any sort. Now that I'm at nearing the cutoff age, I'm left with one of 2 options: Quit and join industry, or a last attempt using "serious contacts" this time...
Does merit have a significant role in the hiring process ?
Its disturbing that academics with tenured positions have vested interest in perpetuating this system. It costs them nothing to hire teams of graduate students and leave them to their fate post completion of PhD, knowing well, that they will stand little or no chance in the already overcrowded job market.
Dear Faculty aspirants,
I too started applying 2 years ago and waited patiently to be asked to visit and give talks but never succeeded in getting responses. Finally I made/built 'contacts' and visited few Institutions and I was told that my application is amazing, furture plans appropriate and got a question 'why I did not visit them before'. You all should find a way to call/write to the established person who can understand your science in the host institute so that he/she can arrange a talk for you. I think this is critical becasue the faculty as such are not mucks, they are up to date and can understand good science-AND your application will then 'gets into' the natural course of action instead of garbage/recycle bin.
Cheers
Vinay.
Big day tomorrow! Results of IISc selection committee :)
I was fortunate to be invited to the recent IITK Alumni meet in San Jose, CA, where one active part of the agenda was the interaction of IITK leadership (director,dean, etc) with potential faculty candidates. I was of course, such a potential cndidate (although I haven't started applying anywhere).
I was kind of puzzled on interacting with other faculty candidates, because while one of them got through the entire process in just two-three months from start of application, there were two candidates more who had written/applied but did not hear back. One of them told me he had applied to all seven IITs and only IITD and IITK invited him for talk (although none of them followed up after that, leaving him confused, disappointed).
The Dean Prof. Agrawal of IITK told us with respect to those unfortunate cases that, firstly it mostly depends on the chair of the department and the department as such. And since the HOD of that particular department to which that candidate had applied had changed, therefore delays were expected. Besides, LORs are something which cause a lot of delay because LORs are not asked for by the candidates but by IIT to which you're applying.
But I found the experience pretty impressive overall, and I was glad IITK leadership has come to the USA to interact/pursue potential candidates from here.
to anon@June 21, 2012 7:57 PM: When you said meeting of IISc selection committee did you mean faculty selection committee and if so for which departments? (sorry I am not familiar with the system in IISc)
Any news about RAMANUJAN FELLOWSHIP Results
I have called DST people, they said the results will be announced in 1st week of July.
Hello
Going back to the comment on Jun 21 by an anonymous poster "Can one person who is hovering in this website say that they got appointed without any 'contacts' of any kind but purely based on their cv and research plans? I should guess none."
I can tell you at least of one case, myself. I will be starting at one of the old IIT's in the near future. And I got the position purely based on my CV and research. I had no previous contacts at the Institute or the department, nor any academic association with them. I can proudly say it was due to merit I got this position and I am very happy with the process of the selection / interview and it did take about 5 months start to the point I was offered the position. I really appreciated the professional manner of process and am looking forward to the time at the Institute.
regards
@Chris
INSPIRE FACULTY reg:-
Will u plz give some tips for preparing slides for the DST-INSPIRE faculty presentation. They have told to limit the highlights of the PhD thesis and the project proposal in 15 slides. so plzzzzzzzzz share how u presented ur slides......
Response to the comment on Jun 21 by an anonymous poster "Can one person who is hovering in this website say that they got appointed without any 'contacts' of any kind but purely based on their cv and research plans? I should guess none."
I can cite myself as an example. I applied in late 1996 to IISc. IISc turned me down but recruited who is currently my colleague. In Jan 1998, I applied again to IITs and IISc. In IIT-M, I knew a few professors who were keen to recruit me but I knew no one in IISc. In Feb 1998, I visited IISc and two IITs and met some of the faculty but did not make any presentation.
I was given an offer (though they may have to come to regret it later) in IISc in March 1998 itself. The other two IITs also offered me in May 1998 but I had joined IISc by then !
Thanks
Giridhar
I had similar experience of Prof Giri.
I applied for faculty position in all IITS on 2001 while I was doing post doctoral work in a reputed University of USA. I had decent publication records. Accordingly, I got an encouraging note from IIT K as they were interested to recruit me immediately as Asst. Professor. I was very proud to be an Indian. However, I did not know the role of CRUEL academic politicians for getting jobs in IIXs. I did receive an email from IIT K that they are not interested on my applications. After couple of phone calls, I came to know that IIT K received really bad recommendation letters from my Doctoral institute, however, post doct reco letters were really good! My PhD guide asked me to apply other Asian countries for faculty positions. Subsequently, my application to IIT B was also turned down. I joined faculty of IIT Madras in 2002 although I had offers from other IITs.
I came to know that publication plays very little role as one of my PhD labmates got recruited in IIT X and he/she got promoted based on his depth of knowledge which is only measured by how you talk (incidentally he/she could not publish anything from that IIT X)!
So one needs to have patience. Sometimes deserving guys do get poistions, but they need to wait as Prof Giri mentioned!
@Anon June 21
Its not entirely clear what you mean by 'contacts'. But you can count me in as someone who had no contacts but did get offers.
Hiring is on most occasions highly subjective. One should not think of it as, say college admissions, where positions are allocated based on objective or enumerative criteria. For hiring, it depends on a whole lot of other factors, including personal factors such recommendations, how they find you as a person etc. If someone is brilliant, but is an a$$hole, most likely he wont be hired. Furthermore, since faculty positions last for 30 years or so, people want to make doubly sure that you are compatible with the group.
We can be thankful that in India we at least have one consideration less than in the US. Currently all US universities are struggling for funding; so candidates are being hired mainly on the basis of how much funding they will be able to attract, even at the cost of merit. We don't have this worry in India as of now. The US kind of hiring also has an adverse effect on a candidate's Ph.D.. One may have to sacrifice one's interest and go by the market if one wants an assurance of landing a good position. If the market changes downstream, it leads to a lot of heart-burn. A calculating and cynical approach to choosing a Ph.D. problem almost nullifies the very reasons for wanting to live a research life.
The main issue is that in India we don't have sufficiently many good quality places to ensure that, overall, every meritorious candidate will find a match.
If there are people here who think they have a lot of merit, but haven't been able to land a position, I would recommend applying to IITB. My experience there has been excellent. But do not ignore the human side of the application process - first get in touch with a junior person with similar interest and begin exploring if you are indeed compatible.
Anon@June 24, 2012 9:20 PM:
Where did you do your Ph.D?? IISc/abroad?
My experience is this: If you need a faculty position based on 2-3 publications, you need contacts. If you have an excellent record, you will eventually get a good position. The problem is that the intermediate cases normally requires someone who pushes or recommends your case strongly.
Even after recruitment, for promotions contacts help but not essential. You can see associate professors who got promoted last year in IIT Bombay and IIT KGP without a SINGLE publication as faculty. This could be due to contacts or push but if you have ten publications, for example, you will not be denied either.
Wish you the best
Anonymous@June 24, 2012 10:46 PM
I did PhD in a premier institute of India (not IITs).
My experience is that my contacts involving my teachers played negative role for reco letters. Sometime PhD guide may be threatened by the fact that student will do better after arrival to India.
For promotions: I was turned down promotion with lots of single author publications while my colleagues made it with much less publications (quality & quantity). However, based on the generic law,
I was finally recognized!
I found that you will loose contacts if you gradually become productive. In that case, only person would help you in promotion is the `invisible man' which (who) is your list of publications
Anon@June 24, 2012 11:32 PM:
You will have people who perform well i.e., have more publications than you support you.
Only people who have come up by hook or crook will be against you.
Even people like Prof. Giri with more than 5000 citations will not get nominations initially but eventually they will perform and get it.
Anonymous@June 24, 2012 10:46 PM
I did PhD in a premier institute of India (not IITs).
My experience is that my contacts involving my teachers played negative role for reco letters. Sometime PhD guide may be threatened by the fact that student will do better after arrival to India.
For promotions: I was turned down promotion with lots of single author publications while my colleagues made it with much less publications (quality & quantity). However, based on the generic law,
I was finally recognized!
I found that you will loose contacts if you gradually become productive. In that case, only person would help you in promotion is the `invisible man' which (who) is your list of publications
In my view (with my limited experience and interaction with many academicians/aspirants), the following points add weightage to an application during hiring (if your CV, etc. are decent, but not excellent),
(1) One of your degrees (UG, PG or Ph.D.) is from an IIX
(2) Contact/Godfather/Known person that can push or recommend your application strongly
(3) Your Ph.D. supervisor is well-known in the academic circles and willing to help you through his/her contacts by word of mouth
Some disadvantageous points are,
(1) Your Ph.D. is neither from India nor from U.S., but from a different country under a not-so-well-known advisor
(2) Your research field is new/upcoming/relatively unknown (e.g. I was asked by an IITK professor, can we buy a synchrotron for our institute?)
(3) Too long postdoctoral period (more than 5 years)
Citing myself as an example, I had none of the above advantageous points, but all the 3 disadvantageous points. Nevertheless, I am glad to get into an IIT that relied only on my credentials and nothing else.
Regards,
Chris
@ Anon June 24, 2012 5:30 PM
For the INSPIRE faculty interview, overall I had 18 slides including title and acknowledgement, but completed my presentation in 15 min.
As my field is experimental physical chemistry, I had two options of giving presentations,
(A) Tell one/two complete stories for 1 hour
(B) Tell in bits and pieces about my work and achievements (e.g. how I designed and executed a complex experiment, technique development, measuring some parameter with high accuracy, etc.)
For inspire interview, I used strategy B and highlighted only the important achievements from my Ph.D., first and second postdoc works (in 10 slides).
In next 5 slides, I showed my future research plans and inspire proposal. One slide was on teaching plans, since I like teaching (and also I assumed then, that inspire faculty scheme is to recruit research cum teaching faculty).
Anyways, slide preparation is a subjective matter that varies from person to person.
All the best for your interview!
Chris
To various unhappy anons above: But why do you believe so strongly that you deserve any position in these decent institutes? May be you don't!
- A happy anon even without being in US.
@Chris June 25, 2012 12:55 AM
I have not found list of publications as one of bullet point that add weightage to the application? Is this point less important?
@ Anon June 25, 2012 6:45 AM,
By writing "CV, etc. are decent", I implicitly included the list of publications (quality, quantity, nature of work, field of research, etc.).
Just an example, in chemistry/basic sciences having 10 publications is a minimum requirement, while 10 articles is a lifetime achievement in some fields of humanities. In engg., conference proceedings have high weightage, whereas it is not the case in basic sciences.
Regards,
Chris
@ Chris June 25, 2012 12:02 PM
Thanks and appreciate your response.
A quick correction-"In engg., conference proceedings have high weightage". That's not true with my limited knowledge ( Though I checked with 3 Prof, they actually said this ).
Chemical Engineering has quite a few high impact factord journal. I think Research does not have barrier. No matter in Engineering or Science or Economics, it is possible to publish journal articles if there are enough new fundamental or applied science or philosophical contents. In fact, Prof Giri (a Chemical Engineer) published lots and lots of articles in various Chem and Phys as well as other high impact factored journals. In my view, Chemical Engineering has only 3 highly rated journals, but Prof Giri published 300 + very good papers.
Has anyone been informed about the selection committee results of any department at IISC??
Hello Prof Giri,
My application is denied this time, could you apply to IISc again in couple of years time? Is this Normal?
Regards
Hello All,
1. I have applied to IITX (few of them) almost 1 months back. When is the earliest I can expect a result ?
2. I have no idea, so please let me know how much percentage of teaching questions are asked in the seminar/interview of an IITX? and are the teaching questions something that is from the early B.Tech days?
Thanks for your help.
Regards,
TOC
Hello All,
Following up from my previous questions, can someone give me some tips on how to conduct myself when I am not able to recall any answer for an undergraduate teaching question?
Replies from someone faced with similar situation during the IITX interview but has finally been selected even after not being able to answer an "undergraduate teaching question" will be highly appreciated !!
Hello All,
Following up from my previous questions, can someone give me some tips on how to conduct myself when I am not able to recall any answer for an undergraduate teaching question?
Replies from someone faced with similar situation during the IITX interview but has finally been selected even after not being able to answer an "undergraduate teaching question" will be highly appreciated !!
Regards,
TOC
@ TOC , June 26, 2012 5:15 AM
Hi, I have also applied in some IIXs in last months. Still not received anything even acknowledgement. I presume most of faculty is on summer vacation. Perhaps gets reply once sem starts.
Inspire Program says the fellowship will be discontinued once the person gets a permanent position. Incase of ass prof on contract since they are not permanent and until the contract is regularized , CAN THE faculty avail both IIT and inspire salaries? or atleast accept the IIT position with HRA and other facilities?
Anonymous@June 25, 2012 3:19 PM:
Publications or citations do not matter much for nomination to fellowships or awards in India. If you are a faculty in India, you must know this well.
@ Chris
Thanx a lot for ur advice in slide preparation and for ur wishes....
It was really informative....
anyone received faculty selection results (positive or negative) from physics dept.@IISC.
Regards
Hi Anonymous,
Thank you for your reply. I hope they soon start conducting interviews. By the way whats your major?
Regards,
TOC.
Hi all,
I would like to ask a question for particularly those already selected by an IITX for Asst. Prof. I have a major concern.
1. Please share your shortlisting/interview process (e.g time taken from date of application, interview guys etc)
2. Is the selection completely transparent? I have no backing at IIT so will it be a trouble in getting selected?
Thank you for your advice.
Regards,
TOC.
Dear TOC,
Am sharing my experience of getting selected in an IIT (one of the old ones). I have not yet joined it, and am expected to join in the coming months. I had no previous contacts or backing at that IIT or Dept.
I had sent my CV to the Dean of Faculty affairs who had forwarded it to the appropriate department and requested me to formally apply. The head of the dept got back to me within a couple of days that application has been forwarded to the faculty search committee of the department. A month later the Prof. in charge of the Faculty search committee got in touch with me and then scheduled an departmental seminar (via Skype since I am abroad currently). The talk lasted about 45 min and Q+A of about 30 min. Subsequently, (in a day) I was told that department was recommending my appointment to the director. I was interviewed again, this time by an independent panel and director for about 20 min where I was asked generally about my research and plans. Both the sessions were very professional, cordial and friendly. Even in the preparation stage of the talk, the prof. in charge of the search committee was extremely helpful in providing guidance.
3 weeks after the interview I was sent an offer letter for the post of AP (on contract) since I have less than 3 years post Phd experience (just about). I was told that the moment I hit the 3 year post phd mark I will be regularized. I had several other question after the offer was made, mainly bureaucratic, and they were patiently answered.
Overall I was very pleased the experience and it was completely transparent. Hope this is helpful.
regards
I received two offers from IITB. One of them took about 6 months from first contact with the department to getting an offer. Another took 9-10 months from application to offer. I have described my timeline in more detail in an earlier post. Generally speaking, it seems that in most cases, a decision is being arrived at in 6-7 months in IITB.
About transparency - I don't think any faculty selection is "transparent". You will have to engage the departments you are interested by talking to them about the work you do and see if they are interested in having you in the department. It is easiest to do this by first getting in touch with a young faculty who has interests similar to yours. After doing this, send in your application.
Hello,
I appreciate your useful feedback. After reading your reply I have a question in mind:
1) What was difference between "departmental seminar via Skype (Q+A of about 30 min) & the next interview with the Director" in terms of questions asked and their expectations ? How much of weight was given in asking undergraduate teaching questions?
Thanks in advance,
Regards,
TOC.
Dear Dr. Kulkarni,
Thank you for your response. I have 2 questions. I shall appreciate if you let me about them.
1. It seems it took long time to process the application. Did you apply against an advertisement?
2. If the official time to issue an offer letter took 6 months, then its okay. But if the decision time is 6 months, then I will be done by that time. Plz suggest.
Regards,
TOC
@TOC
1) My general experience was very similar to those of Ankur and the other anon.
I got an invitation for a talk 6 months after applying and was called for an interview 6 months after the talk. I did not apply against an ad with a deadline.
2) I was not asked any question related to UG subjects. The panel only asked me what courses would I teach, what new course I could offer. etc. Much of the discussion was on the research I did and my future plans. I really enjoyed my interview. I felt that the panel wanted to understand what I knew rather than what I didn't know.
3) The seminar is given to the dept and the interview panel consists of outside people. Only the director, dean and HOD are present from the IIT. Other panel members come from various other institutes in India.
4) The hiring process in IIT (older ones) is somewhat like this: the dept waits and collects several applications. They are then shortlisted for seminar. The timing depends on when the candidate wants to visit (or chooses to give the seminar on skype). The dept faculty members are asked to rate the seminar. After a few seminars are given, the department discusses the applications in a faculty meeting. This meeting might take place once or twice every semester. Then the recommended candidates are asked to send references. Once received, the complete application is forwarded to the dean's office for the interview. The details may vary from dept to dept and IIT to IIT, but this is the general outline.
My general experience in faculty recruitment in IIxs are similar.I applied to 3 old IITs and IISC. I knew absolutely no one in any of these institutes. Within 6-9 months i got my offers and joined IISc in 2010. The entire experience was smooth.
Dear TOC
The difference between "departmental seminar via Skype (Q+A of about 30 min) & the next interview with the Director" . The former was just based on presentation and also some questions regarding what courses I would like to teach in the future at that department.
With the panel and director, it was more in general about my research experience and future research plans. One of the panel members asked me on how to approach a specific research problem, it was a broad question not very specifically technical.
regards
Dear all,
Many thanks to all who responded to my questions and provided their valuable input !!
I wish I will have a similar cherishing experience soon. I would like to know whether it is wise to followup my application or just wait until they respond (considering I have applied in some IIT's almost 2 months ago) ?
Thanks,
Regards,
TOC.
Dear Anon,
Thanks for explaining the difference between "dept seminar type questions and Interview with Director".
It seems I had a myth that in the faculty interview process the candidate will be bombarded with UG questions !! Which is unlike the experience of all that I read so far. Since all of the anons have written they were asked questions from research and only asked about their teaching interests. Am I correct in this judgement or heading towards to a wrong direction ??
Thank you in advance,
Regards,
TOC
Dear TOC,
As far as my experience goes, the UG questions are a myth. Its mostly about research, research plans and teaching interests.
Considering that you applied 2 months ago, it might be helpful just to ping on the status of your application. Keep in mind though, that right now the IITs are on the summer break and lot of faculty might not be around.
regards
@TOC 6-7 months is average end-to-end time applications to IITB. Which means from the time you sent your first email introducing yourself to the point where you get a decision on whether you have been made an offer. For one of the applications, I applied in the middle of the semester and due to holidays, conferences etc, there was some spillover into the next semester. I am including all of this in my count of 6 months for one of my applications. The process was smooth and professional. In the interview, I was not asked any UG related (or even teaching related) questions. Most of the teaching related conversations were initiated by me.
Dear Anon,
Thank you for your response. You really gave me a breather !! Knowing that UG questions will not asked (exceptions apart) is certainly a lot of relief.
I realize that the summer break is costing some undue delay. But I shall ping them !
I hope to seek your feedback in case anything come up in my mind.
Thanks and Regards,
TOC
Dear Dr. Kulkarni,
Thank you for sharing your experience. You have indeed been of help in relieving me of the stress of UG based questions !
I understand that it may take some time, but can you let me what would be an approx time to wait considering I applied in May 2012?
Thanks in advance,
Regards,
TOC.
Check with the Dean of Faculty Affairs at IITB. If you are recommended, I think you will be up for an interview around October-November. Don't expect much to happen over the summer.
Dear Dr. Kulkarni,
Thank you for your feedback. I shall check my status with him.
Thanks,
Reagrds,
TOC
@TOC:
If you sent your application to the HOD, then you can email HOD to ask if they received your application. If you don't get a reply within a week, call him/her up. In my case, I didn't get any acknowledgement initially.
Anon June 26, 2012 11:54 PM
@TOC, I think it is okay to remind if you do not get any response/acknowledgement in two weeks or so to your email. I think this holds for most academic communications, not just for faculty applications in India. As others have suggested, do get in touch with a junior faculty in your dept of interest for informal communications. Formal application process can sometimes take really long, even an year, in India.
I also recently received faculty offer from IIT. In my case they asked lot of UG questions (some of them were ridiculous). I could not answer some of them and clearly told them that I did not remember anymore. Most of the questions came from the areas different from my research. At the very end they asked some questions on my research. I was treated very harshly during the entire process and was humiliated quite a lot though I did not lose my cool. At the same time, person before me, was treated quite nicely and just asked questions on his latest research and let go, he also got the offer. So it varies a lot.
Finally, I got the offer and the overall process hardly took 2-3 months. And, yes, I also do not have or ever had any contact who could push my case.
At the same time, I had applied to other IITs from where I have not even heard anything so far (after 5 months).
Anyone who is planning to apply to IITs, keep aside at least 6 months and do not expect any correspondence from them. The way IITs behave, it is very clear that faculty recruitment is not their priority. They can do lot of drama, such as going to USA for recruitment -IITK and IITGN, but essentially no one actually cares.
@ Vishu:
Thank you for your feedback.
I shall communicate with them soon.
Regards,
TOC
@ Anon:
Thank you so much. I shall ping him up .
Regards,
TOC.
@ NotASourGrapeButDisapppointed,
Thank you fro sharing your experience.
Is this faculty offer from the same IIT that asked you lot of UG questions ? Was this an old IIT/ new IIT?
Regards,
TOC.
Dear TOC,
It does not depend if it is new or old IIT.
If they do not want you they will screw you up and you yourself will feel, may be I'm not eligible. So please ensure that you find an IIT which really is interested in your work.
Dear Anon,
Thanks a lot for your reply.
I understand, you are right. But is there any way to know if they are really interested in my work, than excepting sending my application in?
I guess if they respond to my CV then it is safe to assume that they do have interest..if they dont, then no interest. Can you plz suggest me any other alternatives?
Regards,
TOC
Hello Ankur,
First of all, thank you for being an active contributing member of this forum. You mention that you have two offers from IITB. Are the offers identical in terms of payscale? Also have you been offered a regular AP position or an AP position on contract? I believe that regular AP positions are give only to candidates with 3 years of post-doc experience and anyone with less is given an on contract position. If you don't mind, can you tell how many years of Postdoc experience you have?
Can someone also throw light on what is the payscale of an On contract AP.
Thanks
The pay is the same for both positions. I have been offered an "on contract" position; in general only those with 3 years of post-phd experience get a regular position. However, in theory the position I have been offered is regular; although on paper it is not. The exact salary for contract asst profs varies by institute since the pay-in-the-band varies. IITB follows a general policy of making sure that the on-contract chaps don't loose anything financially due to their position. So the pay is calculated by backwards from the pay of a regular prof by appropriate decrements for the years of experience that are remaining. Mine comes to 62,370 + accommodation. I have 1 year of post-phd experience.
Thanks Ankur.
I hear that IITB has a young faculty award. does the 62K include that and do other IITs. IISc offer that? Also what is the Basic+AGP for On contract with 1 year post phd exp.
thanks again!
@TOC
Yes, it is from same IIT which asked lots of UG questions (to the point of humiliation). It is a new IIT. I did not apply to any old IIT out of my own choice.
But that does not matter, my friend had same experience in an old IIT which also made an offer.
What you are asked in interview, probably depends solely on how much they like you and they can be harsh or soft.
In my case, I applied for ASP but got a regular offer of AP (with PB4 - so no financial loss but lesser designation). IMHO, the harshness of interview was to show me that I am not ready for ASP as of now (according to them). The head of the committee met me earlier and was very nice but during interview, knives were out.
Anyway, otherwise this new IIT was very prompt in pursuing the application and everything ended in 2-3 months, I may be joining there next month or so.
I am disappointed by the attitude of other IITs (not that I am waiting for their call anymore but they could have been more efficient for many others like me).
UGC has shortlisted candidates for faculty recharge program in chemistry. The interviews will be held in the last week of July.
I was wondering if the top few NITs are not better than new IITs? Just for sometime, if we keep the brand name and salary difference aside? Some New IITs are really in a bad shape- no buildings, very few faculty/more teaching etc. Realistically, it will take at east 10 years to be an acceptable campus. Can I have views of the reders- especially seniors who know both places?
No one recruited to Physics at IIsc this time and in the past two years why this??? Do they think physics is saturated with Prof or the faculty applying to physics are not meritorious or viceversa
Hey H,
Its the people who make an institution. If you check the quality of hires in new IIT's, you will realize the difference. Most new IITS are on an upward trajectory. Campus etc. will come up in a few years, but NIT's have barely any freedom, and they aim for mediocracy.
HS
Hey H,
Its the people who make an institution. If you check the quality of hires in new IIT's, you will realize the difference. Most new IITS are on an upward trajectory. Campus etc. will come up in a few years, but NIT's have barely any freedom, and they aim for mediocracy.
HS
@ Anonymous NotASourGrapeButDisapppointed,
Thank you for such a detailed blog. I appreciate it !! Anyways Congratulations for being selected at IIT.
I dont know what I can expect from them. I also applied to some new IIT's but till now they have not responded with any interview/seminar. Its been 1 month since the time I applied. Do you think it is fine?
In the seminar that you delivered, was it a summary of all the research works that you did (like a small intro to all the works) or a detailed presentation of one of your selected works (like in a conference) ?
Thanks,
Regards,
TOC
@TOC The young faculty award is not included in this sum. It is an additional 1Lpa for first four years.
Dear DR. Kulkarni,
Thank you for your feedback.
Is this "young faculty award" competitive? Is it given to only few or all who join as Asst. Prof in the dept?
Regards,
TOC.
TOC
How many questions will you ask? You seem to ask questions for every step..how can a good future faculty ask such trivial questions?
Anon @ June 28, 2012 10:07 PM
I think its incorrect and unfair to characterize TOC's questions as trivial. These are good questions which clarifies to a probable candidate the system and the hiring. Getting to know about the process and also renumeration is very important.
The quality of the faculty depends on his/her research and teaching ability. Another thing important for faculty is to have an open mind.
regards
Hello Ankur,
Do AP on contract fall under PB-3? can you please tell what is basic and agp for an on contract AP with 1 year post-doc experience at IITB?
Thanks
@ Anon,
Thank a lot for supporting me.
Being new to this faculty recruitment process, I have so many questions. But really without this forum, there is no place where my questions can get answered.
Thanks,
Regards,
TOC.
@ Anonymous,
Your feedback is appreciated.
Regarding your opinion of me asking "trivial" questions: may be you are super ready for this faculty position, but me being just a human being is bound to have these questions.
So please bear with me.
I appreciate your co-operation.
Regards,
TOC
@ Anon:
Thanks a lot for your support. Its really nice to know that you have good feelings about my intent and eagerness to know about the system and hiring process.
I appreciate it !!
Regards,
TOC
@TOC the young faculty award is not competitive. Please look up the IITB website: all pay related details are present there. On contract AP fall under PB-3. My basic is 27600, AGP is 7000 after 1 yr of experience.
Also, don't make multiple comments to reply to people individually. The whole page is filled with many of your comments; it becomes cumbersome for any one reading these archives later and also to follow it right now. Compose all the questions/thoughts you have in one comment. Also, answers to many questions you are asking are present in the previous comments and on institute websites. So please study them carefully.
@ Dr. Kulkarni:
Thanks for your reply.
Regards,
TOC
@Chris
INSPIRE faculty reg:-
Will u plzzzzzzzzzz let me know what all details u included in your 1st slide of ur presentation for the INSPIRE interview???
@TOC
Thanks. I believe 1 month is too early to expect from any IIT. I would say 6 months.
First time when I applied to IITs ( in 2009), I got reply after 6 months. At that time I changed my plans and did not pursue it further.
This time I got lucky with one IIT replying in 1 month only.
It depends when they shortlist the candidates and schedule the selection committee. In worst case you application may arrive just after the shortlisting has been done.
Best of luck.
@Chris
INSPIRE Faculty reg:-
Did u presented a slide on ur achievements?????? Total no.of publications ....awards etc?
@ Anonymous NotASourGrapeButDisapppointed,
Thanks a lot. The time is highly unpredictable !
By the way, in the seminar that you delivered, was it a summary of all the research works that you did (like a small intro to all the works) or a detailed presentation of one of your selected works (like in a conference) ?
Regards,
TOC
@TOC
I presented my complete work. Personally I found the whole faculty talk thing a joke. I was given 30 minutes to present my research which were reduced to 20 by the time my turn came (at 8:00 pm after waiting since morning 9:30 am). Except 3 faculty, all other had left. Anyway, I presented what I could in that much time.
Overall, I believe it was just a formality and main thing was the selection committee. However, it may vary from one IIT to other.
@ NotASourGrapeButDisapppointed,
Thanks,I understand. Its really strange !
By the way, by selection committee you mean the panel that shortlisted our application for seminar?
Regards,
TOC
@TOC
Further questions we are all eagerly expecting from you:
1. Did you eat a green apple or a red apple before the seminar?
2. And wait, did you notice the color of the bin in which you threw the kernel?
3. Damn, faculty apps are so wickedly complicated..why won't everyone stop laughing at me? Are they nuts? Wait, who is the nut again?
@ Anonymous:
Its good to know that you eat green apples :)
TOC
@TOC:
Selection committee consists of experts invited from other IITs/IISc. In my case Selection committee had seven experts (Professors in your area) from different IITs.
Your CV is shortlisted by an internal committee of the institute where you apply and their role usually ends there.
@ TOC,
I was away from internet for 3 days and this blog is filled with a lot of your comments and questions! Although, good to see your interest in faculty recruitment, it was quite difficult to navigate. I suggest you please make a list of questions and post it in one comment (which could serve as FAQ for future applicants).
@ Anon June 29, 2012 10:07 AM,
Put whatever you think is important in your slides. They will have your CV, publications, etc. in front while interviewing you. To answer directly, I did not have any separate slide for awards, achievements etc. Publications were included as footnote, when the related work was presented in a slide.
@ NotASourGrapeButDisapppointed,
Congratulations on your offer. Thanks for sharing your experiences here.
@ Ankur,
Is the young faculty award at IITB same as PDA or in addition to PDA? Are there any requirements (progress in research, etc.) to have it continued for the subsequent year?
Regards,
Chris
@ TOC,
I was away from internet for 3 days and this blog is filled with a lot of your comments and questions! Although, good to see your interest in faculty recruitment, it was quite difficult to navigate. I suggest you please make a list of questions and post it in one comment (which could serve as FAQ for future applicants).
@ Anon June 29, 2012 10:07 AM,
Put whatever you think is important in your slides. They will have your CV, publications, etc. in front while interviewing you. To answer directly, I did not have any separate slide for awards, achievements etc. Publications were included as footnote, when the related work was presented in a slide.
@ NotASourGrapeButDisapppointed,
Congratulations on your offer. Thanks for sharing your experiences here.
@ Ankur,
Is the young faculty award at IITB same as PDA or in addition to PDA? Are there any requirements (progress in research, etc.) to have it continued for the subsequent year?
Regards,
Chris
"@ Ankur,
Is the young faculty award at IITB same as PDA or in addition to PDA? Are there any requirements (progress in research, etc.) to have it continued for the subsequent year?"
The PDA is independent of the YFA; so it is in addition to the PDA. The PDA I think is a grant for professional purpose; the YFA is a salary top-up and it is for a total of 4 years. The only requirement for its continuation is that one doesn't leave the job.
I just wanted to share my experience in a science Department at IISc. It took more than 6 months to acknowledge the application. After this I visited the department and everything went on well talk, faculty meeting etc., I was not paid anything even domestic flights :(. Then I was told that the application is sent to selection meeting. After a long wait I heard an email saying your CV and research is good but our department cannot accommodate you since you do not have Nature and Science papers. So basically IISc recruits people with Nature and Science although they themselves can publish very few.They know about this before and they could have rejected initially. why this unnecessary Hype etc., I do have very good PRLs and sometimes Nature and science papers you need to have bit of luck :). However I would say the overall experience of meeting the faculty was good but for the result. But if they have to recruit based on the field then my application is one amongst very few. So I would Urge IISc departments not to call people so that they can have a free Seminar by a facults aspirant, but meticulously filter just based on their requirement. If they feel they are saturated please remove the standing advertisement from the website so that you will not lure the applicants for free talks.
Hello Guys,
I would like to share some of my experiences I had with a science Department at IISc. I applied and waited a while more than 6 months to get an acknowledgement. Then I was told to visit the Department whenever I visit India. I just made a decision to visit IISc and flew into India very soon. I was not even paid domestic flights. Ok, considering that elite institutes are poor and don't even pay for interviews I was surprised.The interview went on well and as far as I can Understand the faculty was very happy. I just want to state here I'm not overestimating my CV. Only very few applicants work in this field. Then after 2 months I got an email saying my application is directed to selection committee. I eagerly waited for the response. From this Blog I understood if application is directed to selection committee then chances are very strong. To my surprise I get an email saying that Since I had only PRLs and other applicants had Nature and Science my application was rejected and the Department is saturated at the moment. If the Faculty or head knows that Department is saturated and they give chances only to Nature or Science applicants,why do they call us for enjoying free seminars in the department. Although, I understand very few do publish Nature at IISc. I think the department needs to remove Standing advt and ask only Nature and science people to apply so that the filtering process will be easy and gives relief on either sides. This happened not only to me but for few applicants to IISc.
I am shocked !
This is sarcastic. If the requirements and need are very clear from the beginning, then it help either sides. I think they should removed standing advertisements from the website saying we need applicant from all the areas of science/engg. They must be specific about the area they are looking for. Why do they keep advertising if they do not really need. This is an inefficient old age system. IIXs should get rid of this rather quickly.
This is a side of the story that is often brushed aside as being perpetuated by "sour grapes" . Just like we cannot generalize every institution or department as bad we cannot say all is well with every single department in every institution. I had an experience with another IISc science department where the chairman just plainly refused to even acknowledge that my application file has been received even after 7 months!!...a glance at the website of the department tells the story ( and i am not talking about the quality of the webpage which is plain unadulterated horror)...except for some productive senior faculty (yes silver lining) the rest are just bidding away their time and are probably scared of new faculty upstaging them ( not a difficult feat considering the research productivity of some!)....don't waste your time searching around..i am talking about IISc organic chemistry :-)
Anon @July 3, 2012 12:38 AM,
I think you were unlucky; I don't think it is normal for IISc to get multiple applicants with Nature and Science papers. You just got lumped in a difficult group. Had your applicants not been as good, you could have made it. I don't think IISc or any institute can put a bar so high, as you suggest "ask only Nature and science people to apply", at the application stage. Perhaps you can try another institute or try IISc at a later time.
@oncebittentwiceshy Thanks for the pointer to the horrendous organic chemistry webpage. It is pure filth.
To oncebittentwiceshy above
IMHO, if there was voting, some units in TIFR would offer stiff competition to IISc.
Ankur, I know I can try another institute. You don't have to be patronizing Indian institutes since you have gotten a position in one of those elite places. You will get to know the difficulties once you join there and start your lab.
anybody received interview call from iitkgp
Anybody received any interview/seminar calls from IIT-Hyderabad or IIT-Gandhinagar recently (last week or so) ?
Problems that a new faculty will face in India after joining (from my 8-month long experience): 1. You will take a long time to understand the institute rules and regulations (there are so many), and no one will help you (ask the authorities for an orientation programme, and they will laugh at you). 2. When you do find out the rules, you will understand how stifling and stupid most of them are. 3. You will be told that having Ph.D. students is informally required for the promotion to associate professor, but the institute wouldn't help you getting any good quality one. Rules like an upper bound on the top-up salary will detract quality students to join the institute as research scholars. 4. You will be hearing horror stories about making purchase orders to set-up a lab. 5. Some government funding agencies can indefinitely delay or abruptly stop a promised amount of funding after the start of a project. Also, some government funding agencies can be really stupid. One of my colleagues asked for 3 computers to do a networking project, and the budget was cut short to accommodate one computer and he was asked to do the networking project using that one computer! 6. Students (especially undergraduate ones in IITs) would be enthusiastic about research, but the institute will not support them in any way, and later blame them for choosing management careers....Under these circumstances, the best solution is to do some theoretical works with a few motivated undergraduate students and try to publish a few papers. This is precisely why theoretical research is in a better shape in India than applied one.
Seems to be sour grapes and typical whining....
Organic chemistry in IISc is one of the best in the country. Almost everyone in the department is a Bhatnagar awardeee..the associate professors are very active..I do not know what you guys are talking about..except Ankur's fascination about webpages.
Regarding rules and regulations, IISc has put up everything in website and people like Giri are always around. People like him and several others in materials have set up large experimental labs with several students. This is just in engineering...in science, everyone sets up big labs in 2 years.
I think other people just complain regarding quality of students, infrastructure etc. without doing anything useful.
new_prof_iisc
@Anon 12:53: when so many people "whine typically" about the same issues, you should understand there there is a certain amount of truth in it. Just assuming that everyone in the country is getting a research environment as smooth (as per your expectation of what is smooth) as yours' is sheer stupidity.
Added to my points above: un-professionalism in faculty recruitment is indeed present in many reputed institutes of India. My institute is quite fast in this aspect, and therefore I didn't whine about it. But please don't force other to believe that everything is smooth and transparent in Indian research. It requires a lot of change, and a change starts by first understanding and acknowledging the issues that have stifled the growth of Indian science even with so much money being alloted for research.
@Saswata,
Thanks for listing out the problems faced by a new faculty. I already faced a couple of them in the past 3 months and now will prepare myself for the remaining ;-)
Anyways, let us try to make things better.
Regards,
Chris
@Chris July 4, 2012 1:27 AM
Can you also share your experience regarding by listing out the problems usually faced by new faculty.
@Anonymous July 3, 2012 6:14 PM
I have applied to IIT KGP in April 2012 and not heard anything from them since.
I saw comments here somebody saying that they are checking background you are Bengali or not? perhaps true
reply to new_prof_IISc @July 3, 2012 11:20 PM
"Organic chemistry in IISc is one of the best in the country. Almost everyone in the department is a Bhatnagar awardeee....except Ankur's fascination about webpages.
The proof of the pudding is in its eating..and the proof of quality of a research intensive department is in its publications ( not the number but the quality..go do a WoS Search for the publications..anyway you cant get the info in the website except for that for a few who are indeed productive), dont put up your assessment if you are not familiar with the field and are not in a position to judge publications in organic chemistry!!
Nobody ever said everyone in IISC-OC is bad..read carefully the posted comment.
What is wrong with Ankur and others asking for a decent website which is updated at least once in 3 months or 6?...that is how you show your quality and achivements to the world...unless of course you want to keep the rot under wraps so you updated it last in 2003!~
there is no need to get defensive and clam up just because you are part of the system...and dont tag everyone as sour grapes..some of us here are tenured faculty in institutions in india and abroad!! ( oh now dont get on the "post your name" bandwagon for heavens sake!)...accept defeciences just like you accept good work...and please dont generalize for heavens sake (and oh you said almost everyone is a bhatnagar award winner in IISc OC?..sorry i missed that because it is not listed in the website...my bad!)
@Anonymous July 3, 2012 6:46 PM
Please do not expect a call from IIT GandhiNagar unless you are PhD from abroad especially USA. I did my PhD from Europe and postdoc in north America.
I notice some institute like this only sees quality research in foreign PhD,not India PhDs. Then, why these decision making persons are supervising Indian PhD student? If so why they do not become faculty in foreign and then supervise foreign PhDs. They would like to live in India and utilizing its all resources (air, water and culture),still bias about PhD earning institution.If IIXs do not believe that their PhD are not good, why they produce them (perhaps for their own promotion etc. )and ruin the career of several students.
@ Chris
Will u plz share ur experiences of the INSPIRE interview?
Does anyone have experiece with DST Fast Track grant (http://dst.gov.in/scientific-programme/fasttrack.pdf). I have heard mixed reviews from people, from saying it has become extremely slow track to very good and apply. I have also head that if I have a fast-track grant they wont consider me for any other grants until this is over. If you can share your experience here, that would be great. Thanks.
@vishu
I have had a horrendous experience with DST FAST. I submitted a FAST proposal of 21 lakhs around May 2010 when I joined as a new faculty. I did not hear anything from them for next 7-8 months. After that when I contacted, DST scientist in charge of FAST project in my area started shouting at me that why I did not contact him earlier; somehow implying that delay was my fault and he said he will send my acceptance letter right away. That letter did not arrive for next 6 months. When I received the letter, I came to know that my project is accepted and I have to submit quotes for equipments within one month (failing which the acceptance will be null and void - see the hypocrisy of setting deadlines). Anyway I sent all the quotes and documents that they requested. Another 6 months passed, now in April 2012 (i.e. after almost 2 years), I received the final letter. To my shock, approved grant is only of 5 lakhs. I have not been given any funding for PhD student that I asked and there are random deduction throughout. The funny (or sad) part is that my project required usage of mobile devices which I have asked under equipments along with a server. The approved funding is only for Server and no mobile devices has been approved (similar to what Saswata's colleague mentioned about getting one computer for networking project).
So after almost 2 years, I got 1/4th of the grant without the equipments that I need. Same experience is by my other four colleagues.
I am highly disappointed by DST and in general with Indian Acadmia.
You mentioned about the organic chemistry faculty. They have only one assistant professor. The rest are associate or full professors. Among the eight faculty, five are Bhatnagar awardees and at least two of the remaining three stand a chance of getting it..they have already got the Swarnajayanthi fellowship.
I do not know what you mean by quality..they have published in Journal of Organic chemistry, tetrahedron etc. As I said, it is the best in India..
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 ??
Sanjeev
@Anon 11:33
1. "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 ??"
For example, I do care. It also means that he cares about his students.
2. "In India, we do not trumpet our achievements."
Why do we publish papers? We can discover something in a lab, and remain silent about it. Why do we need to let others know about our research?
3. "Why should someone mention they got the Bhatnagar or that they have so many publications etc."
It helps potential graduate students to know about the professor, and potential faculty members to know about the department. One should not be ashamed of getting the Bhatnagar award, correct?
"Why do we publish papers? We can discover something in a lab, and remain silent about it."
We publish to get promoted, not to trumpet it in web pages.
"It helps potential graduate students to know about the professor,"
What is the use? Graduate students are alloted to faculty based on the chairman, not the student's choice.
"and potential faculty members to know about the department."
Interested people will know about the department and faculty by reputation, not by webpages.
"One should not be ashamed of getting the Bhatnagar award, correct?"
No need to be ashamed. But no
Need not mention it and trumpet it either.
IITM Sriram:
Gave interview in IITM in June last week. When will results be announced? They told me it will be after BoG meeting. when is that? Will the selected candidates be put on the website?
@Anon 1:10
1. "We publish to get promoted"
Now we, but you do. I doubt whether it's the correct attitude towards doing research and publishing papers.
2. "Graduate students are alloted to faculty based on the chairman, not the student's choice."
Maybe it's true in your department, but certainly not in my department. You should fight to change this horrible system.
3. "Interested people will know about the department and faculty by reputation, not by webpages."
One might not always remain updated about the latest research achievements of a faculty member, even if (s)he is well-reputed within the community. A young faculty will like to collaborate with a reputed professor if (s)he knows about his/her latest research interests.
4. On Bhatnagar award: "No Need to mention it and trumpet it either."
Wikipedia definition of an award: "An award is something given to a person or a group of people to recognize their excellence in a certain field; a certificate of excellence."
There is no shame in telling others if you get a prestigious award, as it signifies your excellence in a certain field (assuming that everything is fair in the selection of awardees).
Reply to Sanjeev "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 ??"
I will not respond to this...it is plain hilarious though...i hope prof.Giri gets a good laugh out of it too :-)
To Annonymous at July 4, 2012, 1:10:
Could you please think twice before posting stuff like "We publish to get promoted"...it is insulting to academics!
Anybody received interview call from UGC-FRP in chemistry discipline.
I have seen some post mentioned that shortlisting has been made for chemistry discipline.
IITM faculty selection results are scheduled to be finalized on July 20.
Btw, when did publishing one's research or writing about it on a webpage become "trumpeting"? By extension, even talking about one's research or presenting it a conference would be trumpeting. If it is one's own research for which you have planned and written a proposal for, why should you act like you are ashamed of having done it, or have stolen it, or not deserved to have done it?
For example, would you rather have that today's Higgs boson announcement NOT be made by CERN and instead they stay quiet and coy about it thinking "who cares?"? That's ridiculous...
If disseminating research results (in the form of research papers)to various audiences across the world and receiving awards for recognition of those works are both "beating of trumpets"...then so be it !!
Anybody received any interview/seminar calls from IIT-Hyderabad or IIT-Gandhinagar recently? I applied in May at IITH and June at IITGN.
Please provide your valuable inputs.
It is ironical that while publishing one's research is seen as trumpeting, shamelessly stealing credit for research that one has not done is considered quite ok. TOI is carrying a news stating that a spokesperson of CERN has said that "India is the historical father of the project" - this news is most likely fake, because India is merely an observer at CERN, not even a member. Billions of dollars of member countries and thousands of man-hours of scientists have gone into the project; why will they give the original credits for all this work to a random bystander?
Nonetheless, I can imagine many people patting their backs over this discovery as if it is their own, only because bosons are named after SN Bose.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/God-particle-India-is-like-a-historic-father-of-the-project/articleshow/14678011.cms
You are right Ankur. TOI's report is really bogus. Just wait and watch, even out of this propaganda, some physicists from the named institutes will receive soon Bhatnagar, Padma Awards, Indian Science Academy Fellowships etc. soon, claiming their even 0.00000...0001% involvement with CERN project on Higgs-Boson...:-)
I think its the way to propagate the things in media and squeeze it to maximum possible amount.How an observer can get credit of some discovery?Just wait and watch.
@NotASourGrape ButDisappointed
Thanks for sharing your experience on FAST TRACK!
Anybody received any interview/seminar calls from IIT-Hyderabad or IIT-Gandhinagar recently? I applied in May at IITH and June at IITGN.
Please provide your valuable inputs.
iitmsriram:
Thank you so much for the reply. When you say, finalized, do you mean it will be announced on the website or will candidates be sent offer letters etc??
As a candidate, please let me know when I will know. thanks
Does anybody has info on the Ramanujan fellowships 2012 results announcemnet. Somebody had previously indicated on this blog that the results would be announced around this time (July beginning).
thanks in advance for any info!
The results of Ramanujan fellowship 2012 was supposedly decided even before the Ramanujan fellows conclave at Pune in May. For some unknown reasons (or maybe for typical reasons, e.g., some clerk has misplaced the file under a pillar of files etc.), the results are not out even today! The Indian scientific bureaucracy doesn't maintain any deadline from their side, but the recipients will have to submit everything in time (often within 1/2 months of notice) without which the yearly grants would not be renewed.
@Ankur:
I am little disappointed with your comment that India was merely a bystander in the CERN experiment. The data was collected by MANAS software developed at SINP, Kolkata (http://cerncourier.com/cws/article/cern/29209). And, of course, the new particle is confirmed as a boson (not as a Higgs boson yet!) which means that you should give some credit to S. N. Bose as well for theoretically predicting the behavior of bosons 90 years ago.
Sorry, MANAS chips, not software.
@Saswata Come on, all credit for scientific work is contribution specific. Bose's work is not pertaining to this specific particle, but a class of particles, for which he has been recognized - half the world's particles are named after him! One cannot expect eternal gratitude and recognition for a discovery and certainly not expect recognition for discoveries made by others downstream.
In this case, the people who deserve most credit are the individual scientists and the countries that have poured funds into this. When I wrote that, I was under the impression that India does not fund this project - actually, it does. So India is not a mere bystander. But it is still an exaggeration to call India the father of the project :P
@Ankur:
Claiming that India is the father of the project is certainly an exaggeration. However, India did contribute a lot to this project through fund and manpower. A number of scientists and Ph.D. students from TIFR, SINP etc. have worked at CERN. And, as I mentioned, the data acquisition at ATLAS (not directly related to this project, but it's a different experiment going on at CERN) was done by MANAS chips completely developed in India.
Coming back to S. N. Bose, let me remind you that Turing is recognized as the father of computer science even though everything in computer science
was not discovered by him. Similarly, recognizing Bose as the father of Boson is not an exaggeration. Since a boson was discovered (only the 5th elementary boson) at CERN, I don't see why one can't refer to the father of the bosons and get inspired by the fact that doing fundamental science is (was) possible in India despite struggling through so many problems.
Claiming that India is the father of the project is certainly an exaggeration. However, India did contribute a lot to this project through fund and manpower. A number of scientists and Ph.D. students from TIFR, SINP etc. have worked at CERN. And, as I mentioned, the data acquisition at ATLAS (not directly related to this project, but it's a different experiment going on at CERN) was done by MANAS chips completely developed in India.
Coming back to S. N. Bose, let me remind you that Turing is recognized as the father of computer science even though everything in computer science
was not discovered by him. Similarly, recognizing Bose as the father of Boson is not an exaggeration. Since a boson was discovered (only the 5th elementary boson) at CERN, I don't see why one can't refer to the father of the bosons and get inspired by the fact that doing fundamental science is (was) possible in India despite struggling through so many problems.
Has anyone heard about any seminar calls from IIT-Hyderabad or IIT-Gandhinagar recently? I applied in May at IITH and June at IITGN.
Please provide your valuable inputs.
I applied to Hyderabad Last June; Therefore I feel They are not keen in recruiting and I have nt heard anything from them.
"I applied to Hyderabad Last June;"..u mean June 2011???????? Please let me know.
@ Others: Is it true that IITH is not keen in recruiting any faculty? Please provide your feedbacks.
yes june 2011
:O shocking !!
@July 6, 2012 3:07 AM,
Is there any other IIT that reacted in a similar fashion? Not responding even after 1 year of application ..this is horrible !!!!!!!!!!!!!
I applied to IIT H in Feb 2012. Still not heard anything from them.
The do not have time to acknowledge and reply (either consider or not as simple). They have time to talk and go for tea for hours together.
There is a need to change the inefficient system. Just throw out some of the persons and system should work fine.
@ July 6, 2012 7:32 AM,
I am very disappointed to know about a similar experience from another applicant. It means they are not going to consider my application either.
Honestly, I did not expect IITH to behave in this fashion, atleast after having heard (though fake) that the institute is running fine !! Its high time that this system need a complete reformation. But the question is what to do now !!
This news about IITH is a real turn off for applicants wanting to return India after Ph.D/Post-doc !!!!!!!!
Feels aweful !!
IIT-Bhubaneswar came out champs in this regard: No response for 1.5 years after application, followed by a 5 min sham interview at 1:30am US time by Skype !
@July 6, 2012 8:17 AM,
IIT-Bhubaneswar is the most unprofessional institute I have heard so far !!
Frankly they don't deserve us !!
If people do not respond to the email application for faculty position, then I do not understand why they are holding the office of selection committee. They should voluntary resign from their position (Since you are the role model for many because you work in elite institutes) and work in dept and take care of their families. They are not there for enjoyment but to serve.
Responsibility must be fixed. Any applications should not go unanswered.That's how great organization works.
@July 6, 2012 8:38 AM,
You are absolutely bulls eye !!
Why the hell are they advertising for prospective applicants ?????????
If they don't want to recruit, they plz don't put the ad on the institute webpage!! Just say yes or no fast !!
I am really looking for people who could fix the matter. Otherwise applicants like us are getting unwanted hopes.
lack of professionalism and even more importantly a lack of accountability means that they feel it is a waste of time to respond to applicants ( even through a secretary). Thankfully not all institutes and not all departments in some institutes behave the same way. Hopefully the rot will not pass on to the next generation in other places. don't expect overnight miracles.
@oncebittentwiceshy,
Lack of accountability indicates the mindset of the people. Its extremely horrendous to see this behavior.
But the problem is the applicants does not have an idea before applying about the identity of such depts (where these things are happening). I hope GOD keeps me on the right path.
Probably the worst of the lot is IIT-Jodhpur. They called candidates in an "open" interview, *in front* of all other seated candidates. The Director was prone to arguing violently wth candidates and publicly rubbishing the CV. No wonder their joining and retention rate is lowest among all new IITs.
The Govt doesnt seem to realise that placing an incompetent person at the top, cripples the new institute from the outset !
Vishu,
It depends on where you want to apply. DST PACs of Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemistry (all four PACs) are very efficient and they will process it faster than fast track. Some PACs take a year to process and in that case fast track may be better. However, because of the reconstitution of the committees, the fast track proposals were also very slow.
My suggestion is that you apply for your regular PAC.
Sanjeev, I will not respond to the comments on my webpage. I feel proud that four of my students are faculty in (old) IITs. It is fine if you do not want me to display it. My webpage is in google sites and not in IISc and therefore, it is a personal site. I can display whatever I want..you do not need to care.
Thanks
Giridhar
Since we are discussing the issue of lack of communication (and also lack of transparency in academic hiring in India), let me post an inspiring counter example:
I had applied to TIFR for a position around January 2012 and very promptly I received (< 1 week) an acknowledgement detailing the time-frame and other details of the hiring process. On June 21, I received an email from (Prof.) Sunil Mukhi of TIFR, saying (I quote from the email itself) "Your application has been examined by the Department. I regret to inform you that we will not be able to offer you a position at this time. We wish you all the very best in your academic career."
Getting over the rejection, I wrote back to Sunil:
"Thanks a lot for taking your time, and letting me know. I really appreciate it (I can tell you from my personal job search experience that it is not a common gesture, at least in India). "
And here is his reply: "Well, thanks for telling me this! It's useful feedback - indeed I've also long felt that acknowledging/responding is not common in India, and would very much like that to change."
Amidst all the lack of communication/transparency that I faced during the job search period, this interaction stood out and has left a deep impact on me. This is how I would like to be (and maybe other "academically young" people like me should strive to be), if I am on the other (deciding/hiring) side of the job selection process.
One other thing that stood out for me during my job search, was that many of the places I visited (applied to) wanted an assurance of my acceptance if they were able to offer a position. Please understand that this is a violation of causality (one cannot accept a position before one is offered)! As a kind faculty at IIX pointed out to me, the politically correct (not necessarily correct!) answers to such questions, if asked, is always a big "YES"!.
I understand the reasons behind this (other that patronizing!), if the IIX's make an offer and is turned down, they can possibly only make an offer to another candidate after 6 month or 1 year (the freq. at which the selection committee is convened). The only solution, in my opinion, can be more transparent communication, the dept. can tell the candidate that he/she is a strong candidate likely to be recommended (or has been recommended) to the selection committee and in turn the candidate should in turn communicate any offers/acceptance to the places where he/she is being considered promptly.
Another issue that had a deep negative impact on me, was when the department I had done my Ph.D from, informally "discouraged" me from applying. Let me state that I understand to quiet an extent the reasons and the issues involved with such an policy. But as a consequence of this "discouragement", I will have a lifelong feeling that I made a mistake in pursuing my Ph.D from the institute/department, because I had a choice at some point and I could have chosen to do my Ph.D from the US like many of my batch mates chose to do. [Though I must say that I am very happy with my Ph.D work as it is.].
Your Point regarding TIFR is really right! The professors
reply about acceptance/rejection soon. The appreciating point about TIFR is they do not have standing advertisements and I strongly feel IISc should also remove standing advertisements from the web.
@July 6, 2012 9:04 AM,
Regarding IIT-Jodhpur, after I read your comments, have given up hopes already.
If the top seated people react is a such a fashion, then how could they recruit quality people?
By the way, after how long did you get a reply from them?
I am lost right now, were there any IIT that conducted the process fast and professionally?
@Anon 9:04
IIT Guwahati recruitment process is very fast and professional, with the annual interview dates for each subject written on the website . However, after you join the institute, you would find that many other things are not so fast and professional.
to Anonymous at July 6, 2012 6:44 PM
IIT-J took about a year to respond.
I applied to 14/16 IITs in multiple departments. IITB (Chem Eng) responded with rejection in short time, the other dept in IITB never bothered. IITM has certainly improved its application process (online) this time and was prompt.
The rest of the IITs, have no response after 1 year of application, not even acknowledgment. Standing advertisements are complete fraud in my experience.
Thanks Saswata ! Can anyone let me know about the faculty recruitment process at IIT- Kharagpur 2012? Are they still accepting applications for recruitment soon ?
@amit
You have raised the quality of response on this blog by many notches! And thanks for sharing your truly valuable experience.
Even though I am now out of the anarchy of this process, I am still looking forward to a good hiring ecosystem to develop in which the interests of applicants are respected.
Can anyone comment on the recruitment experience at IIT Ropar and IIT Indore?
Thanks,
HSM
I applied to IIT Indore 2 months back and have no response yet.
I think we should not count on it
IIT Indore recruits only candidates recommended by some Indian professors :(
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