tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post1322678629920191313..comments2024-03-29T11:45:43.197+05:30Comments on Musings of Dheeraj Sanghi: A 5-year plan to get into top 100 QS RanksDheeraj Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06367519409840642182noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-73412832585783562982012-10-16T16:09:10.078+05:302012-10-16T16:09:10.078+05:30@Chandresh,
why is it IITs responsibility to bring...@Chandresh,<br />why is it IITs responsibility to bring state board student with CBSE students? Wasn't the purpose of IIT to put India as a technical leader in the world? To expand research frontier? To innovate for the betterment of India?<br /><br />How can IITs achieve all these goals if people want it to be socialistic in nature rather than elitist where only the best should survive? How does it matter who these 'best' are as long as they are fulfilling the objective mentioned above?<br /><br />I firmly believe that IITs should be elitist and focus only on competing with the world in terms of innovation and research. IITs must be shielded from socialistic responsibility to make sure that all sections of society gets equal seats into IIT irrespective of their performance. Let the best go into IIT irrespective of caste, region, board etc.<br /><br />PS: I studied in state board.Saurabh Joshihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08461791061004256871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-60614154516520865392012-10-15T00:39:20.317+05:302012-10-15T00:39:20.317+05:30We all know accident of birth has a influence on t...We all know accident of birth has a influence on the type of opportunities children get in India. Typically, CBSE and ICSE students are luckier than state board students. No point debating this fact. <br /> <br />After entering IITs, some initiatives like 1 year preparatory and English language skills indirectly help non previldedged students. Even SC/ST/OBC/PD reservation candidates would possibly (is it true?) be skewed towards State Board students. <br /><br />But, what initiatives have IITs taken specifically to enable state board students to catch up within the 4/5 years they study at IITs. <br /><br />Objective measures of success of IITs in transforming such state board students are:<br /><br />i) No statistically significant variation between the mean and std deviations of final graduating CPIs of CBSE and State Board Students.<br /><br />ii) Parity in per student undergraduate research outputs. <br /><br />This is the best service that IITs can do! Any ideas? <br /><br /> Chandreshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06839506703697516434noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-88652916226139084132012-10-03T03:39:45.305+05:302012-10-03T03:39:45.305+05:30I agree with Dr. Sanghi and we should not ignore R...I agree with Dr. Sanghi and we should not ignore Rankings. The suggestions in this post are mostly implementable and will give good return on investment(ROI).<br /> I personally, like the branding part and marketing part. IITK website, lacks not just in Presentation but Information content as well. It is so damn hard to get information on goings on in campus. IIT Guwahati and IITD are doing a far better job with updating the world through their google+ and FB pages. And for first time in recent years, I can see a vibrant community in IIT Guwahati and it definitely changes my perception of it.<br /> On IITB's website you can get a list of seminars and presentation even for department like MME. Compare that to IITK MME website, where even name of Head of Department is not updated. I discovered this when I called up Dr. Dipak Mazumdar few days back to congratulate him on becoming HOD and came to know that he is now ex-HOD and believe me, it is not a single instance.<br /> Social Media is most easily implementable and will start creating awareness immediately. But we must think of overhaul of IITK website design, making dynamic pages and using open source technologies that can build it fast. IITK can even outsource the website building and maintenance part. Cost aside, I feel that would be a good idea, because faculty/people with requisite skills are in short and already stressed out with academics alone. Anyways, their time would be better spent on Research rather than making some webpages. The website could be developed so that it leaves enough hook points so student's can contribute content as well as develop plugins etc.Umeshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14374548077214177945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-43374168109742304272012-09-24T01:44:33.078+05:302012-09-24T01:44:33.078+05:30Please visit this:
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.ph...Please visit this:<br /><br />http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=13396&page=R1Bishnoihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13491789475529021389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-67011636656208277292012-09-21T19:53:40.882+05:302012-09-21T19:53:40.882+05:30(All numbers here are pre-tax.) In the mid-90s USA...(All numbers here are pre-tax.) In the mid-90s USA, a PhD student got a stipend between 1000 and 1300 USD/mo. A masters degree holder working in the IT sector would make something like 5000 to 6000 USD/mo. A PhD degree holder would make something like 7000 to 9000 USD/mo. So there was a 4x to 7x pay cut for doing a PhD. I am not up to date about IT sector salaries in India today. I am guessing masters degree holders make at least 1 lakh INR/mo, compared to PhD students making, say, 20k INR/mo, or a ratio of about 5x. <br /><br />So the "wisdom premium" here (now) isn't too different from that in USA (then). This, of course, means little, because of two related factors. First, for the same quality, every good and service in India is substantially more expensive (in purchase parity terms) than in the USA, because our economy is less efficient. Second, the threshold amount of money needed to live a decent life is a far larger fraction of middle-class earnings in India compared to USA.<br /><br />It's hard to argue with precise numbers, but a "wisdom premium" of this nature is inevitable because research is inherently speculative. Despite what resumes would have you believe (i.e., everything that passes between anyone's ears is fit for publication), research is a very lossy enterprise: most ideas and thoughts are not that useful or even novel. Because research must be cumulative wrt the "best prior art", the "wisdom premium" is expected to steadily worsen with time. I.e., the marginal worth of research, compared to making or selling soap, will monotonically decrease. (This will no doubt jar the club that believes in the infinite potential of human innovation. But compare the marginal utility of a iPhone18s compared to the Nokia 3230, with that of British Telecom over cablegrams under the sea.)<br /><br />Anyway, all this leads to a substantially bimodal quality distribution of PhD aspirants. Some amazing minds do PhD in India because they have no feel for money and how much they "should" make. These are excellent students who could do a PhD anywhere. The other category ... we all know about that category, no need to spend unpleasant words about them. The tragedy is that the middle is very thin, which means the situation is like a worn out electronic fan regulator (no linear transfer from knob position to fan speed). By pouring more money into PhD stipends, you will get to some better operating point, and then you will hit a blank wall. The supply chain of good minds simply is not there. That's what a country gets by neglecting primary and secondary education for decades and expecting to get results by pumping (relatively) lavish funds into PhD level programs.Ungrateful Alivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07536084262681072181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-25754448313576918852012-09-18T20:26:19.456+05:302012-09-18T20:26:19.456+05:30I think what Saswata is saying is right. Many brig...I think what Saswata is saying is right. Many bright potential students take up industry jobs because of money, not because of interest. Often there is pressure from home to start earning for the family, not just not take money from family. If you pay them enough so to send, say about 30k home every month (without spouse), the regret of joining for PhD is less. It also boosts their self-esteem. <br /><br />Remember that there are many who would go abroad for PhD thinking that saving in dollars lets them send remittances (may be $500) home. We can do a lot to attract all these students that we needlessly lose to foreign universities.Ankur Kulkarnihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16411971742511540520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-27947773867336805182012-09-18T08:31:37.203+05:302012-09-18T08:31:37.203+05:30@Prof. Sanghi.
Thanks for the detailed comment. ...@Prof. Sanghi. <br /><br />Thanks for the detailed comment. I was not suggesting to treat all Ph.D. students as equals. Each Ph.D.student can have a variable component to her salary which is related to publications, attracting funds etc. For example, a Ph.D. student can be paid some top-up from a research grant for one year, and (s)he will be motivated to work harder because renewal of the grant effectively means extra salary for one more year. Similarly, each student can be paid some financial reward per publication. <br /><br />Although I agree that the other issues (delay in thesis evaluation, GATE being conducted too late etc.) are important, money is an equally important parameter even at the Ph. D. level. A potential Ph.D. student doesn't really find a barely-manageable salary quite satisfying, as her batch-mates would be earning much more even with (maybe) lesser credentials. Obviously, the Ph.D. salary be can't be as much as the average industry salary, but I don't see any reason why it can't be half of the average industry salary of B.Techs. passing out of IITs. A Ph.D. programme then becomes quite attractive as it gives you a higher degree (which opens more opportunities) without much financial sacrifice. Saswatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14574415601055749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-15100319127072937172012-09-17T20:29:27.542+05:302012-09-17T20:29:27.542+05:30Two random comments. "With every passing year...Two random comments. "With every passing year, the number of BTech students who want to switch to BTech-MTech dual degree is increasing" --- certainly not universal across IIXs. About allocating more financial incentives to hire faculty members, I can't see beating Indian inflation (especially that "invisible" inflation leading to 650 square foot flats worth 1.4 crores) with IIT salaries any time soon, or ever. I really think this thread should be killed, and the real questions are: Are our graduates reasonably good at what they learn here? And do get to use these skills where they go to work? What's the point chasing ranks if the above questions are often answered in the negative?Ungrateful Alivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07536084262681072181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-59355585174484081412012-09-17T16:34:47.204+05:302012-09-17T16:34:47.204+05:30Thanks for the detailed comment, Professor Sanghi....Thanks for the detailed comment, Professor Sanghi.<br /><br />I do understand that IITs work under the constraints of being a government organization and most of the (perceived) inefficiencies are actually procedural requirements.<br />As you say, it would really help if the candidates are actually kept in a loop about the status of their application.<br /><br />Also, it won't hurt to have a good and professional looking webpage dedicated to the same. Considering all the perks (campus housing, access to sport facilities, tenure-track, academic freedom(?) etc.) along with a good salary, an Assistant Professor's job is quite a lucrative offer. If marketed properly, who knows IITs may attract many more good quality applications!Prashanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18413405813678163163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-5612161310580585762012-09-17T01:49:57.107+05:302012-09-17T01:49:57.107+05:30@Rohit, it is not exactly the topic of this articl...@Rohit, it is not exactly the topic of this article, but I think if we provided enough challenges to the top half of the class, they might be enthused about continuing higher education at IITK. By the way, with every passing year, the number of BTech students who want to switch to BTech-MTech dual degree is increasing.<br />Dheeraj Sanghihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06367519409840642182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-47986305612755279092012-09-17T01:47:39.657+05:302012-09-17T01:47:39.657+05:30@Prashant, The problem is that in the government s...@Prashant, The problem is that in the government system, any "permanent" recruitment is done by a selection committee, which must have several persons from outside. Holding such selection committees is normally done once a year. Typically holding a committee meeting will cost a lakh of rupees, besides a lot of time. The selection committees are same for Assistant Professor and Associate Professor, but the one for Professor has a slightly different composition.<br /><br />In the past, institutes would think that when a selection committee is being held, let it consider several applications together. Why spend one lakh on considering each applicant. Also, when we have a meeting any way, why not let them also decide on the promotions from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor. And if we are going to consider promotions as well, we would want to give Assistant Professors of all departments an equal opportunity for promotion to Associate Professors position on the same day, so that an accident of scheduling does not decide the "seniority" of a faculty member.<br /><br />Slowly, the mindset is changing. In IIT Kanpur, we have had many examples of holding a selection committee in between (that is within six months of the previous or the next regular meeting), just to consider one application. In case of an absolute star CV, we have even held such selection committees within days of the department recommendation for the same. But this happens only when there is an alignment of views between the Head of the Department, Dean of Faculty Affairs, and Director. If even one of them has a doubt or does not give this enough priority, the application can be on hold for months.<br /><br />By the way, most IITs are able to give a visiting or a temporary appointment (of up to 2-3 years, I think) through a completely internal process, which at IITK we have even completed within one working day after the Department's recommendation. But most applicant would not want to join unless there is a permanent job offer on hand. If they are willing to take a bit of risk, the offer time can be reduced considerably.<br /><br />But the point you make is valid. We should be able to deal with faculty applications in a much faster mode, even within the government constraints. And, even when there is a delay, the applicant should be informed of the delay and the reasons for the same. Even Gautam makes the same point.<br /><br />Last point: When I had applied for a faculty job, one of the IITs never responded to my emails, application, etc. Long after I had joined IIT Kanpur, and almost two years after I had applied for the job, I received a letter from that IIT asking me to appear before the selection committee. You may want to criticize them for slow response. But if the office could keep application for 2 years, figured out that I must have completed my PhD and would be doing a job, figured out that I am at IIT Kanpur (this wasn't easy in pre-google and pre-internet-search days), and sent me a letter at the correct address, I considered it remarkably efficient at that time, though I politely declined to appear before the selection committee. :-)<br />Dheeraj Sanghihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06367519409840642182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-32510729948372444572012-09-17T01:25:05.882+05:302012-09-17T01:25:05.882+05:30@Saswata, Money is just one parameter. An importan...@Saswata, Money is just one parameter. An important one for many things, but I am not sure whether it is very important for PhD. PhD student should be able to survive without parental support, even if married, and the spouse does not bring in second income. Beyond this is not going to help too much in terms of bringing good students. Beyond a decent stipend, we need to think of incentives for performance, and not across-the-board raising of stipend.<br /><br />In a recent discussion at IITK, I pointed out that if we can create conditions (infrastructure, quick resolution of any problems for PhD students, an early thesis evaluation, etc.) where by a student can complete PhD just six months early, the earnings in those six months will be much more than a bit extra stipend that s/he can get if the stipend is increased by 5,000 rupees or even more.<br /><br />Last year, we had a workshop in which one of the teaching learning expert talked about the problems that PhD students face and how they "train" their faculty members in facing and resolving those problems. Do you think any IIT would like to have such "training" programs, which can again speed up the PhD process and improve quality.<br /><br />A simple step of advancing GATE by six months would give you better quality students. Do you think IITs would agree?<br /><br />There are lots that can be done to improve quality, but treating everyone equal can only mean mediocrity. And hence the suggestion that certain institutes and universities where the leadership is willing to change is strengthened in its resolve by offering incentives to change for the better against improved rankings. Very small amount of money can act as incentive to improve quality, till we come to the hard problems, and once there is a culture of change, we will be able to solve those hard problems as well.<br /><br />Dheeraj Sanghihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06367519409840642182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-79217392550730048732012-09-16T23:57:47.216+05:302012-09-16T23:57:47.216+05:30Hats off to your ability to analyse the issue at t...Hats off to your ability to analyse the issue at the grass-root level and come up with a simple, yet effective solutions for the welfare and improvement of the educational institutions.I could only hope that some one from HRD ministry reads this blog. <br /><br />Prof. Dheeraj Sanghi, I however had this question lingering in my mind while reading your blog regarding the recruitment of the new faculties-What should IITs do to retain few of the undergrad students to carry out the good research work in their own departments?Some of these students who spend sleepless nights preparing for JEE,dream of clearing the exam and to get admitted in such coveted institutions for their BTech, only desire to fly overseas to get admitted in some foreign universities for the post-graduation courses.I am sure these people excel there as well.I am certain that at least 5-6% of the class would have students who have good research acumen and who can contribute.If among these 5-6% if at least 20-30% prove good, they could be offered positions in the department.Moreover, they will be "home-grown" who will know the limitations of the system and could bring laurels in the limited resources they are provided.ROHIThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07863352004801765859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-85163413377166640772012-09-16T21:43:35.887+05:302012-09-16T21:43:35.887+05:30Among the ideas you've mentioned, one which is...Among the ideas you've mentioned, one which is very easy and very very important is being active in faculty recruitment.<br /><br />The present situation is that instead of going out and head-hunting good people, (old) IITs do not even acknowledge people's applications. Going through the comments on this blog by Professor Madras of IISc, it seems that people get an acknowledgement of their application in 3-6 months and the entire hiring process takes over a year (sometimes 18 months).<br />http://giridharmadras.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/pinned-post-for-prospective-faculty-to.html<br /><br />Perhaps the old IITs can take some lessons from new ones (like IIT Gn) and other reputed foreign universities about their approach towards active faculty recruitment.Prashanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18413405813678163163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-46088459008198464352012-09-16T13:44:24.601+05:302012-09-16T13:44:24.601+05:30I don't understand the problem in implementing...I don't understand the problem in implementing a simple economic solution to improve the Masters/Ph.D. programmes in IITs. The B. Techs. should be charged more (there is no logic behind government spending money for subsidizing B. Tech. education that leads to lucrative job offers) and the extra revenue thus earned can be used to pay higher salary to postgraduate students. Higher salary in research will initially help attracting only marginally better students to PG programmes, but will attract much better students after a few years when the initial students helps improving the research quality.<br /><br />Also, a portion of the research grant should be allowed to be paid to M. Tech./ Ph.D. students as top-ups. Currently, some IITs don't allow this. (The lower the ranking, the more is the number of such senseless rules.)<br /><br />We always blame the society for pushing the children to non-research careers, but we are not courageous enough to change the basic economic structure leading to this effect. I heard that the government has "decided" to increase the UG fees, but have neither specified it's use (the best use would be to pay higher salary to PG students) nor specified the date of implementation. Saswatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14574415601055749322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-21997065776524049442012-09-16T11:45:14.158+05:302012-09-16T11:45:14.158+05:30Asking an IIT to improve its ranking is like askin...Asking an IIT to improve its ranking is like asking someone to not walk around on the streets in his underwear - it's a basic demand to not embarrass people in your society. If something so elementary is seen as rocking the boat, then I won't be surprised if the current rankings will prove to exaggerations soon. This smugness will take rankings further down.Ankur Kulkarnihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16411971742511540520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-60303091637865455652012-09-16T11:15:12.659+05:302012-09-16T11:15:12.659+05:30There is a news that IIT Kahragpur aims at getting...There is a news that IIT Kahragpur aims at getting into the list of top 20 global institutes by the year 2020(as drafted in their 'Vision 2020'). Does anyone know what is their strategy ?Arpan Maheshwarihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01485592797688157006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-3436901536218885282012-09-16T06:14:07.925+05:302012-09-16T06:14:07.925+05:30Good post, this is a practical approach to address...Good post, this is a practical approach to address the ranking challenge.Rishikesha Krishnanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07450841047810068098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-56630309163029961992012-09-16T05:42:20.857+05:302012-09-16T05:42:20.857+05:30I would like to point out that IIM Ahmedabad does ...I would like to point out that IIM Ahmedabad does quite well in most rankings. Can some lessons be learnt from them ?<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Institute_of_Management_Ahmedabad#RankingsVikramhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15184698535624088994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-30677213236492020512012-09-15T22:22:47.210+05:302012-09-15T22:22:47.210+05:30It's an oft repeated and generally tiring rema...It's an oft repeated and generally tiring remark by now... but the most effective one nevertheless.<br /><br />Short, but sour; make the IITs and other promising universities a breeding ground for earth shattering research (be it via MS or PhD or post-doc studies). <br /><br />The undue and childish emphasis on BTech/BS in IITs is killing the brand and its long-term quality, alas, only a few of the academicians at the helm seem to be recognizing it.<br /><br />An SB (BTech equiv. degree) from MIT goes to do her MS from Carnegie or even Vanderbilt, then she decides to go for her PhD at Max Plank Institute or Texas A&M/Rice/PennState (you can have many combinations running in either directions) - such is the culture of institutes here, departments have repute, professors and their labs have repute which override the overall repute of the university per se... and they are selected by the students based purely on that.<br /><br />Consider this, a BTech/BS from IITB, would rather go for an MS from a second (even third) rate US/Eur university, than do her MS/MPhil/PhD/DSc with one of the IITs/IISc/IMS/HRI etc.,(exceptions are there, but the general case is what I'm talking about).<br /><br />Difference lies here, somewhere deep down, even the Indians think of IITs as a good investment merely for the undergrad studies, only the ones who couldn't get the 'great' placement from their B or C or D grade colleges end up there to get the 'IIT' tag.<br /><br />A BS from IITs for an Indian student makes a very prudent economic sense by the way -- A BS from a foreign university would be way too costly, why not do it here, and do the more 'meaningful' and 'rewarding' degree from the places which matter -- this is probably the general perception, QS is merely reflecting the same. <br /><br />What Sainik Schools are to NDA, IIT are to the universities of X (India and other third world countries not included). Kill me if you will for averring in this way, but I'm saying what I've seen so far.<br /><br />Change this perception first, before anything. It's a painful exercise, let me tell you, you can defeat others in arguments, but not your inner self for it knows what you're going to say (even think) next.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07140507663671205386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-19626714699774555452012-09-15T13:07:07.135+05:302012-09-15T13:07:07.135+05:30I may add, as I have always maintained, that IITs ...I may add, as I have always maintained, that IITs (older ones) need to grow beyond 'B.Tech' image. All efforts should be made to have good M.Techs and Ph.Ds also so that they can serve as a catchment area for faculty recruitment. Of course, they need to compete with the outsiders trained at presently better universities or institutes , either in India or abroad.<br />Like it or not, IITs major weakness has been its becoming UG centric. So called brand image of IIT was hyped up because of its popularity of its B.Tech courses (It was hyped up , in no small measure, for business reasons also, by coaching mandis ).I've a nagging feeling that this (popularity and brand thing led to some kind of complacency in IIT management (Senate,Directors and BOG and not IIT council)towards not improving its PG side. M.Tech & Ph.D students are still considered as 2nd class citizens in IIT campuses. <br />All efforts must be made to attract best students for M.Techs and retain them for high class Ph.Ds. Of course , this issue is related to general employment scene in our country and the social preferences,but a focussed effort needs to be made in this direction.Only then we should be able address some of issues like good faculty-student ration, higher citation index, better industry interface .<br /><br /><br /><br />Shishirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04389343268542481402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-57657306300152886762012-09-15T11:52:45.785+05:302012-09-15T11:52:45.785+05:30>> "So the competition for quality facu...>> "So the competition for quality faculty became intense..."<br /><br />LOL!<br /><br />Ajit<br />[E&OE]<br />Ajit R. Jadhavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02194541129055576042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-58848722082795059192012-09-15T11:06:25.873+05:302012-09-15T11:06:25.873+05:30@Ankur, There have been a few studies. Government ...@Ankur, There have been a few studies. Government had done a review of IITs about a decade ago (and there had been reviews earlier as well). There was this much-maligned McKenzie report a few years ago. We also keep having committees to improve IIT system (like Kakodakar committee). I am not impressed with the quality of discussion in these reports, their analysis, or their suggestions.<br /><br />In this article, my point has been that without rocking the boat, with relatively simple small steps, one can reach up to a rank of 100. To go higher than that will require a very careful selection of strategies, will require a detailed planning, and will require massive infusion of funds. There is no point in doing all that, if IITs (or other Indian universities) wouldn't undertake even simple steps which are completely within their jurisdiction to improve quality.<br /><br />The other point of the article is that faculty members (who are the primary decision makers within an Institute) are happy doing their own work, and usually are risk averse to the extent that they would even stop others from doing anything different. Therefore, an incentive system is needed even to make these small changes, and hence small amounts of funds are needed even at the current stage.<br />Dheeraj Sanghihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06367519409840642182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-22795235359187683932012-09-15T10:30:30.128+05:302012-09-15T10:30:30.128+05:30What Gautam (I think that's Prof Barua) is say...What Gautam (I think that's Prof Barua) is saying is very true. There is a general need for an image makeover.<br /><br />But I think there isn't a scientific and systematic approach to figure out the shortcomings of IITs. People are merely guessing that money, autonomy or something like that is lacking. Prof Sanghi, may be you know the answer to this, has there at all been a study of `best practices' - what is it that other universities do, to get a high rank? How do they function? What are their processes? Surely there are many differences between IITs and top-ranking universities than just their funding universities, and we shouldn't just be guessing the causes of a low rank. A systematic study will transparently reveal where IITs fall short. Further, there are many examples of universities, say, in China, that have risen in ranking in a short time. Has there been a study of what these universities have done to achieve this?Ankur Kulkarnihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16411971742511540520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273139713770751485.post-67591103168918506242012-09-15T09:41:40.898+05:302012-09-15T09:41:40.898+05:30I agree with all of what you say, but would like t...I agree with all of what you say, but would like to stress that we need to work on the image of Indian educational institutions as well, as in your comment about web-pages being old, shabby and outdated as well as what applicants from outside India have told me about their personal experiences in applying to Indian institutions. Their letters are not acknowledged, what they receive is often a form letter from a Registrar rather than from the chairman of a hiring committee. The form letter is often written in a manner that, while factual, is certainly not particularly friendly or inviting. This does not actually take much work, but the will has to be there, as well as the feeling that this isn't just a frivolous exercise.<br /><br />Coupled with this, we do need to make a more conscious effort to hire non-Indian faculty, not just because this might improve our rankings but because the experience of cross-fertilization, of new points of view and of new experiences is vital. We do pay - compared to the west - lower salaries, but I don't see the administrative problem in paying higher salaries for positions that are not permanent i.e.. trading off remuneration against the lack of tenure.<br /><br />Also, I think hiring should be far more pro-active than it is now, in which Departments wait for applications and then process them. It should be possible for each IIT department, for example, to look at quality, (I guess here largely Indian-origin), finishing graduate students and post-docs, to 'woo' those who they think might be good fits and to work with them at constructing a package (startup funds, relatively little teaching in the first year etc.) which could bring them back. Gautamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01353320720889520955noreply@blogger.com