The seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) churn out graduate engineers that are among the best in the world, but they are still not referred to as world-class institutes. This dichotomy exists because of the gap in research that world-class institutes are expected to deliver and for which benchmarks are set by the likes of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and California Institute of technology (CalTech). "Graduate studies at IIT are unparalleled," says Alok Mittal, managing director, Canaan India. "But they lack in post-graduate studies and research .''
Mittal passed out from IIT Delhi in 1994 and went on to do a Masters at the University of Berkeley , where he also taught briefly. "IIT faculty is brilliant and many of them are regarded by peers around the world," he adds. "However, in the academic world, respect does not come from how well you can teach undergraduate students, but from research." IITians have set up companies , they have taken on leadership roles in government and the corporate sector alike, they have created millions of jobs and wealth (See graphic below). But they have demonstrated an aversion for staying on in their alma mater to do research.
The Anil Kakodkar Committee , which looked into the issue of autonomy and scaling up of IITs, says the seven institutes hand about 1,000 PhDs a year. But just 1% of these were engineers who did their under-graduation from IIT. "They (the IITs) have not tried to become research-oriented," says Arjun Malhotra, chairman emeritus, Headstrong and a 1970 pass out from IIT Kharagpur. "They also emphasised education over research ," adds Kanwal Rekhi, managing director , Inventus Capital Partners. "IITs lack the breadth of offerings like MIT and Stanford in that they are only technology institutes and are not great in pure sciences," says Rekhi, from the 1967 batch of IIT Bombay. The means to more research is faculty, funding and governance.
For instance, Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal says India's annual research spend is $8 billion a year, compared to $250 billion by the US and $60 billion by China. According to the Kakodkar Committee, the US and China produce 8,000-9 ,000 PhDs in engineering and technology every year, compared to 1,000 by India. While funding is an issue, Mittal argues that for courses like computer science it is less of an issue than in, say, aeronautics or research. "We need a policy intent, and investments in faculty and infrastructure to scale up IITs,'' he says. "IITs are unlikely to be world class as long as they are under the thumbs of babus and netas," says Rekhi. "Directors are appointed for five years and that is not a long-term horizon to pursue a dream."
Mittal passed out from IIT Delhi in 1994 and went on to do a Masters at the University of Berkeley , where he also taught briefly. "IIT faculty is brilliant and many of them are regarded by peers around the world," he adds. "However, in the academic world, respect does not come from how well you can teach undergraduate students, but from research." IITians have set up companies , they have taken on leadership roles in government and the corporate sector alike, they have created millions of jobs and wealth (See graphic below). But they have demonstrated an aversion for staying on in their alma mater to do research.
The Anil Kakodkar Committee , which looked into the issue of autonomy and scaling up of IITs, says the seven institutes hand about 1,000 PhDs a year. But just 1% of these were engineers who did their under-graduation from IIT. "They (the IITs) have not tried to become research-oriented," says Arjun Malhotra, chairman emeritus, Headstrong and a 1970 pass out from IIT Kharagpur. "They also emphasised education over research ," adds Kanwal Rekhi, managing director , Inventus Capital Partners. "IITs lack the breadth of offerings like MIT and Stanford in that they are only technology institutes and are not great in pure sciences," says Rekhi, from the 1967 batch of IIT Bombay. The means to more research is faculty, funding and governance.
For instance, Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal says India's annual research spend is $8 billion a year, compared to $250 billion by the US and $60 billion by China. According to the Kakodkar Committee, the US and China produce 8,000-9 ,000 PhDs in engineering and technology every year, compared to 1,000 by India. While funding is an issue, Mittal argues that for courses like computer science it is less of an issue than in, say, aeronautics or research. "We need a policy intent, and investments in faculty and infrastructure to scale up IITs,'' he says. "IITs are unlikely to be world class as long as they are under the thumbs of babus and netas," says Rekhi. "Directors are appointed for five years and that is not a long-term horizon to pursue a dream."
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