Tuesday, June 10, 2014: In a bid to increase the number of PhDs in electronic design and to enhance innovation in electronics system design and manufacturing (ESDM) and IT/ITe enabled services, the department of electronics and IT (DeitY) is all set to create 1,500 PhDs each in both sectors, a total of 3,000, in the next five years. Deity has launched a new scheme called ‘the PhD scheme’ for the same.
“The PhD scheme with a budget of Rs 4,500 million was approved in February 2014, and will be implemented from this academic session,” Ajay Kumar, joint secretary, Electronics & Hardware Manufacturing Division, DeitY was quoted as saying. Under the scheme, 500 PhDs each for ESDM and IT/ITes would be full time and provide full fellowship support while the other 1,000 PhDs in each sector would be part time, receiving a one-time grant. Institutions deemed eligible for support under the PhD scheme include: all IITs, National Institutes of Technologies (NITs), Indian institute of science (IISc), all Indian Institutes of Science, Education and Research, Central Universities, deemed universities under the central government, colleges, and institutions of national importance. Meanwhile, a separate academic committee consisting of distinguished members and DeitY officials will look after recognising other institutions that could be eligible for the scheme.
“We have already started receiving suggestions from industry regarding areas for research and innovation. Various universities have called on the department seeking the number of additional PhDs that they would take up in the sector,” Kumar said. “The scheme would be a big game changer because the scale at which we are working is huge. Around 3000 PhDs in an area where we typically produce 50 is a big number,” Kumar added.
