IIT Delhi Selected as an
Institution of Eminence
IIT Delhi was selected as an Institution of Eminence(IoE) by the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry. The announcement to this effect was made on July 9.A total of 114 proposals were submitted of which six were finally shortlisted UGC had suggested 20 parameters to qualify to be an Institution of Eminence.
IIT Delhi already fulfills many of these parameters. At a rank of 172 globally, IIT Delhi was Number 1 in India in 2017 and Number 3 in 2018. It now targets to better its ranking to reach within 100 in the next five years and gradually to less than 50 in due course.
As part of the new status, the Institute will get a grant of Rs. 1000 Crores over the next five years. The funds that the Institute will get will be fundamentally used in broadening academic landscape, developing thematic initiatives and collaborations across campus, strengthening capabilities to translate knowledge into societal impact and establishing cross-cutting initiatives to strengthen the foundation of research.
Some of the key areas that the Institute will work on are advanced state-of-art labs, sustainable technology development, high-performance computing system, high-end research facilities in nanomaterials, healthcare, energy & environment, and manufacturing. There are plans to spruce the infrastructure facilities both in terms of housing and academic centers.
The Institute is known for its key contributions to the country’s developmental challenges by virtue of having some of the best students and faculty in the country, proximity to the problems and ability to interact with policy makers and civil society. The Institute is also building a technology park on campus which will host industry labs, provide space for entrepreneur startups and facilitate to nurture innovative ideas/ process/ technology/ product etc.
While there is already a fertile ecosystem for startups, emphasis would be on technology based enterprises that build up on the extensive R&D infrastructure of the laboratories. Fellowship programmes for encouraging such startups is on the way.