The National Science Foundation will give grants to four MIT graduate students to work in research institutions in India this summer. The internships will be at the Indian Institute of Science , the National Center for Biological Science and the Indian Institute of Information Technology (all in Bangalore) and the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras .
"These institutions are at the frontiers of knowledge, in many cases doing the most advanced work in the world. In general, India is one of the world's major centers of scientific knowledge creation and technological innovation. It has the world's second-largest pool of scientific and technical manpower," said Kenneth Keniston, director of the MIT India Program.
The lead scientists at the four Indian institutions all have connections with MIT. Professor Vijay Chandru at the Indian Institute of Science received his Ph.D. from the Laboratory for Computer Science and is one of the leaders of the Simputer Project, which is now conducting field trials of its $200 handheld, low-energy-consumption computer specifically designed for Indian conditions.
The National Center for Biological Sciences has ties with the Department of Brain and Cognitive Science through Professor Sumantra Chattarji, who divides his time between Bangalore and MIT. Professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala of the Indian Institute of Technology, a world pioneer in the development of low-cost connectivity, works closely with MIT Corporation members Ray Stata and Desh Deshpande.
The NSF grants support travel, room and board, incidental expenses and a stipend. For more information, contact Lakshmi Nayak, coordinator of the MIT India Program, at x3-0156 or lnayak@mit.edu.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on February 27, 2002.
