The Board of Governors of IIT Madras has created a certain number of Institute Chair Professorships, which can be Endowed and named as well. These Chairs are to be occupied by Professors who have distinguished themselves and been recognized by their peers for their research and/or technology development, and who have excelled in teaching and service to the Institute/nation/profession. The achievements must therefore go beyond those that earned them the Professorship, and should demonstrate leadership in one or more of these aspects. Institute Chair Professors are appointed for a period of 5 years followed by a review and possible extension. Chair Professors receive an honorarium of Rs. 25,000 per month in addition to the regular salary.

Each Institute Chair Professorship may be Endowed with a one-time funding of Rs. 50 lakhs. The first Chair (in “Biomedical Engineering”) has already been sponsored by our 2015 Distinguished Alum, Dr. Prakash Keshaviah, in the name of his Ph.D. Advisor and mentor, Prof. Perry L Blackshear. Please consider this Endowment option as a way of giving back to your teachers, to your Departments.

In order to encourage excellence in research and development, a scheme of Research & Development Awards for faculty members has also been introduced from 2013-14. These awards are known as “Institute Research & Development Awards (IRDA)”.

I. LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD:

Awardee will be invited to teach in various Departments and take scholars from various Departments. He/She will be provided:

i) One secretarial staff (project basis) for two years.
ii) The financial support to invite a collaborator for two weeks.
iii) A citation to be presented at the Institute Day.
iv) Professional activity grant of Rs. 40 lakhs.

He/She will be recommended to the competent authority for nomination for recognition such as the “Padma” awards, in case he/she has not already won such honours.

(Profs. Ashok Jhunjhunwala and Pradeep have been conferred this Award in the past 2 years).

II. MID-CAREER R & D AWARD:

Awardee shall receive:

v One additional conference attendance sponsorship outside CPDA each year, for 2 years.
v Professional activity (such as equipment, travel, inviting collaborators, etc.) grant of Rs.25 lakhs.
v A Post Doctoral Scholar for two years at Institute’s cost/two professional society membership costs outside CPDA for two years.
v Deemed automatically eligible for Institutional nomination to suitable prestigious national/international recognition.
v A citation and a memento at the “Institute Day” function

III. JUNIOR-LEVEL R & D AWARD:

Awardee shall receive:

Ø An additional international conference attendance sponsorship outside CPDA each year, for 2 years.

Ø Professional activity (such as equipment, travel, inviting collaborators, etc.) grant of Rs.20 lakhs.

Ø Nomination by the Institute for Young Scientist / Young Engineer Awards, if eligible

A citation and a memento at the “Institute Day” function

These R & D awards may also be Endowed by alumni. Help inspire our faculty & help our alma mater achieve its full potential…. Nagarajan