TCS announces new doctorate funding programme

IT services, business solutions and outsourcing firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) today announced a new programme to encourage quality academic research and thereby increase the available faculty talent pool in India.

A press release from the company said it would fund 200 doctoral candidates over a period of five years to take up Ph.D. programmes in reputable academic institutions across the country.

The "TCS Research Fellows" will pursue original research in various aspects of computer science. Forty doctoral or Ph.D. candidates will be chosen as TCS Research Scholars every year from a number of reputable academic institutes through a process of selection conducted by TCS and the institutes.

Announcing the initiative on the sidelines of Sangam, TCS' annual academic conclave, TCS CEO and MD N Chandrasekaran said that a time when new technologies were changing business models rapidly, there was an urgent need for more focused research to stay ahead of the learning curve.

According to him, the programme will help enlarge the research and development agenda and encourage exploration of new ideas by funding candidates in doctorate programmes.

"TCS works with our academic partners through the year to examine ways of deepening our relationship. The TCS Research Scholars programme is a new initiative to take this engagement with academia to the next level," said Mr Ajoy Mukherjee, the company's head, global HR.

"By inducting 200 new Ph.D. scholars into the academic eco-system over a period of five years, this initiative will also significantly enhance the pipeline of high quality faculty for colleges, part from generating new ideas and honing research talent in the country," he added.

The new programme will supplement existing TCS programmes like the Academic Interface Programme, which is an initiative to enhance the quality of the emerging workforce across the globe by supporting students, faculty, institutes and government.

The programme engaged with 499 academic institutes in India and over 85 abroad during FY2009, conducting over 130 faculty development programmes benefiting over 4,000 instructors and 400 workshops for over 52,000 students globally. Over 1,300 students benefitted from TCS internships and awards, the release added.

NNN