New Delhi: IIT Delhi and Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT-Delhi) had signed an MoU earlier this year to establish a collaborative platform for mutual benefit. The MoU intended to initiate wide-ranging partnerships in academics, research, product & process development, and human resource development with profound socio-economic impact.

Taking it forward, IIT Delhi and IIIT-Delhi invited joint research projects from the faculty members of both institutions for inter-disciplinary research in cutting-edge areas viz. Computer Science and Engineering, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), Electronics and Communication Engineering, Computational Biology, Social Science, Humanities and Quantum Computing. 

An external expert committee evaluated the projects and selected five projects for a seed grant. The projects include:

(i) Studies on human brain structure and anxiety.

 (ii) Femtech and its future in India.

 (iii) Development of nanodevices.

 (iv) Mathematics theories propounded by Ramanujam.

 (v) Model agnostic evaluation of deep-model transfer.

Tenable for two years, the projects aim to attract full-fledged sponsorship from external   agencies based on their outcomes. These projects will function through the Multi-Institutional Faculty Interdisciplinary Projects (MFIRP) scheme of the Industrial Research & Development (IRD) Unit of IIT Delhi.

Expressing a strong support for the new partnership, Prof V. Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi said, “We foresee that our partnership with IIIT-Delhi will engender an environment of exchange of information and technical know-how. IIT Delhi, through its MFIRP initiative launched in 2017, connected with many leading institutions in Delhi and enabled funded collaborations between our researchers. The results are quite outstanding. Such collaborations have led to an increased research output, technologies, prototypes and products for societal benefit. At IIT Delhi, we lay great emphasis on interdisciplinary research as future advancements in science and technology are expected to happen at the intersection of different disciplines."

Prof. Ranjan Bose, Director, IIIT-Delhi said, "Research is increasingly becoming more collaborative and trans-disciplinary. This unique collaborative initiative by IIT Delhi and IIIT-Delhi has already brought together faculty members from both the institutes, inspired them to define problems of mutual interest, exchange expertise, and also build personal relations.  We hope that this cooperation will help improve the posture of technological innovation and next-generation research."

The initiative is expected to act as a catalyst for cross-functional research leading to significant outcomes of national interest.

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