BANGALORE, India — Aug. 2, 2006 — Microsoft Research India today announced its Ph.D. Fellowships in India. Instituted by Microsoft Research’s External Research & Programs Group, the Ph.D. Fellowships are aimed at encouraging students to take up research as a career, a key qualification for which is to get a doctoral degree. Each awardee will receive approximately $5,000 (U.S.) per year over four years, and also $5,000 for attending seminars and conferences during the term of the fellowship. The fellows will also have the option of a three-month to six-month internship at Microsoft Research India.
“There is plenty of world-class research talent in India, but India produces less than 50 Ph.D.s in computer science research every year. One of Microsoft Research’s objectives in India is to enhance the quantity and quality of Ph.D.s in the country, and the Ph.D. Fellowships are a step in this direction,” said P. Anandan, managing director of Microsoft Research India. “We are also providing funding for travel to conferences, because exposure to the community and the work it is doing in the subject area is critical for researchers.”
After a rigorous selection process the following five Ph.D. students have been awarded Microsoft Research Ph.D. Fellowships for 2006:
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G. Kannan, IIT Bombay
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Deepanjan Kesh, IIT, Kanpur
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Animesh Mukherjee, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
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Kaushik Rajan, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
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Ritesh Tiwari, International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad
Microsoft Research India partners closely with academics and institutions in India to advance the state of the art in computer science education and research. These initiatives are undertaken through the External Research & Programs Group (previously called University Relations) in India, which Microsoft Research initiated in 1991. A number of programs are already underway to support basic research of local academia and foster alliances with universities in India and the international academic community
About Microsoft Research
Founded in 1991, Microsoft Research is dedicated to conducting both basic and applied research in computer science and software engineering. Its goals are to enhance the user experience on computing devices, reduce the cost of writing and maintaining software, and invent novel computing technologies. Researchers focus on more than 55 areas of computing and collaborate with leading academic, government and industry researchers to advance the state of the art in such areas as graphics, speech recognition, user-interface research, natural language processing, programming tools and methodologies, operating systems and networking, and the mathematical sciences. Microsoft Research employs more than 700 people in five labs located in Redmond, Wash.; Silicon Valley, Calif.; Cambridge, England; Beijing, China; and Bangalore, India. Microsoft Research collaborates openly with colleges and universities worldwide to enhance the teaching and learning experience, inspire technological innovation, and broadly advance the field of computer science. More information can be found at http://www.research.microsoft.com.
About Microsoft Research India
Microsoft Research India was established in January 2005, and is engaged in cutting-edge basic and applied research in multiple fields in computing, information technology and related areas. One of Microsoft Research India’s key objectives is to further the state of the art in computing research by partnering with key institutions and academics in India.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
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