GUWAHATI, June 17 � IIT Guwahati has gradually emerged as a facility of major research activities, a fact established by an increase in the range and size of research projects. According to official sources, in 2010-2011, the institute obtained sponsored research and consultancy projects worth Rs 40 crores, which is likely to go up this fiscal.
Altogether 88 new sponsored projects were received during 2010-2011, compared to 51 the previous year.
Among the ambitious projects to be carried out in the institution is �Climate Change, Water and Rural Livelihoods: Assessing Socio-economic Vulnerability and Potential Adaptive Strategies in Eastern Himalayan Region, India�, which would have implications for the region. The Rs 100 lakh project has been funded by the Swedish International Co-operation Agency (SIDA).
Another project involves �Design and Development and Fabrication of OLED Organic Solar Cells and Organic TFTs based on Molecular Polymeric and Composite Materials� for which funds worth Rs 523.15 lakh has been sanctioned by the Department of Science and Technology.
While the research work is largely faculty driven, there are also cases in which students pursuing PhD programmes have successfully pursued research in a number of areas.
According to official data, over 300 projects were in progress during the period 2010-2011. Among the sponsors of the research and development projects were government ministries. Major support came from Ministries of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Human Resource Development (MHRD), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Department of Information Technology (DIT), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Defence Research Labs (DRL).
In a recent report, Dr Gautam Barua, Director, IIT Guwahati stated, �IIT Guwahati considers it essential for all members of its faculty to be involved in research and development for contributing to the knowledge pool � developing new technologies for the benefit of humanity. We offer a research grant to new faculty members of the Institute to start their research activities. During this year, 20 projects have been sanctioned under this scheme worth Rs 98.20 lakh�.
Apart from sponsored research projects, IIT Guwahati took consultancy assignments for various State government departments, Railways, National Highways Authority of India, Oil and Gas Sector, Construction and Infrastructure Companies, Power Sector, among others. A total of 203 consultancy projects were carried out in the year.
