<p>As many as 593 students received their degrees on Saturday at the 2016 convocation of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). <br /><br /></p>.<p>The degrees included PhDs, masters in engineering (ME), masters of science (MS), masters in design (MDes) and management (Mgmt). Apart from these, 120 students from the first batch of bachelors of science (BS) course also got their degrees. <br /><br />As many as 39 students were also awarded MS (Research) for the first time. There were 56 medal winners.<br /><br />‘Best of both worlds’ <br /><br />Anirban Bhattacharya, from the mechanical engineering department, received his PhD and a gold medal. He is working as an associate professor at IIT- Bhubaneswar. <br /><br />“I completed my masters and joined General Motors in 2007. However, I came back to pursue further studies. I also had a stint at General Electric. I think I got the best of both worlds - industry and academia but I was always keen on the latter,” he said.<br /><br />Aditya Hebbar is a topper from the first BS batch. <br />“I am pursuing my master's degree in high energy physics from the University of Delaware, US. It was a lovely four years here,” he said. <br /><br />Hebbar got a gold medal in physics and also holds the distinction of getting a perfect score in the GRE (Graduate Record Examination). <br /><br />Equilibrium <br /><br />The chief guest R Chidambaram, scientific advisor, Government of India <br />highlighted how, in an already developed country, there is a “thermodynamic equilibrium between knowledge in the academic system and the knowledge in the industry system”. <br />“That is why industry is waiting for new knowledge to come out of the academic system and is also funding this process,” he said. <br /><br />Such an equilibrium, however, does not exist yet in all technology sectors in India, he said. <br /><br />“The closer a technology sector comes to be globally competitive, the greater is its desire to interact with the academic system,” added Chidambaram. <br /><br />Reminiscence<br /><br />Narrating anecdotes about his time at IISc, he said: “The Institute research scholarship in those days was Rs 56 a month and my expenses had to be supplemented by receipts from my father.” <br /><br />Chidambaram received his PhD from IISc in 1962 and joined the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in the same year. In 1990, he became BARC director. <br /><br />Hike in fees <br /><br />Asked to comment on Saturday’s hike in the fees of NITs by Rs 32,000 and IISERs by Rs 10,000, Anurag Kumar, Director, IISc said: “While I cannot comment on the NITs I can tell you that the fees at IISc is quite low. Almost 90% of our funding comes from the government and 10% through industry.” <br /><br />He said that even if fees at IISc is hiked, it would have to be to by such an extent that it can substantiate what the government gives. This however was not possible, he said.<br /><br /></p>
<p>As many as 593 students received their degrees on Saturday at the 2016 convocation of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). <br /><br /></p>.<p>The degrees included PhDs, masters in engineering (ME), masters of science (MS), masters in design (MDes) and management (Mgmt). Apart from these, 120 students from the first batch of bachelors of science (BS) course also got their degrees. <br /><br />As many as 39 students were also awarded MS (Research) for the first time. There were 56 medal winners.<br /><br />‘Best of both worlds’ <br /><br />Anirban Bhattacharya, from the mechanical engineering department, received his PhD and a gold medal. He is working as an associate professor at IIT- Bhubaneswar. <br /><br />“I completed my masters and joined General Motors in 2007. However, I came back to pursue further studies. I also had a stint at General Electric. I think I got the best of both worlds - industry and academia but I was always keen on the latter,” he said.<br /><br />Aditya Hebbar is a topper from the first BS batch. <br />“I am pursuing my master's degree in high energy physics from the University of Delaware, US. It was a lovely four years here,” he said. <br /><br />Hebbar got a gold medal in physics and also holds the distinction of getting a perfect score in the GRE (Graduate Record Examination). <br /><br />Equilibrium <br /><br />The chief guest R Chidambaram, scientific advisor, Government of India <br />highlighted how, in an already developed country, there is a “thermodynamic equilibrium between knowledge in the academic system and the knowledge in the industry system”. <br />“That is why industry is waiting for new knowledge to come out of the academic system and is also funding this process,” he said. <br /><br />Such an equilibrium, however, does not exist yet in all technology sectors in India, he said. <br /><br />“The closer a technology sector comes to be globally competitive, the greater is its desire to interact with the academic system,” added Chidambaram. <br /><br />Reminiscence<br /><br />Narrating anecdotes about his time at IISc, he said: “The Institute research scholarship in those days was Rs 56 a month and my expenses had to be supplemented by receipts from my father.” <br /><br />Chidambaram received his PhD from IISc in 1962 and joined the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in the same year. In 1990, he became BARC director. <br /><br />Hike in fees <br /><br />Asked to comment on Saturday’s hike in the fees of NITs by Rs 32,000 and IISERs by Rs 10,000, Anurag Kumar, Director, IISc said: “While I cannot comment on the NITs I can tell you that the fees at IISc is quite low. Almost 90% of our funding comes from the government and 10% through industry.” <br /><br />He said that even if fees at IISc is hiked, it would have to be to by such an extent that it can substantiate what the government gives. This however was not possible, he said.<br /><br /></p>
