IIT Madras receives Rs 110 crore endowment to set up institute of Data Science and AI

The School of Data Science and AI aims to rise to the top 20 AI-focused schools worldwide, focusing on responsible artificial intelligence and advising the government on policy-making and societal impact.

Chennai: The prestigious Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) will set up an institute dedicated for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AI), courtesy Rs 110 crore endowment from an alumnus. 

Wadhwani School of Data Science and AI will aim to rise to the top 20 AI-focused schools worldwide, focusing on responsible artificial intelligence and advising the government on policy-making and societal impact, the IIT-M said on Tuesday. Sunil Wadhwani, co-founder of IGATE and Mastech Digital, will fund the new school by donating Rs 110 crore.

“IIT Madras has started this highly interdisciplinary school involving faculty from many departments joining hands to work on niche areas, including responsible AI,” Prof V Kamakoti, Director, IIT-M said. He added that over the years, Wadhwani Impact Trust, has been supporting social welfare,  affordable healthcare, and scientific research through the Wadhwani Institute of Sustainable Healthcare (WISH Foundation) and Wadhwani Institute of Artificial Intelligence (WIAI).

The WISH Foundation has impacted over 30 million lives across 8 states in India by making quality healthcare accessible to economically challenged people, the IIT-M said.

“I see a strong need for a dedicated Data Science and AI school focusing on foundational and applied research in these areas. With the advancements in science and technology, India holds immense potential and can be a world leader in AI and allied sciences,” Wadhwani said. 

The new school will offer seven courses and begin admitting students from July 2024. It will also run a joint M.Sc in Data Science and AI with the University of Birmingham, UK, admitting 30 students and an international interdisciplinary master’s programme.

B.Tech (AI and Data Analytics), M.Tech (Data Science and AI), MS & Ph.D. (Data Science and AI), are among the courses that will be offered by the university. 

Extensive interdisciplinary research efforts will place the institute at the forefront of Data Science and AI, the IIT-M said, adding that the new school will integrate core and fundamental research with application research.