Coronavirus outbreak has disrupted student life in many ways. It has affected not just the ongoing learning process but also the higher education or employment plans of many students.
Understanding the condition, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Gandhinagar, has launched a one-year postgraduate diploma program to help its graduating students whose higher education or employment plans have been disrupted due to the pandemic.
According to reports, the postgraduate diploma program will be offered in several streams, including Biological Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Earth System Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering. It said the diploma will also help the graduating students to seek lateral entry in M.Tech programs.
Speaking about the program and its objectives, Sudhir K Jain, Director, IIT Gandhinagar, told news agency PTI,
“The postgraduate diploma and the research and leadership fellowships have been designed to engage some of our brightest students whose post-graduation plans for higher education and employment may get disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. These opportunities will enable them to continue to pursue their education or undertake exciting research or develop career-enhancing leadership skills until they can move on once this crisis passes.”
Besides the diploma program, the institute will also be offering two fellowships – IIT Gandhinagar Junior Fellowship in Leadership and Sabarmati Bridge Fellowship – to enable students to undertake unconventional professional and exciting research opportunities and pursue their passions.
Explaining the two fellowship programs, the director further said,
“We are supporting a Junior Fellowship to encourage fresh graduates to undertake unconventional professional opportunities as well as to develop their leadership skills. For the academic year 2020-21, we are offering up to 10 Junior Fellowships on leadership. The Sabarmati Bridge Fellowship will empower aspiring young researchers among final year B.Tech, MSc, and MA students of IIT Gandhinagar. This fellowship will enable them to work with an IIT Gandhinagar faculty member on a research problem that could lead to scholarly publications. The fellows will also gain exposure to the various skills required for a PhD program and research career.”
IIT Gandhinagar plans to run the course even after the COVID-19 crisis is over. However, it is said that the opportunity for direct admission is only a one-time facility being offered this year. Hope the program will greatly benefit many students whose post-graduation plans for higher education and employment may have been disrupted by the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
Needless to mention, IIT Gandhinagar was founded in 2008 and is located in Palaj, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, on the banks of river Sabarmati.
