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The students, who took admission to MTech-PhD programme, on the CIMFR campus on Wednesday. Picture by Gautam Dey
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The Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR), a premier scientific institute dedicated to innovations in safety measures for the industry, made its foray into academics on Wednesday, inducting 10 students into a five-year integrated MTech-PhD programme.
Bijay Kumar, the head of the HRD department of the Dhanbad-based CIMFR, one of 39 laboratories of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, said the course had been launched at the behest of Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research, a CSIR wing established in 2011 to train some of the best of tomorrow’s science and technology leaders.
Of the 10 students, six joined the mining engineering department and two the mechanical engineering department. The chemical engineering department and the electronics & electrical engineering departments would play mentor to a student each.
The 10 students, who had been selected from among 620, would also be conducting research as trainee scientists during the duration of the course. They will get a stipend of around Rs 34,000 a month.
Kumar said the aim of the programme was to promote research in areas of social and economic importance. “The institute is also planning to launch PhD courses in science and engineering from next year,” he added.
CIMFR director Amalendu Sinha said that the though a similar course was launched a year back in some of the other CSIR laboratories, several factors, including the ongoing consolidation process of Central Institute of Mining Research (CMRI) and Central Institute of Fuel Research (CFRI), led to the delay in the Dhanbad-based institute.
“Earlier, productivity and safety were considered two different faces of a coin by industries. But, with changing times the concept has changed and safety and productivity are treated with equal importance,” he said.
Programme coordinator P.K. Mandal revealed that students, after completing four semesters during the first two years, might be absorbed by the institute as scientists during their remaining part of the PhD programme.
“Some of the students who have taken admission in the course also have experience in industry,” he said, adding that a fee of Rs 24,000 will be charged during each semester, besides Rs 5,000 as admission fee and Rs 4,000 as caution money.
Chief CIMFR scientist A.K. Ghosh, who delivered the welcome address at induction ceremony, threw light on the life of Dr S Radhakrishnan, whose birth anniversary was celebrated across the country on Wednesday as Teacher’s Day.
Deputy director and senior scientist P. Paul Roy, Digwadih campus in-charge Asim Chaudhary and senior scientist M.S. Alam were among the others present.
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