News from the world of Education: December 5, 2024

India Finance Conference 2024

IIM Raipur will host the India Finance Conference 2024 (IFC 2024), the flagship event of the Indian Finance Association, from December 19 to 21. Speakers include Prof. Yakov Amihud (NYU Stern) and Prof. Anand Srinivasan (NUS), Dr. Tirthankar Pattnaik (National Stock Exchange), Dr. Prabhas Rath (SEBI), Pravin Goel (BlackRock), Shipra Sooden (Fractal), Raamanathan Gururajan (Relanto), and Ashish Pathak (Fino Bank). For details, visit https://ifc.iimraipur.edu.in/

Admissions and scholarships

Shiv Nadar University Chennai has opened applications for its Ph.D. programmes for January 2025.

Eligibility: First-class Master’s degree in the relevant discipline for full- and part-time. For Direct Ph.D. (Engineering), B.E./ B.Tech with a CGPA of 8.5 or above

Deadline: December 13

Details at https://tinyurl.com/rpkrzkb9

The University of Sheffield, the U.K., invites applications for its Robotics with a Foundation Year BEng course starting in September 2025. International Undergraduate Taught Merit Scholarships are available.

Eligibility: Class 12 (70% or 7 GPA for Indian boards). Subjects including Maths and either Physics, Chemistry or Biology.

Details at https://tinyurl.com/mwvhx7mm

Also, the university’s Faculty of Engineering is offering Engineering Excellence Scholarships of up to £3,000, to overseas fee-status students starting an UG degree in September 2025.

Eligibility: UG students classed as an overseas student for tuition fee purposes

Details at https://tinyurl.com/2bbay93x

Institute of Bakery and Culinary Arts announces admissions for Culinary Arts and for Bakery and Pastry Arts for its diploma courses in culinary arts and pastry arts.

Eligibility: Pass in Class 10 and 12 from a recognised board

Deadline: December 31

Details at https://www.chefibpa.com/

Events

SAI International Education Group held the 16th edition of UNWIND 2024, themed The Voyage of Hope. Krushna Chandra Mahapatra, Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Government of Odisha, was the chief guest. The group also hosted a Science and Technology festival SAITED 2024 on the theme Sorcery of Science: Where Magic Meets Matter S. Nambi Narayanan, Former Director, ISRO, delivered the keynote address.

Sridhar Pappu was appointed as Dean of Vijaybhoomi School of Science and Technology. He has over three decades of multifaceted experience in academia, industry, research, and entrepreneurship.

FORE School of Management concluded the FORE International Management Conference (FIMC) 2024 on the theme AI, Business Models, and Future of Work. Speakers included Prof. Keng-Boon Ooi, Distinguished Professor at UCSI University, Malaysia; Prof. Swanand J. Deodhar from IIM-Ahmedabad; and Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Co-Founder of Info Edge.

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham hosted Amrita Legion for Antimicrobial Resistance Management (ALARM 2024) as part of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week. Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, former Chief Scientist, WHO, and Chairperson of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, delivered the keynote address. Speakers included Dr. Sabu Thomas, Director of the Kerala Center of Excellence in Microbiome and Dr. Taslimarif Saiyed, CEO and Director of C-CAMP, Bangalore. The institution also launched the Sustainable Ecosystem and Environmental Resilience (SEER) Lab, an integrated multi-lab system, initiative that brings together the Water Sustainability Lab, Soil Ecosystem Lab, Microbiology Lab, Climate Change and Water Resilience Lab and Marine Ecosystem Lab to address key environmental concerns.

DEVI Sansthan hosted a two-day Leadership Circle for policymakers, corporate representatives, and grassroots organisations from 19 states to address regional challenges and accelerate progress towards the NIPUN Bharat goals.

IIM Ahmedabad, in collaboration with FPSB India, conducted a workshop on Asset Pricing and Factor Investing for financial planning professionals and students.

IIT Roorkee concluded Yuva Sangam V, under the Ministry of Education’s Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB) initiative. Forty-five students from Jharkhand and faculty coordinators from IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, explored Uttarakhand’s heritage, industry, and community.

eVidyaloka rolled out its Readathon Campaign for over 14,600 students from 636 government schools across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Assam, and other states.

Target Publications conducted a workshop for 94 students of KJ Somaiya Secondary School, Nareshwadi, Dahanu, who are preparing for board exams. It covered topics such as exam readiness, time management, memorisation techniques, among others.

D2L concluded its academic roundtable on Integrating AI and Ensuring Accessibility for Modern Higher Education Learners. The session focused on how institutions could enhance learning through innovative approaches.

Anand Mahindra, Chancellor, Mahindra University, inaugurated the School of Digital Media and Communication, which includes a fully-equipped audiovisual studio. The school also announced a new Master of Journalism and Mass Communication (MJMC) for the academic year 2025-26.

IIT Kanpur concluded IITK Samanvay, its corporate engagement summit. Over 50 corporate leaders, investors, and research innovators participated.

The ISB Institute of Data Science organised a summit on Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, Retail Analytics, Cyber Security, and Ethical AI. Gareth Wynn Owen, British Deputy High Commissioner, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh; and. Laura Baldwin, South Asia Cyber Lead, British High Commission, participated.

Christ University, Bengaluru, held the valedictory ceremony of USHUS 2024. Over 1000 MBA students from 35 B-schools participated.

IIHMR Delhi has launched AICTE-approved online Postgraduate Certificate programmes in Logistics and Supply Chain Management, and Public Health Financial Management. It also organised the Industry-Academia Confab in which over 100 industry leaders, healthcare professionals, and academic experts participated.

The School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lovely Professional University, in association with the Indian Pharmacy Graduates Association, hosted the fourth International Conference of Pharmacy on the theme Pharmaceutical Innovations and Challenges: Designing a Sustainable Healthy Society. Dr. Deependra Singh, Chairman of the Education Regulation Committee, Pharmacy Council of India (PCI), Dr. Flavia Zacconi, Associate Professor at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and Dr. Kamal Dua, Associate Professor at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia, were among the delegates. LPU also hosted Bizconfluence 2024: Decoding Tomorrow’s Business DNA, which featured talks by actor and motivational speaker Ashish Vidyarthi and other experts.

XLRI Delhi-NCR hosted the third edition of its start-up conclave ElevateX-XLRI. Speakers included Sharon Gal-OR, Co-Founder of Living Cities Earth, Netherlands; Bharat Sethi, Founder of Rage Coffee; Neha Malhotra, Founder & Managing Partner at MeritX Ventures among others.

Noida International Institute of Medical Science (NIIMS) concluded GENOME 2024, a three-day inter-cultural event, in which 750 students showcased their skills through a series of activities.

Kotak Education Foundation launched its Communicative English Future Ready (CE-FR) Digitised Content, through its application One KEF for teachers from regional schools in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Goa. The programme aims to equip educators with the skills to use digital tools.

IIT Guwahati concluded the 10th edition of India International Science Festival 2024, an initiative of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Earth Science, Government of India in association with Vijnana Bharati. Over 7,000 delegates attended technical sessions.

Shoolini University launched degree programmes integrated with job-focused courses such as BBA, MBA and BCA. It has integrated its programmes with Adda247 test preparation and skill development offerings.

IIT Kanpur received 579 offers on Day 1 of the first phase of its placement session. Recruiters included Microsoft, Texas Instruments, Databricks, and Google, among others.

Newton School of Technology launched StartX, a seed fund programme to provide funding, mentorship, and resources to help students develop tech-driven products tackling real-world problems.

Convocations

Manav Rachna University hosted its convocation. Over 1,500 students received their degrees. Om Birla, Speaker of the Lok Sabha, was the chief guest. Vipul Goel, Minister, Government of Haryana, was the Guest of Honour

The Central University of Tamil Nadu (CUTN) held its ninth convocation.

KL Deemed-to-be University celebrated its 14th convocation with 4,706 students receiving their degrees. Ram Nath Kovind, former President of India, was the Chief Guest. Justice Shri Abdul Nazeer, Governor of Andhra Pradesh, was the guest of honour.

Awards and laurels

Nancy Uppal and Bhavini Khandelwal (seniors) and Saanvi Prakash and Meemansa Jaima (juniors) from Cambridge Court World School, Jaipur, were the winners of the For Not For 2024 International Inter-school Debate hosted by Vijaybhoomi University.

Fifteen students from ATLAS uGDX School of Technology, India, secured a spot in NASA’s 2025 Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) in the Remote Controlled (RC) division. They will design and build a remote-controlled rover to handle obstacles and terrains that resemble the environments on Mars or the Moon.

Aditya K.B. from Vijayagiri Public School, Thrissur, was declared National Champion in TCS InQuizitive 2024 for the second consecutive year. Divyajyoti Senapati from DAV Public School, Bhubaneswar, and Aryan Ghosh, from A.M.M School, Chennai, were first and second runners-up respectively.

Narayan Nursing College has been named a Potential Mentor College under the Government of Bihar’s Mission Unnayan programme.

Satyam Roychowdhury, Chancellor of Sister Nivedita University, was conferred with the title of Honorary Academician of 2024 by the Albertina Academy of Fine Arts of Turin, Italy.

Crack Academy awarded scholarships and free courses worth ₹1.25 crore to 250 students from the Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Jawalamukhi, as part of its Mere Sheher ke 100 Ratan initiative.

Strathclyde Business School has been ranked 79th overall and 14th in the U.K., among the top European Business Schools of 2024, in the Financial Times ranking.

Studies

Coursera’s Micro-Credentials Impact Report 2024: India Edition reveals that 94% of Indian university leaders plan to offer for-credit micro-credentials within five years, with 52% already doing so under the National Credit Framework. The full report can be accessed at https://tinyurl.com/5cfcavtu

A team of researchers from IIIT Delhi has developed AgeXtend, an AI-based platform that leverages bioactivity data from known geroprotectors to identify new molecules with the potential to slow ageing. The research findings were published in Nature Aging (https://tinyurl.com/24jcm875).

Researchers from Newcastle University, the U.K., have revealed that coral heat tolerance adaptation through natural selection could keep pace with ocean warming, but only if Paris Agreement commitments are realised. The paper can be found at https://tinyurl.com/2jpncwxm

Partnerships

PwC India has collaborated with Masters’ Union to equip students with technical skills in emerging technologies such as AI, environmental, social, and governance, and healthcare, among others.

JS Institute of Design partnered with the Institute of Counsellor Training Research and Consultancy Private Limited to organise the Conference of School Teachers. Over 80 school counsellors and teachers from over 70 schools across Delhi NCR participated.

Sun Life Global Solutions has partnered with IIT Indore to drive innovation including the application of new-age technologies such as AI/ML, data analytics, especially in Insurance.

Veranda Learning Solutions has signed an MoU with the National Skill Development Corporation and the Institute of Accountants and Bookkeepers, the U.K, to launch a six-month Certified International Accounting Professional programme in India to equip students with globally-recognised accounting and bookkeeping skills.

Volvo Group India signed an MoU with Amrita University and Thapar Institute to introduce a specialised credit course for Engineering students in Mechanical, Electrical, Electronics and Computer Science streams.

Pearl Academy and Tech Mahindra have launched a Makers Lab to serve as an innovation hub focused on advancing Generative AI, the Metaverse, and Gaming, among others.

Mahindra University has signed an MoU with Airbus to foster innovation, research and education in aerospace and digital technologies.

ServiceNow signed an MoU with the Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation to equip over 10,000 students with digital skills on the platform in its first year.

BITS Pilani signed an MoU with the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, Pune, to conduct research, develop technology and nurture entrepreneurship in critical technology domains.

Zell Education signed an MoU with IMS Unison University, Dehradun, to offer Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) certification to students pursuing BBA and B.Com degrees.

Hyundai Motor Group has partnered with IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, and IIT Madras to establish a collaborative research system in the fields of batteries and electrification, through the Hyundai Motor Group-IIT Hyundai Centre of Excellence.