ACM India Council Research

The ACM India Council promotes and acknowledges high-quality research in computing through multiple initiatives including:

ACM India Doctoral Dissertation Award
PhD Production Survey
PhD Clinic
Anveshan Setu Fellowship
Conference Travel Grant Scheme
Academic Research Summit (jointly organized with Microsoft Research India)

About the ACM India Doctoral Dissertation Award
The ACM India Doctoral Dissertation Award was established in 2011 by ACM India Council. This award recognizes the best doctoral dissertation(s) in Computer Science and Engineering from a degree-awarding institution based in India for each academic year. A maximum of one award is given every year, consisting of a plaque and a cash prize of ₹2,00,000. In case of a very close second, an Honourable Mention may be awarded, consisting of a plaque and a cash prize of ₹1,00,000. The winning dissertations are published by ACM in the ACM Digital Library. Tata Consultancy Services is the founding sponsor of the ACM India Doctoral Dissertation Award. Details about the process and the jury are available here.

About the ACM Survey on PhD Production in India for Computer Science and Information Technology
The purpose of this study is to collect reasonably reliable data on PhD production in CS/IT in India, and then use it to identify useful trends. This exercise was motivated by the Taulbee report in the US. The study aims to include all institutions which have a PhD program in CS/IT. This survey has been conducted once in two years in the past. In the future, this survey will be conducted by ACM India Council on an as-needed basis.

About the ACM India PhD Clinic
The ACM India Council launched an initiative in September 2020 called the PhD Clinic to materially improve the quality of Indian research in Computer Science. It is intended to improve the grassroots situation by facilitating CS PhD students from all over the country to obtain inputs and advice from expert mentors located in premier academic institutions and industry. Currently, about 25+ faculty from top-tier institutions and industry, including IISc, IITs, IIITs, CMI, IMSc, Microsoft Research and JNU have joined as mentors. Mentors spend a few hours each month talking to students and giving concrete and constructive suggestions on their work. Each clinic session is a one-on-one engagement, and a student gets to choose a mentor who works in his/her area from the available list of mentors. For full details of the program and to register, please visit the PhD Clinic page.

About the Anveshan Setu Fellowship
If you are a full-time/part-time/sponsored registered CS/IT PhD student in India, here is an opportunity to visit some of the faculty in your area of work. ACM India is kickstarting a PhD student visitor program, called Anveshan Setu, allowing students to visit faculty of their choice (mutually agreed between student and host faculty depending on the research interests) for four weeks to get an immersive experience of research. For full details of the program and to apply, please visit the Anveshan Setu Fellowship page.

About the IARCS-ACM India Student Conference Travel Awards
Since 2014, the ACM India has collaborated with the Indian Association for Research in Computing Science (IARCS) to provide travel grants to students from Indian universities and institutions for presenting papers at international conferences. The grant is also extended to deserving cases of faculty from non-Tier-1 academic institutions in India on a case-by-case basis. Review of all applications and selection of deserving awardees (if any) is done every month by a committee of computer scientists spanning different academic institutes in India and covering a spectrum of areas of computer science. A total amount of ₹28.2 lakhs was awarded to 47 awardees between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2020. Applicants desirous of applying to this program can visit the Travel Grants portal.

MSR-ACM India Academic Research Summit
Microsoft Research (MSR) India and ACM India co-organize the Academic Research Summit annually. The agenda includes keynotes and talks from distinguished researchers from India and across the world. The audience at the summit comprises faculty and research scholars from top academic institutes and representatives from industry and the government. Academic Research Summit 2020 was held in BITS Pilani Goa on the theme of Security.

ACM India Research Facilitation Grant
Objective: To support PhD & Masters (with thesis work) Students, Postdocs, and Early Career Faculty Members, especially from institutions with constrained research funding. The ACM India Research Facilitation Grant aims to empower researchers from varying backgrounds and institutions by providing financial support in key areas of academic publishing and learning.

Research Opportunities in Computer Science “ROCS”
ROCS (pronounced as ROCKS) is an ACM India initiative to expose undergraduate students in (mainly aspiring) colleges to exciting research happening in the country in various areas of computer science. The hope is to inspire at least a few of them to choose a career in research in industry or academics. It is a one-day event, typically on a Saturday with 4-5 talks on multiple areas of computer science. It also may have an “Ask me Anything” session to discuss questions from the participants, talks outlining entry procedures in various institutions, and a panel discussion among the speakers.

IndiCS: An ACM India Initiative
The IndiCS (a play on Computer science Seminars in India) seminar series is a new initiative of ACM India that aims to facilitate high quality research interactions and discussions between expert researchers, practitioners and advanced students on topics at the frontiers of computer science through focused, immersive and participative research seminars located in India. An IndiCS seminar is intended to be an immersive experience, where the participants stay, eat, discuss and work together for the duration of the seminar. An important component of IndiCS seminars is the facilitation of significant interactions, open discussions and informal collaborations between participants beyond the formal presentation sessions.