About the ACM India Anveshan Setu Fellowship

Objectives of the Fellowship

To provide CS/IT PhD students in India:
1. an opportunity to get up close and personal with best research practices outside their parent institutes.
2. a longer and more intense mentoring experience beyond ACM India PhD Clinic.
The target is to develop Anveshan Setu into a premium-value program over the next three years—something that every CS/IT PhD student in India would aspire to participate in their PhD career.

Eligibility for Students and Mentors

Student: Any full-time/part-time enrolled/registered CS/IT PhD student in India.
Mentor: Faculty member with established research credentials in India, willing to host and mentor a visitor student for four weeks.
It is preferred that a mentor-mentee pair would have interacted in the past through other fora/platforms, viz. PhD Clinic.
A mentor will be matched with a mentee only if both sides are agreeable to the match.

Salient features of the Fellowship

Duration of the visit: We recommend a minimum of four weeks in a year per visit. Depending on the performance, mentee/student can be allowed to visit same or different mentors up to three times in three years, during the PhD career of the student.
It is expected that at the end of minimum four-week visit, the mentee will have a better understanding and perspective of research methodology and practices in her/his area of interest, develop taste and enthusiasm for exploring an area of her/his interest in depth, and expand her/his network of academic contacts.
Depending on the interest by the mentor and mentee, ACM India will do the matchmaking. Explicit approval from the mentor will be taken before assigning a mentee.
Mentor and mentee are expected to meet a minimum set of expectations. The guiding principle of these expectations is to ensure that the mentee learns best research practices and feels more comfortable and encouraged in pursuing her/his/their research at the end of the visit.

Expectation from Mentors

Facilitate logistics of mentee's visit:
- Office space/desk, access to building/lab, internet access, access to library (for reading, not necessarily for issuing books)
- Access to student hostel/guest house accommodation and mess/canteen facilities. Financial support from ACM India is available for this.
Have the mentee participate in group meetings, presentations, etc. as a visitor.
Spend at least 1-2 hours per week with the mentee on his/her work, giving feedback on research, helping progress with work.
Have other students in the mentor's research group spend some structured time with the mentee explaining what they are working on, pitfalls to avoid, best practices to pick up, etc.
Have a joint video/teleconference with mentee and her/his/their advisor in her/his/their parent institution at least once (preferably in the first week) during the visit to ensure that all are on the same page.
Provide a Completion Letter (see template) to the mentee on institute letterhead, on completion of the visit.
Give feedback to ACM India about what worked and what didn't work; a separate form will be shared with mentors for this purpose.

Expectation from Mentees

Mentee must have discussed the visit with her/his/their advisor and comply with all requirements of advisor and parent institution.
Mentee must submit a no-objection-certificate (see template) from the advisor.
Given that this is a full-time visit, mentee must spend a minimum of 40 hours per week interacting with the mentor and her/his/their research group, trying to understand research methodologies and best practices.
Participate as a visitor in group meetings, presentations etc. of the mentor's group.
Stay in close touch (preferably weekly) with an advisor in the parent institution about work/activities being done in the visiting institute.
Prepare a report (format to be provided by ACM India) of outcome of the visit at the end of the duration of visit.
Give feedback to ACM India about what worked and what didn't work; a separate form will be shared with mentees for this purpose.
Possibly participate in ACM India events and present her/his/their work and experience from the visitor program.

Tentative Timeline

By 10 Nov. 2023	Applications open
By 15 Jan. 2024	Last date for submitting applications
By 15 Feb. 2024	Application review, interaction between potential students, mentors
By 28 Feb. 2024	Announcement of Fellows
Apr. 2024–Mar. 2025	Student visits Mentors

Other guidelines

ACM India will have no stake in the produced IP through this collaboration/visit of the mentee to the host institution and beyond.
Mentor and student should publish the findings from the visit and beyond in public domain.
If the mentor and mentee mutually agree to extend an Anveshan Setu visit beyond four weeks, and if the mentee’s advisor and parent institution are agreeable to this, and if the mentee and mentor mutually agree to take care of expenses related to stay beyond the four weeks supported by ACM India, it is possible to extend the mentee’s visit beyond four weeks. In all such cases, ACM India’s financial support will however be capped to a total of Rs. 20,000 as specified below.
We plan to support up to 50 students in the 2024–2025 cycle of the Fellowship.

Financial details

ACM India will provide INR 10,000 to the student at the start of their visit.
When the student completes the visit, she/he/they will submit a report along with pictures (with mentor, students, lab, etc.) taken during the visit, and ACM India will provide an additional INR 10,000 to the student.

Definitions

Mentor/Faculty: Faculty member of the institute to whom the student visitor is assigned.
Candidate/Student/Mentee: A student from another institute getting the Anveshan Setu Fellowship to pursue research with the mentor at the institute.
Grant: Cash grant named Anveshan-Setu Fellowship provided by ACM India to the institute to fund the candidate's visit and research project.
Research topic: Plan agreed between the mentor and the candidate to work on. This could be a 2-3 line description of the topic of research.

List of mentors for 2024–2025

Mentor Name	Institute / Affiliation	Research Areas
Abhijnan Chakraborty	IIT Delhi	Responsible AI, Social Computing, AI and Law
Amey Karkare	IIT Kanpur	Programming Languages, Compiler Optimizations, Computer Aided Education
Anirban Chakraborty	IISc Bangalore	Computer Vision, Cross-modal Learning, Federated Learning
Anirban Dasgupta	IIT Gandhinagar	Data efficient machine learning, sketching, randomized algorithms
Ankit Gangwal	IIIT Hyderabad	Cybersecurity, Blockchain, Information Privacy, Computer Networks (SDN, NDN, ICN, etc.)
Arindam Khan	IISc Bangalore	Algorithms, Discrete and Computational Geometry, Machine Learning Theory
Aritra Banik	NISER	Parameterized Algorithms, Computational Geometry, Approximation Algorithms
Arpita Patra	IISc	Cryptography and Security, Multi-party Computation, consensus
Ashutosh Modi	IIT Kanpur	NLP, Affective Computing, Multimodal ML, Embodied AI
Asif Ekbal	IIT Patna	Natural Language Processing; Multimodal AI; Machine Learning
Ayon Chakraborty	IIT Madras	Wireless Sensing, Embedded ML/DL, FPGA (Verlilog) based Development
B Ravindran	IIT Madras	Reinforcement Learning, Learning on Graphs, AI for Healthcare, Responsible AI
Biswabandan Panda	IIT Bombay	Computer Architecture for performance and security
Chester Rebeiro	IIT Madras	Hardware and Embedded Security
Chetan Arora	IIT Delhi	Computer Vision, Trustworthy AI, Medical Imaging
Hemangee K. Kapoor	IIT Guwahati	Computer Architecture, Emerging memory technologies, Hardware for neural network accelerators
Prerana Mukherjee	JNU, Delhi	Computer vision, Image/Video Processing, Multimodal interaction
Richa Gupta	IIIT Delhi	Augmented Reality and Machine Learning enabled Assistive Technology
Jainendra Shukla	IIIT Delhi	Affective Computing, Social Robotics, Human-Computer Interaction
Karthik Vaidhyanathan	IIIT Hyderabad	Self-adaptive Systems, Software Engineering and AI, Architecting Green Software
M. Tanveer	IIT Indore	Machine learning, deep learning and healthcare
Maunendra Sankar Desarkar	IIT Hyderabad	NLP, Social Networks, Recommendation Systems
Mayank Singh	IIT Gandhinagar	Natural Language Processing, Large Language Modelling
Mitesh Khapra	IIT Madras	Natural Language Processing, Automatic Speech Recognition, Speech Synthesis
P.B. Sujit	IISER Bhopal	Autonomous Driving, Multi-robot systems, virtual reality
Ponnurangam Kumaraguru	IIIT Hyderabad	NLP, Applied Machine Learning, Responsible AI, Social Network Analysis
Radhika Mamidi	IIIT Hyderabad	SENTIMENT ANALYSIS, DIALOG SYSTEMS, MACHINE TRANSLATION
Raghava Mutharaju	IIIT Delhi	Knowledge Graphs, Semantic Web
Rajiv Ratn Shah	IIIT Delhi	NLP, Speech Processing
Sachin Chaudhari	IIIT Hyderabad	IoT, AI/ML and 5G for Smart City Applications (includes Development, Deployment, Data Collection, and Analysis)
Sridhar Chimalakonda	IIT Tirupati	AI + Software Engineering, Human-Computer Interaction, Computing Education and Games
Sridhar Iyer	IIT Bombay	CS Education Research, Educational Technology, Computational Thinking
Srijith	IIT Hyderabad	Continual Learning, Neural Differential Equations, Natural Language processing
Srinath Srinivasa	IIIT Bangalore	AI Ethics, Sustainable Systems Engineering, Digital Public Infrastructure
Sriparna Saha	IIT Patna	Multimodal summarisation; Dialogue agents; Adverse drug reaction identification
Sudarshan Iyengar	IIT Ropar	Data Science, Educational Technologies, Large Language Models
Supratik Chakraborty	IIT Bombay	Formal methods, Software and hardware verification, Automated reasoning
Venkata Ramana Badarla	IIT Tirupati	Internet of Things, Cybersecurity, Wireless Networks
Vineeth N Balasubramanian	IIT Hyderabad	Deep Learning, Machine Learning, Computer Vision, Explainable AI
Yogesh Simmhan	IISc Bangalore	Cloud and edge computing, Distributed graph processing and analytics, Distributed Software platforms for UAVs/Drones

Fellows 2024 – 2025

Mentee	Mentor
Abu Talha, IIT Bhilai	Prof. Srijith, IIT Hyderabad
Adil Mudasir Malla, Islamic University of Science & Technology Srinagar J&K	Prof. M. Tanveer, IIT Indore
Aditi Roy, NIT Trichy	Prof. Chester Rebeiro, IIT Madras
Afeefa P P, NIT Calicut	Prof. Mayank Singh, IIT Gandhinagar
Aisha Aijaz, IIIT Delhi	Prof. Srinath Srinivasa, IIIT Bangalore
Aishwarya Ravindra Parab, BITS Pilani - Goa Campus	Prof. Yogesh Simmhan, IISc Bangalore
Alka Jalan, BHU	Prof. Ashutosh Modi, IIT Kanpur
Amit Sharma, IIT Ropar	Prof. Venkata Ramana Badarla, IIT Tirupati
Amrita Kumari, IIIT Kottayam	Prof. Sriparna Saha, IIT Patna
Anjusha I T, NIT Calicut	Prof. B Ravindran, IIT Madras
Arindam Ghosh, IIIT Allahabad	Prof. P. B. Sujit, IISER Bhopal
Ashly Ann Jo, IIIT Kottayam	Prof. Abhijnan Chakraborty, IIT Delhi
Bubai Manna, IIT Kharagpur	Prof. Aritra Banik, NISER
Fathima Beevi P S, Ilahia College of Engineering and Technology (under KTU)	Prof. Radhika Mamadi, IIIT Hyderabad
Harsha Aravind M, NIT Calicut	Prof. Mitesh Khapra, IIT Madras
Jain Rinkal Rajeshkumar, Pandit Deendayal Energy University	Prof. M. Tanveer, IIT Indore
Jasitha P, NIT Kerela	Prof. Anirban Chakraborty, IISc Bangalore
Jayant Vyas, IIT Jodhpur	Prof. Jainendra Shukla, IIIT Delhi
Joyita Chakraborty, NIT Durgapur	Prof. Ponnurangam Kumaraguru "PK", IIIT Hyderabad
Leena Suresh More, Sadhu Vaswani IMS, Koregaon park, Pune, SPPU ,Pune	Prof. Asif Ekbal, IIT Patna
Lownish Rai Sookha, IIT Ropar	Prof. Jainendra Shukla, IIIT Delhi
Mann Khatri, IIIT Delhi	Prof. Asif Ekbal, IIT Patna
Mithun Kumar S R, BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus	Prof. Asif Ekbal, IIT Patna
Nabeel Koya A, CDAC	Prof. Rajiv Ratn Shah, IIIT Delhi
NARAYAN JI MISHRA, IIT Delhi	Prof. Arpita Patra, IISc Bangalore
Pagalla Bhavani Shankar, Krishna University	Prof. Karthik Vaidhyanathan, IIIT Hyderabad
Parthasarathy PD, BITS Pilani - Goa Campus	Prof. Sridhar Iyer, IIT Bombay
Payala Krishnanjaneyulu, IIIT Kottayam	Prof. Ankit Gangwal, IIIT Hyderabad
Rahul Narava, IIT Ropar	Prof. B Ravindran, IIT Madras
Ranjana Roy Chowdhury, IIT Ropar	Prof. Vineeth N Balasubramanian, IIT Hyderabad
Richu Norman, Cochin University of Science and Technology CUSAT	Prof. Amey Karkare, IIT Kanpur
S Meena Padnekar, IIT Madras	Prof. Chetan Arora, IIT Delhi
Sabyasachi Mukhopadhyay, IIT Kharagpur	Prof. Sriparna Saha, IIT Patna
Santlal Prajapati, ISI Kolkata	Prof. Hemangee K. Kapoor, IIT Guwahati
Satyajit Mohapatra, IIITDM	Prof. Yogesh Simmhan, IISc Bangalore
Satyam Singh, IIT Delhi	Prof. Arindam Khan, IISc Bangalore
Seema Yadav, NIT Calicut	Prof. Ponnurangam Kumaraguru "PK", IIIT Hyderabad
Shafiya Mushtaq, NIT Srinagar	Prof. Maunendra Sankar Desarkar, IIT Hyderabad
Shareefa Fairoose P., NIT Calicut	Prof. Ayon Chakraborty, IIT Madras
Sheba Elizabeth Thomas, IIIT Kottayam	Prof. Srinath Srinivasa, IIIT Bangalore
Shetanshu Parmar, NIT Trichy	Prof. Prerana Mukherjee , JNU Delhi
Shruti Saxena, IIT Patna	Prof. Ponnurangam Kumaraguru "PK", IIIT Hyderabad
Sonia Rani, LPU	Prof. Radhika Mamadi, IIIT Hyderabad
Suman Chowdhury, AcSIR, CSIR-CMERI	Prof. Prerana Mukherjee , JNU Delhi
Vaishna T, University of Kerela	Prof. Jainendra Shukla, IIIT Delhi
Vikash Kumar, Central University of Rajasthan	Prof. Sachin Chaudhari, IIIT Hyderabad

Apply for 2024–2025

Apply here

Team

Prof. Ponnurangam Kumaraguru “PK”, - IIIT Hyderabad
Prof. Rishabh Kaushal, - IGDTUW
Prof. Sougata Sen, - BITS Pilani Goa campus

FAQs

Q: I have not yet attended the PhD Clinic, can I apply for this fellowship?
A: Absolutely, you can. We strongly recommend applying to Anveshan Setu Fellowship after attending the Clinic, but it is not mandatory.

Q: Will there be any written test, interviews, for the selection process?
A: No, there may be an interaction session (which could be a PhD Clinic slot too) with the mentor to ensure that you are prepared to make the best use of the visit.

Q: Is there a necessary condition that I can visit only the faculty that I interacted with in PhD Clinic?
A: No, not necessary. You can apply to visit any host faculty mentioned in the application form. Please be aware that this is a matchmaking activity, where host faculty should also be interested in hosting you.

Q: Will I get a lab space/desk to sit and work in the host institute?
A: Depending on the infrastructure facilities of the host institute, you will get some space.

Q: Will I get a hostel in the institute that I will be visiting?
A: Same goes for hostel rooms; be prepared to stay in some hostel type accommodation outside if you don't get a hostel room in the campus.

Q: I just finished my PhD, submitted my thesis, waiting for evaluation/defense, am I eligible for this fellowship?
A: Congrats on submitting the thesis, must be very satisfying. Unfortunately, this program is for PhD students who have not yet reached the final stages of thesis defense.

Q: How much fellowship money will I get?
A: INR 20,000 per student per visit. ACM India will credit INR 10,000 when you start the visit and additional INR 10,000 when you complete the visit and satisfy the requirements (report, pics, etc.).

Q: When can I visit? Should the visit be planned in summer?
A: Visit timing can be planned with the host faculty; both you and the faculty member can decide on the timing for the visit. Visit should happen in the period of April 2024 – March 2025.

Q: Do I need to have ACM membership to apply for this fellowship?
A: No, any PhD student (not restricted to ACM members) can apply for this fellowship.

Q: I received the 2021 Fellowship, but did not visit the mentor because of the pandemic and other reasons. Can I apply again this year?
A: If you are still a registered PhD student, you are eligible to apply. We look forward to seeing your application.

Q: I received the 2021 Fellowship and I visited the mentor. Can I apply again this year?
A: If you are still a registered PhD student, you are eligible to apply. We look forward to seeing your application.

Q: Does the fellowship elapse?
A: Yes, the visit must be completed during April 2024 – March 2025.

Q: Can I visit the mentor for more than 4 weeks?
A: ACM India expects a mentee visit for a duration of 4 weeks, the mentor and mentee can mutually agree (with consent of the mentee's advisor and parent institution) to extend the duration of the visit. If you need any financial support for extending the visit, please reach out to us at (pk.guru[at]iiit[dot]ac[dot]in) with the request.

Q: I just started my Anveshan Setu visit, how do I get the 10K stipend? What do I need to do?

A: Please write an email to [email protected] and cc the mentor you are visiting & [email protected]. In the email mention the date you started the visit, request the mentor to confirm the start. We will share a link to you where we will take your bank details.

Q: I submitted my bank details after starting my visit through the link that was shared, by when will I get the 10K?

A: Thank you for sharing your bank details; you should receive 10K within 2 weeks of submitting the form, if you don’t receive it after 2 weeks, feel free to send a reminder email.

Q: I just completed my visit, how I get the 10K stipend? What do I need to do?

A: Please write an email to [email protected] and cc the mentor you are visiting & [email protected]. In the email mention the date you completed the visit, request the mentor to confirm the completion. We will share a link to you where we will take your bank details.

Q: I submitted my bank details after completing my visit through the link that was shared, by when will I get the 10K?