The IITB-Monash Research Academy is a graduate

research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

school located in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, India. It opened in 2008 as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between the

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT- Bombay or IIT-B) is a public research university and technical institute in Powai, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. IIT Bombay is mainly known for the highly competitive four-year Bachelor of Tech ...

and

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

. Students of the Academy astudy for a dual

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from both institutions, spending time in both Australia and India, with supervisors from both IITB and Monash. The establishment of the academy marked the first time that an Australian university has set up an extensive physical presence in India.

History

In 2006, vice-chancellor of Monash

Richard Larkins Richard Graeme Larkins (born 17 May 1943) is the former Chancellor of La Trobe University. He was the Vice-Chancellor and President of Monash University from 2003 to June 2009. Prior to this, he had a distinguished career in medicine, scientifi ...

went on a tour of India with senior Monash staff and an executive from

BHP BHP Group Limited, founded as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is an Australian multinational mining and metals corporation. BHP was established in August 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. As of 2024, BHP was the world� ...

. The tour was led by Monash Dean of Engineering Tam Sridhar, an Indian-Australian professor. The team met with research institutions, public officials and industry research bodies around the country. After extensive negotiations, Monash University and IITB signed an agreement to undertake joint research and establish a graduate research school together. The agreement was signed on 7 March 2006 in the presence of then Australian Prime Minister

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

. The academy attracted early industry support, with a commitment from BHP and

Infosys Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational corporation, multinational technology company that offers business consulting, information technology, and outsourcing services. Founded in 1981 in Pune, the company is headquartered in Bengaluru. On ...

to joint research and commercialisation. The academy was officially opened on 26 November 2008. 36 research projects began immediately, with several hundred further projects in the planning phase. By June 2009, 41 PhD students were enrolled at the academy. By 2012, that number had risen to 80. It is expected that the Academy will eventually house around 250-300 PhD students at any one time.

Research

The academy's research encompasses a range of issues of concern to industry and government in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. This includes

clean energy Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Definitions of sustainable energy usually look at its effects on the environment, the economy, and s ...

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

, infrastructure engineering,

stem cells In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can change into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of cell ...

, advanced

computational engineering Computational Engineering is an emerging discipline that deals with the development and application of computational models for engineering, known as Computational Engineering Models or CEM. Computational engineering uses computers to solve eng ...

and

nanotechnology Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). At this scale, commonly known as the nanoscale, surface area and quantum mechanical effects become important in describing propertie ...

. The academy has five foundation partners, each of whom will contribute around $1–2 million in research sponsorship in the early years of the academy. The foundation partners were

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

, the

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...

and the Australian Stem Cell Centre.

Location

The academy is located at IITB's campus in

Powai Powai (Pronunciation: əʋəiː is a residential suburb located in central Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is situated on the banks of Powai Lake, and is bound by the hills of Vikhroli Parksite to the south-east, Chandivali to the south-west ...

, Mumbai.

Governance

The IITB-Monash Research Academy is governed by a board of directors, advisory council (a consultative body), and chief executive officer. The board consists primarily of senior management figures from Monash and IITB. The advisory council is made up of leaders from scientific research and industry, including Narayana Murthy (founder of Indian software company

) and Australian biologist Gustav Nossal. Mohan Krishnamoorthy was the CEO of the Academy from 2008-2015. Professor Murali Sastry was the CEO from 2015-2020. The current CEO is M. S. Unnikrishnan.

References

External links

{{Authority control Universities and colleges established in 2008 Monash University IIT Bombay Education in Mumbai 2008 establishments in India