The Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) organised a formal welcome session for the interns of its flagship Summer Research Internship Programme (SRIP) 2022 on May 19, 2022. This is the 12th edition of SRIP, which is being organised in person after a gap of two years due to the pandemic. The eight-week programme is designed to promote research aptitude among undergraduate students.
The Institute had received a whopping more than 24,000 applications from across the country for participation in SRIP 2022. Out of these, around 155 students have been selected from various institutes and colleges across the country, including IITs, NITs, IISERs, and IIITs among others.
These interns are working on about 115 research projects offered by 54 faculty members of IITGN, who are guiding the participating students on a wide range of interesting projects, including the design of rocket engines for interplanetary missions, mathematics of Sudoku, Neural correlates of meditation, Understanding Multimodal Touch Perception in Humans, smart mask, human-robot collaboration for practical applications, micro and nano printing, and so on.
Prof Kabeer Jasuja, Dean, Academic Affairs, IITGN, encouraged students to make the most of this opportunity and their time at IITGN.
Giving reference to one of the anecdotes about Gautam Buddha and his disciples, he said, “For many of you, this might be your first exposure to research as an SRIP intern. Research, in some way, is like meditation, and it needs the right mentorship to guide you on this research path. When you are spending eight weeks at IITGN, try to take full advantage of it and learn from your faculty and mentors. The programme will give you a very holistic experience and numerous opportunities to learn through various labs and initiatives like Maker Bhavan, Tinkerer’s Lab, Writing Studio, and so on.”
He also introduced students to the visiting scholars’ programme offered by IITGN, which enables any student from any part of the world to spend a semester at IITGN.
Prof Amit Prashant, Officiating Director, IITGN, also interacted with the SRIP interns. In his interactive talk with the students, Prof Prashant prodded them to think of various ways in which they can make this internship a 360º learning experience and said, “You are here not just to work on your research projects but also to explore new things, make new connections, exchange ideas, and gain from the diversity of this campus life. You will have several occasions to experiment, interact, learn, and have fun because all these experiences add to each other. I would like you to develop a problem-solving aptitude, bring new ideas, take initiatives, and be a team player.”
He also encouraged students to think of an activity, which they would like to do during these two months by engaging fellow interns and try to fulfil it in the coming weeks with support from their mentors.
Prof Prashant’s interactive session was followed by the first lecture in the SRIP 2022 lecture series by Prof Nipun Batra on ‘Artificial Intelligence: a 20,000 feet overview’.
Sharing more information on the SRIP 2019, Prof Iti Gupta, Programme Coordinator, SRIP-IITGN, said, “After conducting e-SRIPs in the last 2 years, we are excited to offer SRIP-2022 to students from across the country in the offline mode. For 115 projects floated by the faculty members of IITGN, 155 students have been selected from various institutes/colleges across the country. A wide range of exciting research projects have been offered, and a significant number of students from various NITs, IITs, IIT-BHU, IISERs, and IIITs are working on these summer projects. Through this summer research internship, we try to provide them with an outstanding research experience and encourage them to participate in various sports and cultural activities for their holistic development.”
SRIP 2022 is lined up with SRIP Lecture Series, Chalk the Talk, a poster presentation session, and cultural and sports activities for the interns.
The programme offers opportunities to students of IITGN as well as students from across the country to carry out research projects under the mentorship of IITGN faculty members.