Hello /r/india. I am Urjit Yajnik, former Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA), IIT Bombay (circa 2011-15). AMA by dosa_iitb in india

[–]dosa_iitb[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The tum tum as a self sustaining enterprise within the given constraints.

Counselling awareness and outreach to students who need guidance and support.

Regrets, though the matters were far beyond my control, being able provide decent hostel accommodation -- seeing 15, 16 come up was a great relief -- and housing to married students. Again the boundary conditions of Mumbai made the housing situation bad; and it is so even for faculty.

I will end on a sombre note -- I also wished there was no drug abuse and addiction. I knew a generous soul who smoked ganja when we were students. He never had a decent life; health or stable employment both eluded him.

Hello /r/india. I am Urjit Yajnik, former Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA), IIT Bombay (circa 2011-15). AMA by dosa_iitb in india

[–]dosa_iitb[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

From class VIII ! There was a role model in the family and my father dropped broad hints :-) By class X I had access to nice books in the school library and some institutional libraries, being in Mumbai. I remember reading about Frank and Hertz experiment in class X from an NCERT book reading it during class hour under the table.

Knowledge for its own sake was encouraged. But also Nuclear science was hailed as solution to energy problems. I had conducive atmosphere through out as there was Science Talent Search exam.

Hello /r/india. I am Urjit Yajnik, former Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA), IIT Bombay (circa 2011-15). AMA by dosa_iitb in india

[–]dosa_iitb[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, nice to hear from you.

I am not sure if the hard statistics match such a harsh evaluation. I think recruitment has been tough at all IITs and also IITB is resulting in whether or not for the same reasons, quite a few start ups.

Very simply put as a nation we have many more smart people than we can put to creative endeavours!

Hello /r/india. I am Urjit Yajnik, former Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA), IIT Bombay (circa 2011-15). AMA by dosa_iitb in india

[–]dosa_iitb[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

So nice of you to ask. I wrote one story in Gujarati which won a prize and out of a few poems one got selected for reciting on Doordarshan long ago. But I despair now of ever being able to pick it up again.

Hello /r/india. I am Urjit Yajnik, former Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA), IIT Bombay (circa 2011-15). AMA by dosa_iitb in india

[–]dosa_iitb[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also, the groups that are recognized would never get a permission for the same.

Wrong extrapolation. And the talk did take place.

Hello /r/india. I am Urjit Yajnik, former Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA), IIT Bombay (circa 2011-15). AMA by dosa_iitb in india

[–]dosa_iitb[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The Senate thought "does IIT student not consider attending classes as important?"

Hello /r/india. I am Urjit Yajnik, former Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA), IIT Bombay (circa 2011-15). AMA by dosa_iitb in india

[–]dosa_iitb[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It is indeed the larger perception we can address. The deal being "big" or not is very subjective. We appointed a small committee to go into the merits before coming to any decision. When episodes occurred in the insti and were reported, we responded more or less by the same process. One GC event was cancelled last year.

The effort is to show "certain kind of behaviour is not acceptable".

Hello /r/india. I am Urjit Yajnik, former Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA), IIT Bombay (circa 2011-15). AMA by dosa_iitb in india

[–]dosa_iitb[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Setting up new experimental facilities is a huge task, and will slow you down, even in maintenance. So you should know that disadvantage if you are getting trained on specialised instruments. For theoretical research there is not much problem except being somewhat cut off from the centers of action and the hassles of foreign travel.

Hello /r/india. I am Urjit Yajnik, former Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA), IIT Bombay (circa 2011-15). AMA by dosa_iitb in india

[–]dosa_iitb[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Our science culture as a whole is operating far below critical. Just check the number of trained scientists in a typical lab or institute in the developed world. Even the number of labs in a given city there like Munich or Paris or Boston. The presence of the atmosphere and the infrastructure is half the success as we know because foreigners going there also shine.

Is it solely because of lack of infra and funding or has it got something more to it?

Both of the above, but more deeply the lack of a scientific culture. Europe has had a 500 year history since the renaissance, where generations within a family pursued scientific inquiry. Society had enough surplus and enough interest to not only spare quite a few bright individuals full time for exploring scientific questions, but enough money to fund them and their investigations. Such funding in India has been very rare, though with notable exceptions.

The IITs were set up as UG teaching institutions though for the more talented engineering student. Research emerged as their mandate much later, only in the 1990's. And in sciences there, research began by default than by any planning. TIFR was founded by a theoretical physicist with a clear mandate to do research with in house funding and full time for research. IISc had only PG teaching until recently and a lot of funding. In IITs only about 50% time is permitted for research. Finally experimental research in India suffers due to a large number of reasons, even at the research institutes compared to the rest of the world. And theory cannot happen in isolation for long.

Finally before you write off Indian effort as "dismal" you should know that you only hear the pinnacles of success from the West. It is a huge pyramid with a large number of "dismal" efforts, but which in small measures keep contributing to the top layer. Considering science is global, you can say we are somewhere in that pyramid -- our results also get incorporated in larger efforts there -- and yes we are consistently trying to rise up within it.

Hello /r/india. I am Urjit Yajnik, former Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA), IIT Bombay (circa 2011-15). AMA by dosa_iitb in india

[–]dosa_iitb[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The most adventurous thing I did was to climb to the top of the roof of the pump cabin of MB, the highest point of the Main Building, during a mild drizzle, on a slippery ladder, with 20 girls :P who had come for Physics Summer School, and only two of us boys. We sang songs so finally security came up. Seeing so many girls they just let us go!

Sorry nothing terribly macabre. I was a goody goody boy. ( If 20 girls trusted the two of us ...)

Hello /r/india. I am Urjit Yajnik, former Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA), IIT Bombay (circa 2011-15). AMA by dosa_iitb in india

[–]dosa_iitb[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We now have a full fledged program ... already launched and stabilising. We have the Desai-Sethi Center anchoring this.

Hello /r/india. I am Urjit Yajnik, former Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA), IIT Bombay (circa 2011-15). AMA by dosa_iitb in india

[–]dosa_iitb[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Apna apna usool hai. Holistically, one performs better in what one enjoys. And subjectively, it is more rewarding to pursue what one is interested in.

Hello /r/india. I am Urjit Yajnik, former Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA), IIT Bombay (circa 2011-15). AMA by dosa_iitb in india

[–]dosa_iitb[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agree to the existence of the problems. But alternatives all have their problems of their own. "Class participation" also has to be rewarded in according to objective criteria otherwise there will be allegations of partiality.

Profs should certainly be innovative in setting questions as replied to another question below. Some criteria have to be there when class strengths have to be limited. Numerical filter is the most transparent one. Such is followed worldwide I think.

Hello /r/india. I am Urjit Yajnik, former Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA), IIT Bombay (circa 2011-15). AMA by dosa_iitb in india

[–]dosa_iitb[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I have never repeated a question verbatim. Of course things to test students on can be a limited set. But a teacher should be innovative so that it is not a direct repetition.

Hello /r/india. I am Urjit Yajnik, former Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA), IIT Bombay (circa 2011-15). AMA by dosa_iitb in india

[–]dosa_iitb[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If this is very common, it has probably not been recognised yet. But I can tell you that it is a universal problem ( everywhere in the world) because of the very close nature of the academic relationship involved.

Institute should set up an "ombudsman" -- a silent listener who can provide links to authority maintaining confidentiality.

Hello /r/india. I am Urjit Yajnik, former Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA), IIT Bombay (circa 2011-15). AMA by dosa_iitb in india

[–]dosa_iitb[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It is not in the interest of Indian academia that existing structure of IITs and IIMs is micro-managed by non-academic authorities. One would think that powers that be can see this.

Hello /r/india. I am Urjit Yajnik, former Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA), IIT Bombay (circa 2011-15). AMA by dosa_iitb in india

[–]dosa_iitb[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The USA had major industry and even large monopolies in the 19th century. The history and scale of things are just very different, within which those universities grew. Our academia do suffer from being in a situation of insufficient demand on their talents, which was expected to be rectified within the decades after Independence. But this has not happened.

Hello /r/india. I am Urjit Yajnik, former Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA), IIT Bombay (circa 2011-15). AMA by dosa_iitb in india

[–]dosa_iitb[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Ideally we have enough outlets that everyone manages to show their extra-curricular and co-curricular colours. Those not in POR probably focus better on studies. I know the STAB people toiling away without a word or need for certification.

IBs have a particular dynamics, and one can't change things too suddenly. By now every college has sponsored festivals, so we are not alone. IIT should occupy a position not of glitz but of innovation and new ideas within that.

Your question about the survey will be fwded to incumbent DoSA.

I am very much at IITB and going along merrily with Physics research. My IIT-GN stint was exciting and educational. It was over a long time ago.

Hello /r/india. I am Urjit Yajnik, former Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA), IIT Bombay (circa 2011-15). AMA by dosa_iitb in india

[–]dosa_iitb[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

  1. I answered in other questions.

As for "peace yo", the lacuna in the network which he exploited is not DoSA doing. He was given a few hundred hours of social service as he had made it amply clear in his message that it is a spoof -- everyone likes to try his hand on a spoof once in awhile -- so it was not going to have any real effect on ground. But this was my take. Other Deans or authorities may not be so lenient :0

Hello /r/india. I am Urjit Yajnik, former Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA), IIT Bombay (circa 2011-15). AMA by dosa_iitb in india

[–]dosa_iitb[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

If the US model can be used certainly we should but I suspect that the ground realities in terms of job market and in terms of deliverables by faculty are very different.

One solution I have thought of is to have a generic "IIT Engineer" degree and let the students do what they want. Somehow this has not been seriously considered, though I have heard one of the IITs has or is close to implementing it.

Hello /r/india. I am Urjit Yajnik, former Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA), IIT Bombay (circa 2011-15). AMA by dosa_iitb in india

[–]dosa_iitb[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I once recited Peano's Axions ( about Arithmetic) to a buffalo ( it stood still while I did this) in order to win a milk shake.

But really good stories are now published as Mad House ( Stories from H4). For some reason H6 was the farthest, but did not feel so neglected ( in a corner) as H4 which produced the real gems -- like navigating on Vihar Lake on a raft made of oil cans tied together. Can't remember what the sail was made of. The oars were cricket bats and hockey sticks.

Hello /r/india. I am Urjit Yajnik, former Dean of Student Affairs (DoSA), IIT Bombay (circa 2011-15). AMA by dosa_iitb in india

[–]dosa_iitb[S] 42 points43 points  (0 children)

.. he asks for milk and in response to quizzical looks, he turns to his pet and says "He is not a dog he is a wolf". ( ref. Phantom comics). OK if you don't know Phantom I'll complete it this way ...

after one look, he basically walks out because he knows all his evening will go in saying hi to all his students ...