Dr. Mukund Padmanabhan, an IIT Kharagpur alumnus and a hedge fund researcher in New York, has generously sponsored the summer research internship of ten meritorious students from the institute at reputed foreign universities. The scholarship will enable the students to pursue their research at top universities in the US, the UK, Belgium, Canada, and Germany. Dr. Padmanabhan, who previously worked at IBM T J Watson Research Lab, donated the funds through his US-based charitable organization, Guru Krupa Foundation (GKF), in association with IIT Kharagpur Foundation USA. The institute’s selection committee chose ten students for a total scholarship award of $45,000.
The scholarship awarded to the students will not only provide them with practical knowledge but will also add value to their academic portfolio. The summer programs will equip them with a more in-depth understanding of research, development, and global industry expertise.
Manav Nitin Kapadnis, from the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur, was one of the scholarship recipients. He expressed his gratitude and highlighted his experience, As a student pursuing my passion for artificial intelligence and natural language processing, I got the opportunity to work on improving ChatGPT during my internship at Inria Paris.
IIT Kharagpur’s Director, Prof. V K Tewari, appreciated the scholarship and indicated how it would open doors for meritorious students to explore new opportunities. Furthermore, fifteen additional students from different departments of the institute were also awarded the IIT Kharagpur Foundation Scholarship 2023 funded by IITKGP Foundation USA.
In summary, Dr. Padmanabhan’s scholarship will boost the prospects of ten students from IIT Kharagpur, allowing them to pursue research at prestigious foreign universities. The scholarship will provide practical knowledge and globally applicable industry expertise, benefiting the students’ holistic development.