Jitendra Singh hails AcSIR’s ‘i-PhD’ for bridging innovation and industry

Union Minister Jitendra Singh applauded the novel concept of ‘i-PhD’ program launched by the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) in 2023 for linking imagination and innovation with industry.

Addressing the 9th Convocation ceremony at the institution, he said that the academy has “achieved far more than its age”, positioning itself as a national hub that brings together the best of India’s scientific talent across CSIR, ICMR, DST, ICAR, MoES, and leading universities. Founded in 2010 as an Institution of National Importance, AcSIR has emerged as one of India’s most transformative scientific institutions, said the Minister.

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Expanding on ‘i’ in i-PhD stands not only for industry, but also for imagination and innovation, he emphasised the need for such a programme, as our nation is moving decisively toward academia–industry linkages. Thus, we require young scholars to imagine, innovate, and engage with emerging industrial sectors.

Science & Technology Minister Singh noted that in this graduate programme, every scholar is mandated to develop a technology relevant to translational research or start-ups. He added that such programmes offer researchers a sustainable future, allowing them to contribute to society as entrepreneurs, consultants, and technology developers.

The minister said that AcSIR’s scholars will have the opportunity to be “torchbearers of this journey,” shaping India’s rise in deep-tech, health research, sustainable agriculture, climate science, and frontier technologies.

Drawing attention to the institution’s emergence as India’s diverse and multidisciplinary research ecosystems, the minister said AcSIR today hosts nearly 7,000 students, mentored by over 3,100 frontline scientists across 79 campuses. He said the institution has, in effect, grown into a “shared national university”, drawing scholars and faculty from across disciplines and across the country, and increasingly serving as a platform for research dialogue, knowledge exchange, and collaborative discovery.