IIT Delhi Launches Research Communications Award to Foster Effective Communication Among PhD Candidates

IIT Delhi has introduced the 'Research Communications Award (RCA)' to support its PhD scholars in improving their communication skills. Know details here

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi has launched the ‘Research Communications Award (RCA)’ designed for its PhD scholars, with the primary goal of enhancing their communication skills in the realm of research. This initiative aims to equip scholars with the ability to effectively convey their research findings and engage with diverse audiences.

These competitions not only foster creativity but also encourage scholars to distill their complex research into accessible and engaging narratives. Through the RCA, IIT Delhi is committed to empowering its scholars to become proficient communicators, ultimately enhancing the impact of their research in the broader academic community and beyond.

Research Communications Award for PhD scholars

As part of this inaugural program, the first batch of award recipients has been recognised for their outstanding performances in a variety of research communication-related competitions. Each winner was awarded a certificate along with a cash prize of INR 25,000 for their achievements in events such as Research Story Writing and the 3-Minute Thesis competition.

Research Story Writing Competition: In this competition, PhD scholars were tasked with crafting a short story based on their research. The narrative had to be engaging and highlight the importance of their research while showcasing their involvement in it. The eight award winning research stories can be read here: https://shorturl.at/offsZ

3-Minute Thesis (3MT): PhD scholars were tasked with explaining their research to a general audience in just three minutes during the 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. This event celebrates their discoveries and enhances their ability to communicate the significance of their work to the wider community. Eleven PhD students were awarded the Research Communications Award for their success in this competition.

While talking about the Research Communications Award, Prof. Dhanya CT, Associate Dean, PG Research, IIT Delhi, said, “Our goal is not only to strengthen the research environment at IIT Delhi but also to enrich the scholars and help them become independent researchers. While our curriculum already provides enabling platforms to encourage scholars to step out of their labs and participate in debates, seminars, and competitions, we also initiated the ‘Research Communications Award' as a co-curricular activity with an aim to create and provide our society with more independent and efficient researchers and engineers.”          

Winners of 3-Minute Thesis competition at Research Communications Award

The winners of the 3-Minute Thesis competition are as follows: Nidhi Nitin Patil (Biochemical Engineering), Vivek Kumar Nair (Interdisciplinary Research), Abhishek Nair (Chemistry), Ankita Raj (Computer Science), Ritanksha Joshi (Biochemical Engineering), Kusum Saini (Civil Engineering), Sushovan Ghosh (Atmospheric Sciences), Simran Kaur Rainu (Biomedical Engineering), Ispshita Majumdar (Chemistry), Shivansh Mehrotra (Materials Science and Engineering), and Anusha Jain (Chemical Engineering).

The PhD students who received awards for their research stories described the ‘Research Communications Award’ as a wonderful initiative by the Institute. Earlier this year in March, IIT Delhi had organised a ‘Research Scholar Week’, an initiative that was designed with a focused intent to empower research scholars through well-being and work-life balance, boosting productivity, enhancing research visibility, and fostering a vibrant scholarly community.

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