Raman Research Institute, Visiting Student Program, VSP

The Raman Research Institute was founded by Nobel laureate Sir C.V.Raman in 1948 with funds from private sources. The main activity of the institute was basic research in selected areas of physics which were of particular interest to Prof. Raman. The institute owes its origin to action of the government of Mysore in gifting to the Indian Academy of Sciences a plot of land in Bangalore in December 1934. In the year 1956, Prof. Raman made an irrevocable gift to the Indian Academy of Sciences, of various movable and immovable properties for the use and the benefit of the Raman Research Institute.
After Prof. Raman's death in November, 1970, The Indian Academy of Sciences created in July 1971 a public charitable educational trust by the name Raman Research Institute Trust (RRI Trust). The Academy transferred to the trust the lands, buildings, deposits, securities, bank deposits, money, laboratories, instruments and other movable and immovable properties held by it for the purpose of RRI. One of the main objectives of the RRI Trust is principally to maintain, conduct and sustain the Raman Research Institute. The institute was reorganized in 1972 and started receiving funds from the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India. The institute is administered by a Governing Council.

Currently, the main areas of research are Astronomy and Astrophysics, Liquid Crystals, Theoretical Physics and Optics.

The Visiting Student Program (VSP) is aimed at offering research experience to highly motivated students who are presently pursuing their undergraduate or Masters Studies or who are in a gap year that is within a year of completion of these degrees. The purpose of the program is to expose these students to the research of the Institute and motivate them to take up research as a career. Research Staff at RRI accept VSP students so that significant numbers of Undergraduate and Masters students are given an experience of experimental, phenomenological and theoretical physics/astronomy and thereby gain motivation to enter into research careers. In particular, experimental laboratories at RRI provide students with the opportunity to participate in activities that invent, design, develop, build, and commission complex systems that explore frontier areas in the physical sciences, together with learning theoretical tools necessary to understand the complex systems and their purposeful design for the science goals. Enrolment to the Visiting Student Program is open throughout the year.

Click here to view the list of visiting students at RRI

Click here to view the list of experimental labs at RRI

There is also a separate Summer Student Program that gives a specific number of students the opportunity to visit the Institute during the summer months. Students interested in working at RRI as a part of that Summer Student Program need to apply through the Indian Academy of Sciences summer fellowship program.

Format of the Programme

During the period of the visit, the student will work closely with at least one staff member of the Institute on a suitable project, or on a part of a project, as appropriate. The student's work and the interaction with the staff and the graduate students at the Institute are expected to provide her/him a flavour of the research pursuits at the Institute, in general, and the first-hand experience in research, in particular.

Eligibility

Students within 1 or 2 years of the end of their undergraduate science or engineering degrees, or masters in science of engineering, and in particular those students with the intention of pursuing research as a career, are encouraged to apply. Students from Bangalore colleges, who are keen to work on a part-time basis for acquiring research experience at RRI, will also be considered.

Intake & Duration

Available projects/mentors and relevant resources would limit the total number of visiting students. For this and other logistics reasons, the candidates are advised to apply at least two months in advance of their proposed time of visit.

The VSP programme at the Raman Research Institute runs throughout the year. The duration may range, on a case-by-case basis, anywhere between 4-weeks to 6-months.

Financial Support

Out-station students joining this programme on a full-time basis will be offered: a) Sleeper-class train fare to Bangalore from their place of stay, and also the return fare, for a single person; b) A consolidated Stipend of Rs.13,000 (Rupees thirteen thousand only) per month to cover local expenses.

Students will have to make their own arrangements for accommodation.

Students from Bangalore will be offered the above allowance if they are part of this programme on a full-time basis. If they work on a part-time basis (at least two days in a week) as part of this programme, support of Rs. 1000 per week will be given.

How to Apply

A potential VSP student is expected to go through the RRI homepage to get an idea of the research interests of the research staff. Then he/she should e-mail directly the research staff member of his/her choice seeking the possibility of working on a project with him/her. The e-mail should contain information on the student's academic background and the kind of work that he/she would like to pursue.

The student should arrange for recommendation letters to be e-mailed directly to the relevant staff member only if the staff member requests recommendation letters to be sent to him/her.

At the end of the VSP studentship, the student is expected to submit a report on the work done and outcome of the experience and learning which will be forwarded by the supervising research staff to the Administration, for closure.

A VSP student has issued an ID card on arrival and is expected to hold this for access to RRI and its internal environs and facilities.

FOR STUDENTS SEEKING TO DO THEIR COURSE PROJECTS AT RRI FOR A PERIOD GREATER THAN 6 MONTHS

Undergraduate and postgraduate students currently enrolled in Universities may undertake their research credits at RRI by working with a research staff member in a research project of the Institute as a separate part of the VSP scheme. This would be for a total period not exceeding 1 year. Once an understanding is arrived at between faculty at Universities and research staff of the Institute, the Universities may formally approach the Director at RRI [director at rri.res.in] for approval for their students to undertake their research components at RRI. Such formal acceptance of University students to the Institute for credited work will require initial approval from the Director in each such alliance. The decision to accept such requests would be made taking into account and consideration the value to the research of the Institute and the resource limitations. The continued acceptance of students from identified Universities would be reviewed from time to time.

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