Bharat Chauhan,
Opening ceremony of Himalayan Institute for Advanced Study (HIAS) at 38 Avas Vikas, Rishikesh. On this occasion around 50 research scholars and scientists from around the globe are participating in this ceremony. The director, Prof. Konstantin E. Dorfman (Ph.D.from Texas A&M University, USA ,and Postdoc from Princeton University, USA, and California University, Irvine, USA) of HIAS speaks about the institute’s mission and gives the outlook for the future direction.
The HIAS provides an international platform for visiting Master, and Ph.D. scholars, and professors/Scientists of India to conduct collaborative research projects globally.
India has great potential and enthusiasm in the field of research and Innovation but due to a lack of opportunity and information, it cannot reach its peak. In the domain of higher education IITs and IISERs is a great example of the success of the Indian education system providing human resources for companies such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Google, Microsoft, Apple, and other top technology conglomerates all over world. On the other hand, the prestige of academic careers has been reduced due to the lack of funding and the changes in the education system, which now targets quick skill acquisition rather than systematic well round personality and creative skills development. India has always been a country of free thinkers: CV Raman, Ramanujan, Chandrasekhar, JC Bose, Vikram Sarabhai, SN Bose, and HJ Bhabha changed the way people all over the world perceived India as a country with vast intellectual potential in the area of natural sciences.
Presently only alumni of the top institutions such as IIT, IISc, and IISER are enrolled in foreign Ph.D. degrees due to the high ranking and reputation of their domestic educational institution. At the same time, students from other Universities are not able to get accepted in Ph.D. programs not only abroad but in India as well. The quality of these students sometimes exceeds those who graduated from IITs, but due to high competition, limited Ph.D. seats, or lower ranking of their undergraduate college, they cannot pursue their passion – research. I, therefore, see a great demand from the student community in India to have opportunities to do research projects and pursue an academic career but lack a suitable opportunity. This demand is yet to be filled and this is where I see the mission of myself and my colleagues with similar visions.
Our requirements for scholars are based not only on technical skills but also on creativity, passion for science, and desire to contribute to society and country foundations in fundamental science and technology. I am happy to inform you that our four students succeeded in reaching the top global research institutions after spending their time at HIAS. Dr. Md Qutubuddin’s current postdoc position is at MIT, Cambridge, USA. 2. Dr. Utkarsh Mishra’s current post-doc position is at the University of Southern California 3. Dr. Kathakali Mandal’s current post-doc position is at Korean University, South Korea, and 4. Bibhash paul’s current Ph.D. position at the University of Taiwan.
On this occasion the Director of Gopinath Seva Foundation and the IT manager, USA Shilpa Chauhan and tells us that the institute has a great potential and will produce better future innovation minds for India and Globe and Prof. Konstantin has a well established track record in the field of Quantum measurement, spectroscopy, and technology.
On this occasion, Dr. Md Qutubuddin (postdoc MIT, Cambridge, USA) shares his own experience being the first in the family who completed the high school and even obtained the PhD degree on 10th June 2022from ECNU Shanghai on the topic of “Incoherent control of quantum measurements “. Now he got a postdoc position at MIT, Cambridge, USA with the help of support of Prof. Konstantin Dorfman. Prof. Dorfman is not only an academic professorbut he also has a vision of the future industrial quantum development in India.
On this occasion, Dr. Kathakali Mandal (Korea Institute, South Korea) says that the after completing her Ph.D. on May 2020 in Quantum optics from JIIT Noida, she came to Rishikesh and started doing a research project with Prof. Konstantin Dorfman as visiting research scholar. The experience of working with him provided more exposure in this field and helped her to improve the research skill, which helped her to get a postdoc position at Korea University. She would like to continue this collaboration with HIAS throughout her research career.
This ceremony begins with Indian culture and traditional program, Prof. Konstantin and his family did the opening ceremony Yagya (fire sacrifice), pooja, Arti, and all the Grihpravesh ceremonies for 5 hours. Following the footsteps of the great Russian painter Nicholas Roerich and his family, who moved to the Himalayan region of India over a century ago and established the famous Urusvati Himalayan Research Institute sharing his art experience, Prof. Konstantin Dorfman has been attracted to Himalayas from the early age of 7 after reading the book about Dr. Roerich trans-Himalayan expedition. Later Prof. Dorfman got introduced to the yoga of Swami Vivekananda and continued his journey through vast Indian culture practicing bhakti yoga – the philosophy of devotion.
On this occasion Adv. Ex-Journalist and Research scholar Amit Deshmukh say that the HIAS is a useful global platform for all scientific scholars, and Prof. Konstantin Dorfman’s vision, concept, and research future plan will be helpful for young’s brilliant mind. Another side the Professor’s knowledge of Indian culture, tradition, history, Yoga, and Ayurveda will also be impacted by the upliftment of our scientific society.
