Indian Institute of Technology - Guwahati will set-up School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence for students at undergraduate and postgraduate level. The first batch of B Tech students for this school will be admitted through JEE score in the academic year 2021-22. In this regard, IIT-Guwahati today signed an MoU with the Mehta Family Foundation (MFF), USA.

The MoU was signed virtually by Prof TG Sitharam, Director, IIT Guwahati, and Rahul Mehta, chief executive officer, Mehta Family Foundation, USA. Rahul Mehta said, “The explosion of data across all fields of knowledge continues unabated. Just like computer science changed the world, data science and artificial intelligence are posed to do the same. These fields will shape the methods used in education and research across the spectrum of human knowledge. Global interdisciplinary collaborations as envisioned in this new school will lift our understanding of society and nature. Bringing together global talents such as Professor Shankar Subramaniam, Professor Rajesh Gupta (both Univ. of California, San Diego), and Professor Ananth Grama (Purdue Univ.) can accelerate the expansion in these fields.”

Through this MoU, MFF will provide support for the development of the school’s infrastructure and programs at IIT Guwahati campus. The school will offer programmes for visiting students and faculty between the school and US institutions. The school will host conferences and establish chairs attracting world-class talent.

The school will also have access to distinguished professors from top US universities providing time and expertise for academic and research activities in this new school.

Prof R Bhattacharjee, head, Mehta Family School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, IIT Guwahati said the curriculum has been developed to provide a strong theoretical foundation as well as emphasis on different interdisciplinary application areas. One of the objectives of the school is also to take up targeted multi-year interdisciplinary research projects and solve the problems which benefits society at large, a deep rooted vision of IIT Guwahati.