The India Semiconductor Association (ISA), the trade body representing the Indian semiconductor driven industry today released, “A study on the status of semiconductor related research in Indian universities” a Study by Evalueserve. The Study addresses the state of semiconductor related research in top Indian technical universities. It is supported by Intel Education along with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT).The Study was released by Shri. Jainder Singh, IAS, Secretary MCIT at New Delhi today.

The report is aimed at highlighting the role that academia will play in the growth and development of the Indian semiconductor industry and advices on a future course of action for building university labs and related research.

Summary of key findings include:

• The role of government funding is 85-90% of the funding available to university lab research

• The top seven institutes account for approximately 70–75 per cent of the total research being undertaken in the academic institutes of the country. These institutes have the faculty and dedicated VLSI labs to support high-quality semiconductor-related research.

• These institutes account for around 61 percent of research papers published in the field of semiconductors.

Some recommendations moving forward are as follows:

• Facilitate a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model involving the government, the industry, and the academia to encourage applied semiconductor research.

• Promote setting up of Technology Business Incubators (TBI). TBIs provide a robust platform for active industry-academia interactions, and help convert a potential research idea to its commercial success.

• Take steps to enhance research infrastructure by developing dedicated research centers, by enhancing the standard of semiconductor laboratories to match with industry standards and by setting up semiconductor-related research in R&D special economic zones.

• Improve the status of research scholars and faculty by providing performance based incentives to faculty and research scholars, facilitating involvement of industry executives in academics and by creating awareness about job avenues among PhD holders

• Industry to participate in a proactive manner more than just providing tools

Speaking on the occasion of the release, Ms. Poornima Shenoy, President ISA, said, “The design capacity of semiconductor companies in India resides with the capability to source quality talent and focus on cutting edge research out of our university labs. This exercise is the first complete documentation of such existing work. It will provide an excellent database from which both industry involvement and government support can grow”.

Mr. Rahul Bedi, Director, Corporate Affairs South Asia, Intel India said, “I am very excited to see this concise research as I’m sure this will enable the industry to focus with clear direction and vision on furthering effective partnerships with Indian universities and helping build our innovation capacity, together”.

“India has had a tradition of producing world-class semiconductor engineering talent at the graduate level. Moreover, the country is now suitably placed to move up the value chain and produce equally competitive talent at postgraduate and PhD levels as well. However, to achieve this in an effective and timely manner, this study recommends a robust public private partnership model that can help leverage the synergistic competencies of the Government, technical institutes, and the semiconductor industry”, said Ashish Gupta, COO, Evalueserve.

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About India Semiconductor Association (ISA):

The India Semiconductor Association (ISA) is the trade body representing the Indian semiconductor driven industry. ISA has around 120 members from the semiconductor driven industry from India and outside. These include design companies, solar fabs, manufacturing companies, VLSI companies, EDA companies and others in the ecosystem like venture funds, academic institutions, legal and IP firms.

ISA aims to establish India as the preferred global semiconductor destination. It is committed towards building global awareness for the Indian semiconductor driven industry and supporting its growth through focused activities. ISA works with global associations to promote India as the destination for semiconductors. ISA has played a prominent role in supporting the Government of India in the Semiconductor Policy. For more information, visit www.isaonline.org

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