Mehta Family School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at IIT Guwahati
The School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, to be housed in a new dedicated facility on IITG’s main campus, will offer bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. IITG professor R. Bhattacharjee will lead the school, which is expected to be completed in 2024 and graduate more than 1,200 students over a 10-year period. The first group of students will begin coursework in 2021.
The school’s curriculum combines state-of-the-art teaching, research, and technology development in the frontier areas of data science (DS) and artificial intelligence (AI), providing students with a strong theoretical foundation and emphasizing areas of interdisciplinary application. Faculty and students of the school will explore the uses of DS and AI in solving societal problems, including those of regional importance relating to water quality and usage, healthcare, and agriculture.
Currently, more than 7,000 undergraduate, graduate, and PhD students attend IITG. By 2027, the institute anticipates that undergraduate enrollment in the Mehta Family School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence will increase by 200 percent, graduate enrollment by 50 percent, and doctoral enrollment by 75 percent.
Dr. K. VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, has recognized the need for more data science professionals who will “convert big data into effective knowledge and understanding to serve society in a better way,” and IITG director T.G. Sitharam has noted that the school will help “bridge the gap of highly skilled personnel that exists in these emerging fields.”
Professor Ratnajit Bhattacharjee
Director, Mehta Family School of DS & AI
Dr. T.G. Sitharam
Director, IIT Guwahati
Dr. Ananth Grama
MFF CARE Advisor for IIT Guwahati
Dr. Rajesh Gupta
MFF CARE Advisor for IIT Guwahati
Professor Shankar Subramaniam
MFF CARE Advisor for IIT Guwahati
Guwahati, India is the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. The current population of the city is about 1.2 million people, with rapid population growth expected to continue due to the vast education and employment opportunities available. With the Brahmaputra river flowing to its north, the city is bordered on the south by the foothills of the Shillong plateau, and on its east is the Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary. Additionally, the hilly region boasts the Bharalu River, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, that flows directly through its center.
The city is known by several different names: “the gateway to Northeast India,” “The City of Temples,” “the gateway to spirituality,” and “the central educational hub of Northeast India.” Guwahati is one among 98 Indian cities proposed to become “Smart Cities” under a project initiated by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India. It is one of the fastest growing cities in India and still hosts some of the most diverse wildlife in the world including rare animals such as Asian elephants, pythons, tigers, rhinoceros, gaurs, primate species, and endangered birds within its region. The majority of the people in Guwahati speak Assamese.
Though petroleum manufacturing is the most important industry to Guwahati, the city in recent years has established an active cycling community. Besides petroleum manufacturing, tea manufacturing and processing is essential to Guwahati. The headquarters of the Assam Branch Indian Tea Association is located in Guwahati. Additionally, it is emerging as a sports capital within India with large stadiums hosting world-famous soccer and cricket matches.
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati is the sixth IIT campus. It was established in 1994 with academic programs commencing in 1995. Currently, the Institute has eleven departments, seven inter-disciplinary academic centers, and five schools covering all the major engineering, science, healthcare, management, and humanities disciples. The Institute offers B.Tech., B. Des., M.A., M.Des., M.Tech., M.Sc., MBA, and Ph.D. programs. IIT Guwahati has built up world-class infrastructure for carrying out advanced research and has been equipped with state-of-the-art scientific and engineering instruments.
IIT Guwahati is the only academic institution in India that occupied a place among the top 100 word universities—under 50 years of age—ranked by the London-based Times Higher Education in the year 2014 and continues to maintain its superior position in various international rankings. It ranked 32 globally in “Research Citations per Faculty” in the QS World University Rankings 2024. IIT Guwahati has also retained the 7th position among the best engineering institutions in India declared by the National Institutional Ranking Framework of the Union Ministry of Education.
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