IISER Pune receives Endowment Funds from Infosys and Balan Group

Infosys Foundation Endowment Fund to IISER Pune The Infosys Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Infosys, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IISER Pune to provide opportunities for economically underprivileged students to pursue science degrees in a research-oriented environment through scholarships and fellowships. There will also be travel awards for meritorious doctoral students. A corpus fund of rupees five crore, named ‘The Infosys Foundation Endowment Fund’, will benefit a minimum of 50 students annually. The grant will be used towards the establishment of Infosys Foundation Scholarships which will be awarded to BS-MS students and Infosys Foundation Fellowships awarded to students of the Integrated PhD programme. Both these grants will provide tuition waivers for underprivileged students to pursue a world-class programme in science. Additionally, Infosys Foundation Travel Awards will be given to PhD students who have excelled in their research to travel for conferences and collaboration enabling them to interact with global experts in their field. The grant is aimed at creating equal opportunities for students from underprivileged backgrounds and advancing the quality of research. Balan Group Supports Science Outreach at IISER Pune Mr Balan, a leading builder and philanthropist of the city, has given a generous endowment for promoting science outreach at IISER Pune with a special focus on taking science to underprivileged sections of the society. A 40,000 sq ft state-of-the-art, hands-on science activity centre for school & college students and teachers will be built using this endowment. The building will be named “Smt. Indrani Balan Science Activity Centre" and will be used to impart pedagogical training to teachers and to excite students to learn science. In addition to pursuing science education and research of highest quality at undergraduate and post-graduate levels, IISER Pune has been in the forefront of science outreach. Our students and faculty are actively engaged in:

1. Teaching science through activities to children from various schools in and around Pune and giving basic education to children who do not have access to formal schooling
2. Imparting training in pedagogy to school and college teachers
3. Organising hands-on science activities to excite students and their parents about science and its applications for solving real-life problems
4. Organising popular lectures by eminent scientists from world over on contemporary topics in science and technology

All these activities will be further strengthened and expanded with the substantial donation of Mr Balan to build a Science Activity Centre at the IISER Pune campus. The institute aspires to develop the Centre into a major attraction for both the citizens of Pune as well as visitors to the city. Mr Balan, a self-made person from a humble background, has retained his humility and has very high regard for education. We hope that his worthy gesture will motivate others to contribute and strengthen our hands in making IISER Pune a world-class science education centre that is simultaneously grounded and deeply committed to providing children from all sections of the society an opportunity to learn science. As an educational hub of India, Pune needs science and natural history museums, an exploratorium and many such places that will communicate the excitement of science to young and old alike. IISER Pune would like to take the lead in establishing such centres, with generous support from State and Central Governments and donations such as Mr Balan’s, from the public.