ResearchAndYou : Portal for Computer Science Community by Microsoft Research
Thursday February 18, 2010 , 2 min Read
ResearchAndYou is an portal for the computer science (CS) community initiated by Microsoft Research India.
This portal aims to connect students, faculty members, researchers and PhD Scholars from Computer Science, Information Technology and related areas.
The long term goal of this portal is to create a platform where the small number of CS researchers in India can reach out to, and interact with the very large student base and potential research students in computer science and related areas to provide expert guidance and direction about a career in CS research.
ResearchAndYou.com is mentored by renowned researchers including:
- Prof. N. Balakrishnan, Associate Director, Indian Institute of Science
- Prof. P. J. Narayanan, Professor & Dean (Research & Development), IIIT Hyderabad
- Prof. Manindra Agarwal, Head, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur
- Dr. P. Anandan, Managing Director, Microsoft Research India
As a community initiative, ResearchAndYou.com welcomes the participation of the broad computer science research community, including faculty, research scholars, and corporate research labs.
Awareness of what research actually means, and exposure to leading researchers has been a problem students in India have faced due to the large number of students in CS and allied areas, and the small number of academics and scientists in these fields. This portal is a platform where Computer Science and IT students can learn about the state of the art. They aim to collect and organize information about Computer Science and present it to students in a logical and easily understandable manner.
Students can get guidance on the status of various areas in Computer Science, contemporary research topics and how to pursue higher studies in the same. They also aim to connect the students with the Computer Science research community through discussion forums, live chats and other means, so that students can learn from the researchers’ experience, know what a research career actually means, and receive guidance on how to go about becoming a Computer Scientist.
The CS research community can increase its reach and attract more students to research through this portal. There is a very small CS research community (about a few thousands) in India but more than 5 lakh students studying CS/IT in engineering colleges in India.
The internet is a great way to connect people and this is exactly what this portal aims to do. By forging these connections, the research community can dispel myths about research, educate students and give them guidance in beginning a research career.
