Friday, April 18, 2014

Prof R Narasimhan's Birthday (April 16)

It is Professor Narasimhan’s birthday today (April 16). If he had lived on, he would have been eighty eight today. There is one simple way many of us can further a goal he worked for - running high quality conferences in the computer field in India. His family has made available to the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, the Institute where he spent his working life, a handsome endowment for an annual memorial award to bring a world-class invited speaker to international conference in the computer field in India. We should spread this information among program committee members of such conferences. For details, please visit
http://www.tifr.res.in/~endowment/index.php/endowment-awards/prof-r-narasimhan-lecture-award

I will quote a few lines from this site:

2. One award will be given annually in the field Computer Science and Technology and will recognize advances in hardware, software, theoretical aspects of computing, or applications of computing.
3. The award will recognize the achievement of younger professionals only and hence will be restricted to professionals up to the age of 40.
4. Recipients of the award should hold a degree from an Indian University, excluding honorary degrees.
5. The award will be in the form of a scroll, with a trophy or plaque (rather than in monetary form), and an invitation to give a public talk titled the "Professor R. Narasimhan Memorial Lecture" on the topic for which the recipient is being recognized. In cases wherein the recipient cannot attend the conference in person, arrangements will be made for the recipient to present the lecture through video conference.
6. The award will cover the expenses of the recipient to travel to the chosen conference in India and present the talk.
I wish to share a few thoughts here:

Obviously, only established international conferences with high standards will qualify for these awards. Peer reviewing and published proceedings are essential.

Prof R K Shyamasundar, TIFR, or I can offer any clarifications required.

Srinivasan Ramani

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