Bangalore, June 22, 2010: The Government of India, on June 18, 2010, approved a proposal of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for setting up of an Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) in the country.

It will function as an institution for imparting instruction and awarding degrees in frontier areas of science and technology. The bill to set up the academy will be introduced during monsoon session of parliament.

The academy will primarily focus on research and imparting training in such areas that are not ordinarily provided by existing universities in India. The curricula, pedagogy and evaluation will be innovative and directed towards creating the highest quality personnel in cross-disciplinary areas.

While utilizing existing resources and facilities of CSIR, the academy will operate on a self-sustaining mode. The recurring expenses will be $4.15 mn (Rs 19.10 crore) in the 11th Plan and $13.43 mn (Rs 61.79 crore) in the 12th Plan.

The main purpose behind setting up the academy is the decline in the number of PhD holders. The academy will be headquartered in Noida, India, and will produce 1,000 PhDs in science and technology and 120 in engineering every year after the five years of its commencement.

The academy will also have campuses in 37 CSIR laboratories that are re-linked with the National Knowledge Network. CSIR has a pool of 4,500 scientists from different areas of science and it is expected that it could deploy 2,500 of them for the works in the academy.