IIT Hyderabad (IITH) inked an MoU with SVYRI to launch the Mahayogini Rajyalakshmi Devi Heritage Research fellowships for PhD in Heritage Science and Technology. The MRD scholars will draw an enhanced fellowship of Rs. 75,000/month, and the fellowship will also fund travel to an international conference to present results in relevant fora.

The proposed research will be in any area of Science and Technology, as applied to intangible or tangible Indic heritage, such as Yoga, Ayurveda, Music, Dance, Language, Arts, Architecture or Sculpture at the Department of Heritage Science and Technology (HST) at IITH. It is important to note that HST@IITH has already successfully launched an Online MTech Program (OMP) in Heritage Science and Technology (HST) in the Academic year of 2022.

On the occasion of signing the MoU with SVYRI, Prof B S Murty, Director, IITH, said, “Robust, empirically quantifiable research in the frontier areas of Heritage assets will create strong commercial interest in Indic resources such as Ayurveda, Yoga etc. It is important to perform research of the highest quality and publish in well-regarded fora, and IITH will strive to create a benchmark in the area of Heritage Research.” 

Dr Mohan Raghavan, Head of Department, HST at IITH, said, “The Heritage Science and Technology department is one of a kind in the country and looks at heritage as an asset. From Yoga to Ayurveda, tourism, language, music, sports and archaeological sites are all extremely valuable and hold the key to building people’s livelihoods. It is very important to unlock the value of heritage assets through robust science and technology efforts, and we believe the launch of the MRD-Heritage Research fellowship is going to be a key enabler by attracting top talent to work on topics related to S&T in the area of heritage and take it to the next level.”

Applications are open year-round but will be processed 2 times a year.