N. Rama Rao Chair

Late Mr. Nagavara Rama Rao was born in 1913. He completed his B. Sc. in 1931 and his B. T. in 1932. He joined the Mysore Educational Service and served as a teacher in Physics and Mathematics, and went on to become the Deputy Director of Education at the time of retirement in 1968. Throughout his career, he won several awards for his teaching. He encouraged intellectual curiosity in all his students and emphasized the application of theory for solving practical problems around us. Inspite of his meagre income and a large family, he supported the education of several deserving children.
 
 

The N. Rama Rao Chair was set up in the year 1998 in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering by a generous corpus of over Rs 65 Lakhs, set by one of the distinguished alumnus of IIT Kanpur (who wishes that his name be used sparingly) in the memory of his father Mr. N. Rama Rao.

 The basic objective of the chair is to encourage research and development work in all areas of Computer Science. There are three modes of operation that the Chair allow:

    • In mode 1, occupancy by a Full Professor in Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Kanpur for 5 years, extensible to 10 years.

    • In mode 2, occupancy for 1 year or 1 semester for eminent researchers from around the world, of any nationality.

    • In mode 3, short term occupancy (upto a few weeks) by top- class computer science researchers from around the world of any nationality.

Besides, the chair also supports a Distinguished Lecture Series

A complete list of occupants of this chair is available here.

The Department of Computer Science and Engineering encourages any reputed computer scientist who is interested in associating with the Department in any of the three modes to contact the Head of the Department. For any other information also, contact the Head ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ).

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Any well reputed Computer Science researcher from any part of the world can apply. The occupant of the Chair will also hold a regular Professor position in Computer Science and Engineering Department at IIT Kanpur. This mode is likely to be of interest primarily to researchers of Indian Origin.

The salary for the occupant will be that of a senior Full Professor, which is around Rs 30,000 per month. In addition, the Institute will provide a bunglow- style, 3-bedroom house on campus. Travel cost will also be reimbursed. From the Chair endowment, the occupant will get every year a grant of about Rs 3.75 lakhs, which can be used for travel, equipment, hiring staff, etc. It may be pointed out that for graduate students, the Institute provides full scholarship from its own funds (and the grant does not have to support them).

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Any well reputed computer scientist from any part of the world, of any nationality, can apply. This mode is best for faculty and researchers who wish to spend their Sabbaticals and Leave in India.

In this mode, the occupant will be given a salary or honorarium consistent with his/her experience (likely to be between Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 30,000 per month.) In addition, the occupant will have from the endowment a grant of about Rs. 3.75 lakhs for one year. This can be used to cover the travel expenses of the occupant (both domestic and international travel), and other contingency expenses. The Department will provide accommodation on Campus, which can also be furnished.

It is expected that during the stay, the occupant will offer one course every semester, and strengthen the research program in the Department in his/her area. B.Tech. projects and M.Tech. thesis may also be guided.

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Any well reputed computer scientist from any part of the world, of any nationality, can apply. This is the most unstructured mode, and anything is workable in it. The visit duration should be such that both the Department and the occupant can derive suitable benefits.

In this mode, the occupant will be given a honorarium of about Rs. 1,000 per day. In addition, the occupant's travel expenses, and other contingency expenses, can be covered by the Chair endowment. The occupant will also be provided accommodation in the Guest House of IITK campus (which is furnished and also has dining facilities).

It is expected that during the stay, the occupant will give some seminars, offer some workshop, collaborate with faculty members in suitable courses, and provide inputs to strengthen the research program in the Department in his/her area.

 
 
 

N Rama Rao Distinguished Lectures Series

N. Rama Rao Chair supports a Distinguished Lectures Series in Computer Science and Engineering Department at IIT Kanpur by eminent Computer Scientists from all over the world.

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  • Prof. Satish Tripathi (Mar 30, 1999)
    Dean, Bourns College of Engineering, Univ of California, Riverside
    Quality of Service Routing: Research Directions

  • Prof. P. S. Thiagarajan (Mar 25, 1999)
    SPIC Mathematical Institute, Chennai
    Timed Automate: Basic theory and some new subclasses

  • Prof. Huzur Saran (Mar 10, 1999)
    Computer Science and Engineering Department, IIT Delhi
    Effect of Buffer Policies for Fairness in TCP Flows

  • Prof. S. Sudarshan (Feb 25, 1999)
    Computer Science and Engineering Department, IIT Mumbai
    Multi-Query Optimization

  • Prof. R. K. Shyamsundar (Feb 18, 1999)
    School of Technology and Computer Science, TIFR, Mumbai
    Reactive Programming Paradigms and Hardware Modelling

  • Dr. Mathai Joseph (Feb 11, 1999)
    Tata Consultancy Services, Pune
    Timing and Fault-Tolerance in Real-time Systems

  • Prof. Arvind (Jan 07, 1999)
    MIT and N. Rama Rao Professor in Computer Science, IIT Kanpur
    Start Voyager: A Scalable Commodity Supercomputer

    
 
 

All occupants of N Rama Rao Chair

  1. Prof. Manindra Agrawal (Jan 2003 onwards)
    Computer Science Department
    Indian Institute of Technology
    Kanpur, India

  2. Prof. Vijay Garg (July - December, 2002)
    ECE Department
    University of Texas
    Austin, TX, USA
    Research Activities During the Stay

  3. Prof. Jean-Claude Latombe (Aug, 2001)
    Computer Science Department
    Stanford University
    CA, USA

  4. Prof. Fredric Cazals (Feb-Mar, 2001)
    INRIA Sophia-Antipolis
    France
    Activities during his visit

  5. Prof. Keshav Pingali (Jan, 2001)
    Computer Science Department
    Cornell University
    Ithaca, NY

  6. Prof. Arvind (Jan, 1999, and Aug, 1999)
    Laboratory for Computer Science
    MIT
    USA
    Activities during his tenure
    Letter from him to the Donor