IIT Kanpur is organizing a two-week Leadership for Academicians Program (LEAP-2020) at Hotel Leela Palace, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, which will be followed by a week-long training program at Oxford University, UK for 30 potential future Academic administrators. This training program includes lectures, experiential learnings, group discussions, special evening talks and problem-solving sessions by top academicians, entrepreneurs and bureaucrats. In addition, there will be a workshops for experiential learning and business etiquettes.

This program is aimed to impart required leadership skills to the participants for pursuit of excellence in academics and research, faculty and student management, team building, infrastructure development, new educational pedagogy, institution building, financial planning, innovation and incubation, addressing gender related/ diversity issues, understanding the governance structure, alumni and international relationships, general administration and handling interpersonal relationship.

There are 30 participants from all over the country. The program was inaugurated by Dr. Radha Krishna Mathur Hon. Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh on 18th February. The next day, the first formal lecture was given by Dr. Abhay Karandikar, Director, IIT Kanpur on Managing IP in Academic Institutions, where he stressed upon the conversion of knowledge generated by the institute to wealth. Prof. Karandikar then discussed very successful examples of TSDSI, who he founded. The story of the ventilator project developed by IITK incubate company was discussed at length by Prof. Abhay Karabdikar, Director, IIT Kanpur. The other talks on the second day included Dr. G Satheesh Reddy, Chairman, DRDO and Dr V K Saraswat, Member (NITI Ayog). In the evening, the program attendees were addressed by Sh. Ajay Bhadoo, Joint Secretary to the President and Lt. Gen Gurmeet Singh, Former Deputy Chief of Army Staff.

The program will have variety of lectures during the two weeks duration and will be over on 4th March. The program is being coordinated by Prof. Avinash Agarwal of Mechanical Engineering IIT Kanpur.