Page 3 - Institutional Distinctiveness

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“8 module” will be offered by an expert from the industry, which in turn would expose the students
to industry research. Further, to translate the research ideas of UG students, a “Creation Laboratory”
has been formulated wherein the students are entitled to have full freedom to design experiments and

have trial runs. Every year, VIT earmarks a substantial amount for funding this endeavor – each such

project is offered to the tune of Rs 1 lakh for product development; this is in addition to Rs.5 Cr
budgetary allocation as Seed Money. The Creation Laboratory has fostered creative and

innovative thinking among the students (especially at UG levels) and helped them to come out
successfully holding top (first or second) positions in whichever national/international competitions

(such as HACKATHON, CODEATHON, BUILDATHON, MAKETHON, CanSat-NASA, AIAA,
ASEE etc.) they have participated within India and abroad (including the developed countries). VIT’s

strategy of inculcation of research at UG levels is reflected at masters and PhD levels as well; the PG

and the PhD students have been instrumental in bringing laurels to the institution by winning national
and international awards.

Promotion of research at UG levels has also been reflected in the qualitative and quantitative
increase in publications. VIT has been rated as one among the top institutions (that include IITs and

IISc) in terms of its publications in Scopus indexed journals; significantly, it is worth mentioning at
this juncture that over 15% of the publications from VIT during 2018-19 have been evolved out of

UG research. The outcome of students’ involvement in research is also reflected in filing of patents;

166 patents have been published in the year 2019. The funded projects of the faculty members
(currently VIT has 72 on-going funded projects worth Rs. 20 crores) also cater to the research

interests of the UG students leading to publications in journals of international repute. It would be

worth mentioning that VIT students have been successful in getting PG admissions in top ranking
institutes such as IISc, IITs, Oxford University, Purdue University, Carnegie Melon, University of

Waterloo etc. And these achievements have been the contributory factors for the institute to be granted
IoE status of late, No.1 position among the private institutions in ARIIA 2019 award and top

positions in NIRF ranking.

As a result of VIT’s strategy, the UG students are currently involved in frontier areas of

research such as Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Cyber Physical System, Autonomous Mobility,
Wearable Technology, Smart Structures, Sustainable Cyber Safety and Security, New Materials

Technology, Developmental Economics, etc. These practices have helped the institution to groom the
students in general and UG students in particular, as excellent investigators, and more importantly,

mature and responsible world-class citizens.