At IIT-Delhi’s 54th convocation, Virologist Gagandeep Kang stresses on spirit of curiosity and diversity

Kang, who is the Director, Enterics, Diagnostics, Genomics and Epidemiology-Global Health, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USA, stressed on the spirit of curiosity, striving to generate evidence before making decisions, and “the necessity for engagement with diversity in contributions, diversity of gender, of language or culture or economic background”.

“Historically, women and different societal groups have been underrepresented in STEM fields, and this needs to change. Diversity fosters creativity and leads to more comprehensive problem-solving,” she added.

A total of 2,357 students received their degrees and diplomas on Saturday.

IIT-Delhi students rejoice at the 54th Convocation ceremony. (Photo/X/@iitdelhi)

Professor Rangan Banerjee, Director, IIT-Delhi, said, “585 women students are being awarded degrees in this convocation. This is 25% of the total – much better than in the past… We are also awarding degrees to 15 international students from Finland, Sierra Leone, Russia, Bangladesh, Rwanda, Sudan, Nepal, Bhutan and Ethiopia in the 54th convocation.”

Banerjee added: “The Institute is in the midst of a curriculum review — the curriculum review committee had discussions with student and academic units to incorporate flexibility, sustainability, and multidisciplinarity in the curriculum. The next stage is reworking the individual curriculum, and getting extensive external feedback; we hope to have the new curriculum introduced in 2024. We have been supporting national efforts for the implementation of the New Education Policy (NEP), as well.”

A total of 2,357 students received their degrees and diplomas. (Photo/X/@iitdelhi)

A communication from the Institute said that graduates of the first batch of MTech in Electric Mobility; Interdisciplinary MTech in Cyber Security; Masters in Public Policy; Master of Science in Research (MSR) in Materials Science and Engineering and Joint PhD programme with the University of Queensland, Australia, were awarded their degrees at the convocation ceremony.

In her address, Kang added: “You are stepping into the world equipped with the power of science and technology. Science has solutions to offer for many of the problems we face in society, and the privilege of receiving high-quality education and training from an esteemed institution like IIT-Delhi comes with the responsibility to use your skills for service.”