Earth Sciences Ministry ties up with AcSIR to run doctoral research at all its ten institutes

19 October 2026

The Ministry of Earth Sciences and the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research have announced a partnership to advance doctoral research in earth system sciences. The memorandum of understanding was executed on 21 August 2026 and declared at a ceremony on 13 October 2026. All ten premier research institutes under the Ministry are now recognised as AcSIR Associated Research Institutes. PhD students selected through AcSIR will carry out research at these institutes under Ministry scientists who serve as AcSIR faculty, and the degree certificate will name the host institute. The memorandum was signed by Dr Praveen Kumar D., Scientist-G and Mission Director of Mission Mausam, for the Ministry and by Professor Manoj Kumar Dhar, Director of AcSIR. Research areas include numerical weather prediction, polar and cryosphere research, ocean observation, marine robotics, deep-sea mining, desalination, seismology and machine learning in earth sciences. Students will be credited as inventors on intellectual property arising from their work.