Chennai Mathematical Institute

Chennai Mathematical Institute
Established	1988
Type	Research and education institution
Director	Rajeeva Karandikar[1]
Location	Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Campus	Suburban, 5.4 acre
Website	www.cmi.ac.in

Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI) is a research and education institute in Chennai, India. It was founded by the SPIC Science Foundation in 1989, and offers undergraduate as well as postgraduate programmes in physics, mathematics and computer science, besides its key strength in the form of high-end research in mathematics.^[2] CMI is noted for its research in the field of algebraic geometry, in particular in the area of moduli bundles.^[3]

CMI was earlier located in T. Nagar in the heart of Chennai in an office complex. It moved to a new 5-acre (20,000 m²) campus in Siruseri in October 2005.^[4]

In December 2006, CMI was recognized as a university under Section 3 of the UGC Act 1956, making it a deemed university.^[2] Until then, the teaching program was offered in association with Bhoj Open University, as it offered more flexibility.

History

CMI main building

CMI academic block

CMI began as the School of Mathematics, SPIC Science Foundation, in 1989. The SPIC Science Foundation was set up in 1986 by Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation Ltd (SPIC), one of the major industrial houses in India, to foster the growth of science and technology in the country.

In 1996, the School of Mathematics became an independent institution and changed its name to SPIC Mathematical Institute. In 1998, in order to better reflect the emerging role of the institute, it was renamed the Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI).

From its inception, the institute has had a Ph.D programme in Mathematics and Computer Science. In the initial years, the Ph.D programme was affiliated to the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani and the University of Madras. In December 2006, CMI was recognized as a university under Section 3 of the UGC Act 1956.^[5]

In 1998, CMI took the initiative to bridge the gap between teaching and research by starting B.Sc. and M.Sc. programmes in mathematics and allied subjects.^[6] In 2001, the BSc programme was extended to incorporate two courses with research components, leading to an M.Sc degree in Mathematics, and an M.Sc degree in Computer Science. In 2003, a new undergraduate course was added, leading to a B.Sc degree in Physics.

In 2010, CMI launched a summer fellowship programme whereby they invited about 30 students from all over India to work under a faculty at CMI on a research project.

Campus

CMI lecture halls

CMI moved into its new campus on 5 acres (20,000 m²) of land at the SIPCOT Information Technology Park in Siruseri in October, 2005. The campus is located along the Old Mahabalipuram Road, which is developing as the IT corridor to the south of the city. The campus was designed by architect K.S. Ranganath.^[4]

The library block and the student's hostel were completed in late 2006 and become operational from January 2007.

In 2006, CMI implemented grey water recycling system on its campus. The system was designed for CMI by Sultan Ahmed Ismail to treat waste water produced after cleaning, washing and bathing to be used for gardening or ground water recharge.^[7]

Educational programmes

Computer lab

Library

Course

CMI has Ph.D programmes in Computer Sciences, Mathematics and Physics. Recently, CMI has introduced the possibility of students pursuing a part-time PhD at the Institute.^[8]

Since 1998, CMI has offered a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in Mathematics and Computer Science. This three-year program also includes courses in humanities and physics.^[9] Many students, after completion of the B.Sc. degree, have pursued higher studies in Mathematics and Computer Sciences from universities both in India and abroad. Some students also go into industry while others take up subjects such as finance.^[10]

In 2003, CMI offered a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in Physics. This is also a three-year course. The course topics are largely in theoretical physics. CMI now has its own physics laboratory. From the academic year 2007-2008, the Physics students will have regular lab courses right from the first year.^[11] In the academic year 2005-2006, lab sessions for third-year students were conducted at IIT Madras based on an agreement.^{[citation needed]} In the summer following their first year, physics students go to HBCSE (under TIFR) in Mumbai for practical sessions and in the second year, they go to IGCAR, Kalpakkam.^[12]

In 2001, CMI began separate M.Sc. degrees in Mathematics and in Computer Science.

Degrees for the B.Sc. and M.Sc. programmes were earlier offered by MPBOU, the Madhya Pradesh Bhoj Open University and doctoral degrees were offered by Madras University. Now that CMI is a deemed university, it gives its own degrees. CMI awarded its first official degrees in August 2007.

The batch sizes typically vary from five to fifteen and the overall strength of CMI is about 60–70 students and 30–40 faculty members.^{[citation needed]}

All the CMI programmes are run in conjunction and coordination with programmes at IMSc, an institute for research in mathematics, theoretical computer science and theoretical physics, located in Chennai.

Admission criteria

Hostel

The entrance to each of these courses is based on a nation-wide entrance test. The advertisement for this entrance test appears around the end of February or the beginning of March. The entrance test is held in the end of May and is usually scheduled so as not to clash with major entrance examinations. Results are given to students by the end of June.^[13]

Students who have passed the Indian National Mathematics Olympiad get direct admission for the B.Sc. (Hons) in Mathematics course, and those who have passed the Indian National Physics Olympiad are offered direct entry to the B.Sc. (Hons) in Physics Course. However, these students are also advised to fill in and send the application form some time in March.^[14]

Students who pass the Indian National Olympiad in Informatics may be granted admission to the B.Sc. (Hons) Mathematics course. Admission is not guaranteed but is decided on a case-by-case basis by the admissions committee.^{[citation needed]}

Fee structure and other payments

All students, including undergraduate students, are given a stipend to meet their monthly expenses. The tuition fees are waived. Students have to maintain a good academic record for the continuation of their stipend and fee waiver. All students are required to pay hostel and mess fees.

Faculty and research

Main building

The director

The founding director of CMI C.S.Seshadri, who has worked in the area of algebraic geometry especially moduli problems and algebraic groups, stepped down from his Directorship of the Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI) on Friday, the 31st December 2010. However, he will continue to be a part of CMI as "Director-Emeritus" from 1 January 2011 onwards.

Prof. Rajeeva L. Karandikar assumed charge of the Directorship of CMI beginning 1 January 2011.

Research interests

In mathematics, the main areas of research activity have been in algebraic geometry, representation theory, operator theory, commutative algebra, harmonic analysis, control theory and game theory. Research work includes stratification of binary forms in representation theory, the Donaldson-Uhlenbeck compactification in algebraic geometry, stochastic games, inductive algebras of harmonic analysis, etc.^[15]

The research activity in computer science at CMI has been primarily in computational complexity theory, specification and verification of timed and distributed systems and analysis of security protocols.^[15] Computer scientist at CMI extended the deterministic isolation technique for reachability in planar graphs to obtain better complexity upper bounds for planar bipartite matching.

In theoretical physics, research is being carried out mainly in string theory, quantum field theory and mathematical physics.^[16] In mathematical physics, research included developing a path integral approach to quantum entanglement. CMI string theorists study problems such as Big-bang like cosmological singularities, embeddings of BKL cosmology, dyons in super-Yang-Mills theories etc.^[15]

Academic block

Other activities

CMI faculty coordinate the training and selection of students to represent India at the International Olympiad in Informatics through the Indian Association for Research in Computer Science (IARCS). CMI hosts the official IARCS website. From September 2004, a monthly online programming competition has been conducted by the CMI faculty via the IARCS website.^[15] Two of CMI's faculty members, Madhavan Mukund and Narayan Kumar, lead the Indian team to the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI). Madhavan Mukund is also the National Coordinator for the Indian Computing Olympiad^{[citation needed]}.

Student activities

Typical room in the hostel

Hostel

The on-campus hostel was opened in January 2007. All students are required to stay in the hostel.^[17]

Fiesta

The undergraduate students of CMI organise an annual inter-collegiate student festival Fiesta, supported by corporate and IT companies. Fiesta enjoys participation from students of several Chennai-based colleges including IIT Madras, SRM University, Sathyabama University. Fiesta comprises academic and non-academic events.^[18]

Arrangements with other institutes

• Till 2006, students received their B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from MPBOU and their Ph.D. degrees from Madras University.

• CMI conducts its academic programmes in conjunction with IMSc, so students from either institute can take courses at the other.

• CMI has agreements with TIFR (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research) and with the Indian Statistical Institutes in Delhi, Bangalore, and Kolkata, for cooperation on the furtherance of mathematical sciences^{[citation needed]}.

• The physics programmes are run in conjunction with IMSc and IGCAR. The physics students spend one summer in HBCSE (under TIFR) in Mumbai and another in IGCAR, Kalpakkam, garnering practical experience.

• CMI has a Memorandum of Understanding with the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. Under this memorandum, research scholars from the ENS spend a semester in CMI. In exchange, three B.Sc. Mathematics students, at the end of their third year, go to the ENS for two months.^[12]

• The institute has a similar arrangement with Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, whereby top-ranking senior B.Sc. Physics students spend the summer in Paris working with the faculty at Ecole Polytechnique.^[12]

• CMI has a Memorandum of Understanding with IFMR, the Institute of Financial Management and Research, located in Nungambakkam, Chennai. Students from CMI getting a CGPA of more than 8.50 are offered direct admission to IFMR's one year programme in Financial Mathematics, which is sponsored by ICICI Bank. Faculty from CMI are involved in teaching this programme. In exchange, CMI gets its economics professor from IFMR.^{[citation needed]}

• CMI has had two sponsored research projects with Honeywell Technology Solutions, Bangalore, both in the area of formal verification.^{[citation needed]}

Funding

CMI's funding comes from both private and government sources.

Government funding

• DAE: CMI receives support for its teaching programme from the Department of Atomic Energy, through the National Board of Higher Mathematics.^[12]
• ISRO: The Indian Space Research Organization also funds CMI substantially.
• DST and DRDO: For some of its projects, CMI receives funding from the Department of Science and Technology as well as the Defence Research and Development Organization.

Private funding

• The Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation (SPIC) was an important founder of CMI during its initial years. In fact, CMI started as the Spic Mathematical Institute.
• Sriram Group of Companies is an important funder and also arranges for other funding for CMI.
• Matrix Laboratories has made a major contribution to the new campus.^[12]

Notes

References

• A tribute to C.S. Seshadri: a collection of articles on geometry and representation theory. Birkhäuser. 2003. ISBN 9783764304447. http://books.google.com/?id=sjGmWWicE10C. 

See also

• CMI homepage
• News story: CMI gets its own campus
• Cover story for India Today: "From preaching to practice"
• CMI in SIPCOT IT Park map

Coordinates: 12°49′42.34″N 80°13′12.33″E / 12.8284278°N 80.2200917°E / 12.8284278; 80.2200917