The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) has announced an endowment of Rs 110 crore by Sunil Wadhwani towards setting up the Wadhwani School of Data Science and AI.

A distinguished alumnus of IIT-M and the Co-founder of IGATE and Mastech Digital, Wadhwani’s gift is one of the largest gifts given by an alumnus to create a School at an educational institution in India.

The MoU was signed between Sunil Wadhwani and Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT-M, in the presence of faculty, students, alumni, and researchers. 

With a vision to be among the top artificial intelligence (AI) focused schools worldwide, Wadhwani School of Data Science and AI also aims to advise the government and policymakers on Data Science and AI-related policy areas.

Wadhwani School of Data Science and AI will offer courses such as BTech programme in AI and Data Analytics; MTech programme in Data Science and AI; MS & PhD Programmes in Data Science and AI; Joint MSc in Data Science and AI with the University of Birmingham, UK; International Interdisciplinary Masters Programme in Data Science; Interdisciplinary Dual Degree in Data Science; Web-enabled MTech in Industrial AI.

Admissions will commence in July 2024. The school will also run a Joint MSc in Data Science and AI with the University of Birmingham, UK, admitting 30 students and an International Interdisciplinary Masters Programme.

The Applied Research Areas of this School will be Healthcare, Agriculture, Smart cities and transportation, Financial analytics, Manufacturing, Energy and Environment, Defence, Education, Systems Biology.