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Microsoft Research India
Overview
January 2008
Microsoft Research India, formally
inaugurated Jan. 12, 2005, is Microsoft Corp.’s third basic research
facility to be established outside the United States. The India lab,
located in Bangalore, joins Microsoft’s Redmond, Wash.; Silicon Valley,
Calif.; Cambridge, England; and Beijing labs in bringing together great
minds to build a world-class global research organization with more than
800 scientists on staff. The mission of Microsoft Research India spans
several objectives: to conduct long-term research in both basic and
applied areas; collaborate with Indian research institutions and
universities as part of Microsoft’s ongoing commitment to accelerating
innovation in computer science and software engineering; and engage with
partners in industry, academia and government to open new opportunities
for economic growth and consumer choice. Microsoft Research India also
seeks to attract the most talented researchers in the field of computing
and become one of the best computer science laboratories in the world.
Microsoft Research Lab India Private Ltd.
will continue to expand its research team and operations in 2008. The
group will pursue an ambitious research agenda built around seven core
areas that are central to Microsoft’s long-term vision and strategy:
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The Algorithms Research Group was formed in December
2007. It will focus on 21st century algorithms, which seek to
address the new demands in today’s environment of computing with
massive data. Besides the traditional topics in algorithms, areas
such as streaming algorithms, directed data sampling, machine
learning, approximation algorithms, and integration of numerical and
combinatorial method are expected to play an important role in the
years to come. The goal of this new group is to be at the forefront
of conceptual breakthroughs in these areas.
- The Cryptography, Security and Applied Mathematics research
group focuses on research in the areas of cryptography, security,
applied mathematics and multimedia security. Some of the key problem
areas the group addresses include cryptanalysis, cryptographic
protocol and cryptographic primitives. The group also studies
various aspects of security related to computer systems as well as
for mobile devices.
- The Digital Geographics group does research in the
representation, analysis and visualization of digitized geographic
information. Research in this group combines work from relevant
fields of computer science, such as GIS, graphics, user interfaces,
spatial databases, image processing and computer vision.
- The Mobility, Networks and Systems group conducts research in
networking and systems across areas such as Internet-scale systems,
distributed systems, network protocols, wireless networking, mobile
computing and sensor systems. It seeks to advance the state of the
art in these areas through measurement, design and prototyping of
real-world and experimental networked systems.
- The Multilingual Systems group focuses on research that develops
true natural-language-neutral approaches in all aspects of
linguistic computing and on fostering and participating in a healthy
research ecosystem in Indian languages computational linguistics.
- The Rigorous Software Engineering group studies software
engineering issues in developing large scale software systems to
come up with new tools, languages and methodologies that
dramatically increase the productivity of software development. The
group focuses on code understanding, configuration tools and design
tools.
- The Technology for Emerging Markets group combines technical and
social science research to address the needs of the people of
emerging economies. This group seeks to address both those who are
increasingly consuming more technology services and products, as
well as those for whom computing technology remains out of reach.
TechVista
TechVista, Microsoft Research India’s flagship symposium, brings
together the best minds from the scientific and academic worlds.
TechVista features some of the people whose work has defined new
directions in computing, and provides an opportunity for the research
community, government and students to interact and exchange ideas on
research and its future directions. The symposium has already featured
some world-renowned scientists and academicians, including Turing award
winners.
Microsoft Research External Research and Programs in India
Through External Research and Programs in India, which Microsoft
initiated in 1991, Microsoft Research India is committed to partnering
with academics in the region to advance the state of the art in computer
science education and research. A number of programs are already
underway to support basic research of local academia and foster
alliances with universities in India and the international academic
community. Programs include the following:
- MSR India Summer Schools provide participants with intense
and in-depth exposure to the latest developments in specific areas of
computer science research. Held yearly, the summer schools consist of
workshops and lectures conducted by leading global experts in the field.
Participants in the summer schools are usually a mix of students,
faculty, government and industry representatives.
- Microsoft Research India Internship Program gives
undergraduate and graduate students from India and abroad the
opportunity to work alongside renowned researchers at Microsoft Research
India.
- The MSR India Ph.D. Fellowship Program
provides funding to support students who are pursuing doctorates in a technology-related
field at one of India’s science and technology institutes. The
fellowships are administered and dispersed by each university over a
four-year period. In addition, recipients of the fellowships receive a travel
grant to attend international conferences and seminars, as well as a
laptop computer.
Microsoft Research India Leadership Team
Microsoft Research India’s managing
director, P. Anandan, is internationally renowned for his research in
computer vision and video analysis. Now in his 10th year with Microsoft,
Anandan previously held the position of senior researcher at Microsoft
Research in Redmond and has served as an ambassador for External Research
and Programs in India for several years. His assistant managing director is
Kentaro Toyama, a widely respected researcher in computer vision, multimedia
and geographic information systems. Toyama, who joined Microsoft Research in
1997, also leads the Emerging Markets Group within Microsoft Research India.
For more information, press only:
Sridhar Vedantham, Microsoft, +91 (80) 6658-6000, sriv@microsoft.com
For more information about Microsoft Research:
http://www.research.microsoft.com
For more information about Microsoft Research India:
http://www.research.microsoft.com/india
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