IIFR launched in Delhi to tackle faculty shortage, bring global academics under NEP 2020 push

With India's push to build global leadership talent hitting a shortage of world-class faculty, a new institute plans to bring Ivy League academics and global research partnerships to a campus in the national capital. The International Institute for Faculty & Research (IIFR), led by former Indian School of Business (ISB) dean Rajendra Srivastava and set up at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan campus in New Delhi, targeting gaps in faculty development, industry linkages and applied research as India looks to deepen higher education reforms.

Speaking at the launch, former President Ram Nath Kovind underscored the central role of teachers in nation-building. "Education is the foundation of personality development ... teachers, who are the pillars of the education system, hold a place of high respect in society," he said, adding that improving faculty quality is critical to meeting the aspirations of millions of students. "India is producing global leadership talent. Who is producing the faculty to train them?" Srivastava said, adding that the institute aims to build an "army of pracademics" - professionals who combine academic rigour with industry experience.

The move comes as India rolls out sweeping higher education reforms under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasises multidisciplinary learning, research and closer industry integration. Despite the policy push, sector experts point to persistent bottlenecks including limited research output, faculty shortages and weak academia-industry collaboration. IIFR will begin its first programmes later this year, with its Educators' Certificate Programme (ECP) starting July 15 and the Executive Fellow in Management (EFM) from October 1.

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The institute plans an initial intake of about 25 participants for each programme. The ECP will run as an intensive eight-day course focused on curriculum design, case development and teaching methods, alongside training in integrating industry insights into academic frameworks and using artificial intelligence in pedagogy and research. The EFM programme, aimed at senior professionals and academics, will cover areas such as business innovation, corporate governance, geopolitics, global commercial law and the use of AI in product and market development. Srivastava said the institute is designed to be multidisciplinary, combining management, technology, law, geopolitics and public policy to address complex, real-world challenges. "The faculty India needs cannot be produced by siloed disciplines," he said.

Backed by the Bhavan's decades-long legacy and supported by collaborations with global academic bodies such as EFMD Global, the institute aims to position India as a hub for faculty development serving not just domestic demand but also emerging markets. Srivastava said faculty will be drawn from institutions across geographies, from Australia to the United States, with plans to expand offerings beyond its initial programmes to include research conclaves and centres of excellence.

In the longer term, IIFR aims to build what Srivastava calls the "educator of educators", focusing on developing academic leaders capable of shaping talent pipelines for a fast-evolving, innovation-led economy. At the launch event last week, Kovind said institutions like IIFR could play a key role in translating the ambitions of the National Education Policy 2020 into practice by focusing on faculty development, innovation in teaching and research collaboration.

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"Continuous investment in improving the quality of teachers will enable them to create and disseminate knowledge with confidence and enthusiasm," he said. He also called for stronger collaboration between academia and industry, noting that research would deliver societal benefits only when applied on the ground. Initiatives such as "Professor of Practice" can bring real-world experience into classrooms, he added. Highlighting the need for global exposure, Kovind said partnerships with leading international institutions would help raise academic standards and enable Indian students to compete globally, while also positioning India as a knowledge hub for the Global South.