IIT Kanpur sanctions students entrepreneurship policy

KANPUR: Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur announced on Thursday that its academic senate has approved a comprehensive students entrepreneurship policy. The policy introduces the path-breaking concept of "innovation and entrepreneurship credit", which will enable students to pursue their innovative and entrepreneurial aspirations as part of their academic journey, a press release issued by IIT-K said.

The policy allows third-year undergraduate students and postgraduate students to gain academic credit while pursuing entrepreneurial activities after the completion of the minimum course work. They can also avail semester leave to pursue their ideas by using facilities both inside and outside the campus. It empowers all the stakeholders with a clear goal of promoting entrepreneurial spirit and yet not diluting the academic standards and pedagogical goals. The policy provides tremendous impetus to the vibrant entrepreneurship eco-system that already exists at the institute, the release said.

IIT-K Director Abhay Karandikar said, "The challenges of modern industry require students to evolve from passive learners to creators and innovators. "This requires universities to be venues where entrepreneurship is fostered in young people, a place where creative ideas spark that can lead to innovations of the future, contributing to realising India's real innovation and entrepreneurship potential."

Many of the recommendations of the National Innovation and Start-up Policy for Students and Faculty 2019 are already in place and actively operating at IIT-K, Karandikar said. "The institute also has a faculty entrepreneurship policy under which the faculty members can start a company while continuing as regular employees of the institute," he said. A robust students' entrepreneurship policy will allow the students to keep pace with the demands of a rapidly developing world, Karandikar said, adding, "We are one of the first centrally-funded technical institutes to frame such a comprehensive policy."

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