Last week, the Greenko School of Sustainability at IIT Hyderabad invited applications for fully-funded PhD fellowships in Sustainable Engineering for the year 2024.
With this, IIT Hyderabad has become the first IIT to have a fully-functional school of sustainability that offers a range of programmes – from MTech to PhD.
“Sustainability is the new IT,” Rambabu Paravastu, chief sustainability officer, Greenko Group, told FE. “The aim is to develop academics who can tackle sustainability issues effectively, addressing water, waste, environment, sustainable energy, mobility, built environment, and climate change mitigation.”
The experience gained at the Greenko School is now being replicated at other IITs and engineering colleges, and later at polytechnics and schools.
IIT Madras
Recently, IIT Madras opened its School of Sustainability that will teach interdisciplinary courses on sustainability, and synergise research to tackle grand challenges. Conceptualised as a Centre of Excellence, it will bring together faculty members from across departments and research centres of IIT Madras.
Prof V Kamakoti, director, IIT Madras, said that apart from the minor course in sustainability for all students at IIT Madras, the School plans to launch an Integrated Dual Degree Program (IDDD) on Sustainability in 3-5 yeas. “This will also be offered to all students at IIT Madras, but unlike the minor, this will be a full-fledged Master’s degree, including a thesis project,” he said.
In the long term, the School of Sustainability at IIT Madras will develop professionals who can lead the world in building resilient and sustainable infrastructure for industries and communities, and act as a platform to catalyse the change to a low-carbon world by supporting the translation of research and knowledge to products and services.
IIT Kanpur
The Kotak School of Sustainability at IIT Kanpur, which was inaugurated in December 2023, is India’s first fully integrated school of sustainability that will run undergraduate and postgraduate programmes on skill building in different areas of sustainability. Current programmes on offer are a PGP in Sustainable Energy Engineering, e-Master’s in Renewable Energy and E-Mobility, and short-term and QIP (quality improvement programmes) in various areas.
Other IITs
Although other IITs don’t have dedicated schools of sustainability, they have started offering courses on sustainability. IIT Bombay, for instance, is setting up a Green Energy & Sustainability Research Hub – it recently got a donation of $18.6 million from a US-based alumnus. IIT Delhi is focusing on energy transition and sustainability at its Abu Dhabi campus – thanks to the UAE’s push towards sustainability and climate change goals. “Our new MTech programme will empower graduates with a thorough understanding of advanced technology and progressive policy frameworks to address the intricate challenges of energy transition,” the institute said.
IIT Kharagpur has set up the School of Environmental Science and Engineering (SESE) to provide a comprehensive understanding of our environment, and economical and effective engineering solutions to environmental problems.
Sustainability jobs
An education analyst told FE that there is a rising demand for graduates who have some kind of green skills. “Between February 2022 and February 2023, LinkedIn job postings requiring at least one green skill have grown by a median of 15.2%,” he said. “Also, around the world, only one in eight workers has one or more green skills – we are far from the green skills penetration that we need. As companies reorient their business models, the need for employees with both specialist sustainability knowledge and an understanding of business fundamentals will rise. IITs know that there is a pressing need to have a skilled workforce with knowledge of SDG policies, and that’s why they have increased focus on sustainability courses.”