About the Centre

Background

Anna University - K. B. Chandrasekhar (AU-KBC) Research Centre, set up in 1999 with the generous support of its alumnus Dr. K.B Chandrasekhar, functioning from the M.I.T (Madras Institute of Technology) Campus, is a unique endeavour in Public Private Partnership (PPP) in Indian R & D, with two broad goals viz., a) Extending the frontiers of Scientific Knowledge through high quality research and b) Generating and Deploying Technologies and Products of economic and social value.

As a part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the M I T Campus of Anna University, Dr. K. B. Chandrasekhar, alumnus of MIT, a global entrepreneur and investor based in the USA, established the AU-KBC Research Centre through a Memorandum Of Understanding between the Anna University Chennai and the K B C Research Foundation Pvt. Ltd., Chennai.

The Research programs of the Centre combine the Academic with the Industrial, the Theoretical with the Experimental, the Long-term with the Short-term in the areas of Information Sciences and Life Sciences.

The Centre represents a pioneering effort in Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) in Research in India. It also works with a unique perspective on how a university-based research laboratory can become financially self- supporting through a judicious use of its expertise, skills and resources. The achievements that the centre has realized working with such a paradigm is making it an attractive model for broad-basing India’s research efforts in a scalable and sustainable manner.

Vision of AU-KBC Research Centre

Our vision is to be a world class research centre fostering applied and interdisciplinary research and development in new and emerging areas in Information Sciences and Life Sciences that have relevance to the society and industry and to be self – sustainable.

Mission of AU-KBC Research Centre

• Develop cutting edge science and technology with focus on industrial application
• Make an impact on society through socially relevant research
• Make significant breakthrough in scientific research through collaborative work with national and international institutions of repute.
• Disseminate knowledge and skills through trained researchers across the globe
• Bring self-sustainability to the centre.

Structure and Governance of the Centre

The AU-KBC Research Centre is governed by a Governing Council (GC) with the Vice-Chancellor, Anna University, as the Chairman and the Chairman/President of KBCRF Pvt. Ltd. as its Co-Chairman. In addition to officers representing the University Administration, the GC also has as its members eminent persons drawn from the fields of Academia, Research, Business and Industry.

Chairman: Prof. R Velraj (2021- present)
Co-Chairman: Dr. K. B. Chandrasekhar (1999- Present)

The administration and management of the Centre is carried out by a Program Implementation Committee (PIC) appointed by the GC with the Convener as the Centre Director and the Co-Convener as the Program Director. The Registrar Anna University is the Chairman of the PIC.

Centre Director: Dr. Jayashree. P (2023- present)
Program Director: Dr. Sobha. L (2018-present)

The Program Director is responsible for the Scientific and financial sustenance, development and growth of the Centre and all administrative and financial activities related to the functioning of the Centre.

The Centre Director is responsible to the University to ensure compliance of the university norms and regulations wherever relevant in the administrative and financial matters of the Centre.

The Centre has its own full-fledged administrative office, and operates with financial and administrative autonomy within the overall structure of Anna University.

Core Facilities and Infrastructure at the Centre

The Centre has an independent built-up space of about 15000 sq. ft. area, consisting of air-conditioned labs, conference rooms, class rooms, etc. Stabilised power with full UPS and Diesel Generator backup, a high-end 120-node networked computing environment with a broad band leased line Internet access, Communication facilities, a pantry, etc. are available on a 24x7 basis.

The Centre has the following major laboratories open round-the-clock: Computational Linguistics Lab, Language Technology Lab, Lexical Resources Lab focusing on Discourse Analysis, Conversational AI and Knowledge Discovery techniques , a Free/Open Source Software Lab, Electrophysiology Lab and a Zebra Fish research lab.

Additionally, scientists and students at the Centre can get access to the other laboratories and facilities of the University on the basis of collaborative programs with the concerned departments.

The Centre also has access to the common infrastructure of Anna University in both the MIT and the Main campuses, such as the libraries, seminar halls, guesthouses, cafeteria, auditoria, etc., following the university norms.