The portal was launched  at Microsoft’s flagship research symposium, TechVista here today.

A key component of Research Connector will be the live projects that students can work on. These projects will typically be provided by faculty of participating institutions, and also evaluated by them. Additionally, the portal will also feature forums for research discussions amongst researchers, scientists, faculty and students, as well as updates on the state-of-the-art in computer science, pointers to important research papers, and other resources students can leverage to embark on a career in research

“India’s raw talent and potential in engineering and Computer Science has never been in question, but the number of PhD graduates in CS is very small compared to the number students graduating with bachelors and masters degrees in these fields. Research Connector seeks to address this gap by providing access to the faculty, resources and experience that can spark the awareness and intent to take up higher education,” said P. Anandan, Managing Director, Microsoft Research India.

Founded in 1991, Microsoft Research is dedicated to conducting both basic and applied research in computer science and software engineering. Over 850 Ph.D. researchers focus on more than 55 areas of computing and openly collaborate with leading academic, government, and industry researchers to advance the state of the art of computing, help fuel the long-term growth of Microsoft and its products, and solve some of the world’s toughest problems through technological innovation. 
Microsoft Research operates in Redmond, Wash.; Cambridge, Mass.; New York City; Mountain View, Calif.; Cambridge, U.K.; Beijing; and Bangalore, India; and conducts research at the Advanced Technology Labs Cairo; Advanced Technology Labs Europe in Aachen, Germany; Advanced Technology Labs Israel; FUSE Labs in Redmond and Cambridge, U.K.; the eXtreme Computing Group in Redmond; and Station Q in Santa Barbara, Calif.