Dr. Shivkumar Kalyanaraman takes charge as CEO of Anusandhan National Research Foundation

New Delhi: Dr. Shivkumar Kalyanaraman, an IIT Madras alumnus, has taken charge as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), said the Ministry of Science & Technology on Monday.

ANRF was established through the Anusandhan National Research Foundation Act, 2023 (25 of 2023) in July 2024. It aims to seed, grow, and promote research and development (R&D) and foster a culture of research and innovation throughout India's universities, colleges, research institutions, and R&D laboratories.

Kalyanaraman is the first CEO of ANRF. It was so far led by Secretary Department of Science and Technology (DST) Professor Abhay Karandikar.

“I am confident that he will steer ANRF to new heights,” said Karandikar, who was acting as CEO of ANRF, in a post on LinkedIn.

Kalyanaraman has earlier held the post of Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Energy Industry, Asia at Microsoft. He is a distinguished Alumnus Awardee of IIT Madras and Ohio State University (2021). Kalyanaraman is also a Fellow of the IEEE (2010), Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (2015), ACM Distinguished Scientist (2010), Microsoft Gold Club (2024), and Technology Review TR100 young innovator (1999).

ANRF will act as an apex body to provide high-level strategic direction of scientific research in the country as per recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP).

The apex research body will forge collaborations among the industry, academia, and government departments and research institutions, and create an interface mechanism for participation and contribution of industries and State governments in addition to the scientific and line ministries.

The provisions of the ANRF Act, 2023 came into force on February 5, 2024. For FY 2024-25, ANRF was allocated Rs. 966 crore. Several programmes were formulated for implementation by ANRF which include those for global positioning of India in key sectors; driving scientific advances and innovation ecosystem; and also, for promoting research and innovation through the private sector.

ANRF has recently launched an Electric Vehicle (EV) Mobility Programme under the Mission for Advancement in High-impact Areas (MAHA) to address priority-driven, solution-focused research in a mission mode that would catalyse multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary, and multi-investigator collaboration with close collaboration with industry.

The industry partner is mandated to provide part/partial funding in cash or kind towards the successful execution of the project. At least 10 per cent of the proposed project cost must be supported by an Industry/industries in cash.