MoES and AcSIR Join Forces for Advanced Earth Science PhDs

The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) have announced a strategic partnership to advance doctoral research across earth system sciences. Following a Memorandum of Understanding executed on August 21, 2026, all ten premier research institutes under MoES have been designated as AcSIR Associated Research Institutes (AcSIR-ARIs). The official declaration and document exchange were conducted at Prithvi Bhawan in the presence of MoES Secretary Dr. Srinivasa Kumar Tummala and senior leadership from both organizations.

This collaboration integrates MoES’s high-end laboratory infrastructure and scientific expertise with AcSIR’s flexible academic framework to offer specialized PhD programs. Selected scholars will pursue research at MoES facilities under the mentorship of MoES scientists recognized as AcSIR faculty. Upon completion, AcSIR will confer the doctoral degree, explicitly citing the specific host institute on the certificate. All ten institutes are already participating in the current admission cycle, supported by dedicated nodal coordinators at each site and a central coordinator at MoES headquarters.

The joint initiative spans diverse research domains, including numerical weather prediction, ocean robotics, deep-sea mining, polar research, seismology, and AI/ML applications in earth sciences. Under the agreed framework, intellectual property rights resulting from doctoral research will credit the scholar as the inventor, with institutional IP being shared mutually. Emphasizing the significance of the partnership, Dr. Tummala highlighted that establishing this unified ecosystem for advanced scientific research will build long-term capacity and benefit researchers, students, and the broader earth science community.