IIITH researchers explore AI sustainability, ecosystem stability, and privacy protection with ANRF grants
Hyderabad: Three professors from the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIITH) have been awarded research grants by the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) to support their pioneering research initiatives.
Prof. Chittaranjan Hens from the Centre for Computational Natural Sciences and Bioinformatics, Prof. Karthik Vaidyanathan from the Software Engineering Research Centre, and Prof. Gowtham Kurri from the Signal Processing and Communications Research Centre are the recipients of the Prime Minister’s Early Career Research Grant, which aims to support young researchers at the start of their careers with flexible funding and resources to aid their research.
The grants, valued at up to 60 lakhs plus overheads over three years, provide young researchers with flexibility in resource allocation, manpower recruitment, travel, contingency expenses, and support for open access publications and patent filings.
Prof. Chittaranjan Hens: Studying Network Stability
Prof. Chittaranjan Hens, a network scientist and statistical physicist, is focusing on the stability of networked systems. His project, titled “Stability of networked systems: from ecology to the brain,” will explore how diverse species and particles interact in large systems. His research aims to develop mathematical models that can predict the stability of ecosystems, such as those involving predators, pollinators, and plants, despite their complexity. These models could also be applied to fields like healthcare, particularly in predicting the spread of communicable diseases like COVID-19, by analyzing interactions within populations. Additionally, his work may offer insights into sustaining brain activity, particularly the global coordination of neural networks.
Prof. Karthik Vaidyanathan: Sustainability in AI
Prof. Karthik Vaidyanathan is addressing the environmental impact of artificial intelligence (AI). His project, titled “Sustainable AI Systems for India” or ‘SustAInd’, aims to develop a framework for building AI systems that are not only environmentally sustainable but also technically and cost-efficient. AI’s carbon footprint, largely due to data centers, is a growing concern, and Prof. Vaidyanathan is developing guidelines to minimize this impact. His framework will also include a tool to continuously monitor and adapt AI systems’ sustainability metrics.
Prof. Vaidyanathan’s research stems from his background in software architecture and machine learning, with a focus on optimizing energy consumption in systems such as IoT devices and microservices. The project is part of a broader effort at IIITH’s Software Engineering Research Centre to explore sustainability in software systems, an area that aligns with India’s goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2070.
Prof. Gowtham Kurri: Addressing Information Leakage
Prof. Gowtham Kurri’s research centers on information security, particularly the unintended exposure of sensitive data. His project, titled “Operational Approaches to Information Leakage and Applications in Information Retrieval and Statistical Learning,” aims to develop new methods for measuring and mitigating information leakage in private information retrieval systems and privacy-preserving machine learning algorithms. He focuses on how machine learning models can inadvertently reveal private data, such as through membership inference attacks. Prof. Kurri hopes to establish a framework for privacy analysis, influencing privacy standards across various sectors and contributing to the development of privacy-preserving technologies.
Three IIITH professors have been awarded the Prime Minister’s Early Career Research Grant by the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF). Prof. Chittaranjan Hens will explore network stability in ecosystems and healthcare. Prof. Karthik Vaidyanathan focuses on sustainable… pic.twitter.com/m40KK4g5nA
— Hyderabad Mail (@Hyderabad_Mail) April 2, 2025
