IMA (IoMA, Institute of Mathematics) now ISI.

The mathematical research and education organization in Bhubaneshwar known as IoMA or IMA (Institute of Mathematics and Application) is going to be recast into a new institute. This will become the ISI, Bhubaneshwar. The ISI is an internationally famed organization in India which stands for Indian Statistics Institute (or close Statistical) !!   The latter is very well funded, as  a news paper report says to the tune of 1.5 billion  INR which is shared by 5 branches of the organization. Currently IoMA is funded to the tune of 15 million INR which is therefore 1% of the total funding received by the 5 branches together. That means IMA is a kid which gets 5-6 % of the herlicks/bournovita/shaktiman-capsules compared to any one of those ISI kids. You eat 100 calorie a day then the IMA kid eats 5 calorie. Its under nourished you think? Lets give the kid a chance. He/She is now asked to eat with them. perhaps that will solve the undernourishment.

I wish, for different reasons IOP is taken over by TIFR or IISc so that some deep efficiency issues are fixed.

I had visited the IMA in the scorching summer of 2010, that is exactly 3 years ago. I had a colloquium attended by a small number of people as entails IMA. The then director Professor Swadhin Pattnaik who is a CUNY mathematician long settled in the Odisha Mathematical Sudhira-Mandala {Sir Jehan Al Monde, Hira shudha Mangala} of Odisha. He is a fabulous person although very oldish by the time I got to know him and already retired now. He was immensely interested to have me join IMA as a visiting scientist for a year at a proposed salary of 100K INR per month. I had by then quit my last Assistant Professor position in the private 4-year college by my homestead. I kept visiting the Institute for a few weeks interacting with the glorious students of the organization who kept asking me Physics, particle Physics. I had proposed to work on a monte carlo statistical method very important from particle physics view but also with fundamental mathematical significance. This was to work on a paper from CLEO.

The Governing Body of the IMA had permitted Sir to take any position as befitting, but seems somebody from the Physics Sudhira Mandala might have advised against it (or was it from Mathematics Sudhira mandala, I don’t know) . All I gathered is “explanations might be sought” meaning “why a physicist among mathematician, what a sin”. How about Physicists know sin?

So I lost interest in pursuing it any further. I had been positively having some positions in many other private organizations but turns out due to  some reason or other I did not join any of those 3/4 places that I had taken great strength in appearing for interviews and successfully passing them.

IMA has a nice wind-born campus in the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, about 6 kms from the famous ancient caves. In the beautiful but wild rural parts of Bhubaneswar, perfect for research organization only if highly funded and having fabulous infrastructure. I think this will now come true.