new delhi the department of humanities and social sciences at the indian institute of technologymadras iitmadras has launched the centre for indian knowledge systems the centre will focus on thematic areas such as mathematics and astronomy in india indian architectural engineering indian political and economic thought and indian aesthetics and grammatical traditions the centre was inaugurated by dr vinay sahasrabuddhe president of the indian council of cultural relations iccr and kumar tuhin directorgeneral of iccr key outcomes envisaged from the centreresearch output the centre aims to publish quality research related to indian knowledge systems and to disseminate the findings by hosting academic seminars and conferences the research will involve collaborations with outside scholars and institutionsteaching output the centre will initially design and offer courses related to the thematic areas to the students of iit madras subsequently these courses are planned to be offered on the nptel platform for wider disseminationpublic outreach the centre plans to host workshops to familiarise school teachers and students with various aspects of indian knowledge systems further the centre plans to reach out to the public via popular writings social media posts etcsahasrabuddhe emphasised the need for a deeper study of indias contribution to the world in the fields of science technology architecture linguistics arts culture economics and politics among other areas and for disseminating the findings to the broader public dr aditya kolachana is the centres principal investigator the centre is funded by the indian knowledge systems division of the union ministry of education tuhin said the centre will help in creating awareness in the international audience regarding indias rich heritage and culture tuhin and prof raghunathan rengaswamy dean global engagement iit madras signed an mou to formalise the collaboration between iccr and iitmadras prof rengaswamy said the centre will create a conducive environment for foreign students to study in india and in the internationalisation of indian campuses