Student Research Experiences
Aditya Kadam - Research at IIITH
Aditya Kadam shares his research experience at IIITH as a lateral entry student:
Lab: PreCog, under Professor PK.
In his own words: he had an inclination towards research early in college, which led him to discover LEEE. A major reason for joining was the B.Tech academic curriculum that “introduces us to research early on in our undergraduate years itself.”
On PreCog’s research: “Unlike most conventional research it does have a societal impact and it propagates to the society that we live.”
Pratishtha Abrol - Quantum Computation Research
Pratishtha Abrol, working in quantum computation research at IIITH under Professor Indranil:
In her own words: she was “inclined towards research” and wanted an “intellectually stimulating and invigorating environment.” Choosing LEEE was “a big milestone in my life.”
IIITH “provides you the opportunity to explore every possible field of interest” - including quantum computation, “something that a lot of other colleges do not let you explore.”
On student life: “IIIT also has a very engaging atmosphere, engaging student life” with “really active clubs.” Notably, students also “get the independence to come up with your own new ideas and activities to hold on campus” - self-initiated clubs and campus events are permitted and encouraged.
Ayushman Panda - Algorithm Optimization Research
Ayushman Panda, working on algorithm optimization and multi-agent systems in the ARK lab under Prof. Kamal Kalapalam:
IIITH has been “a dream institute” since he was introduced to CS in grade eight. He “instantly noticed how hands-on the curriculum is.”
On the value of undergraduate research: “It’s pretty cool that we imbibed the research interest in our undergraduate days itself and that gives a bird’s eye view of the problems that we are encountering” - and a “different dynamics to the solution that we are approaching.”
Avanee Gupta - Computer Vision Research
Avanee Gupta, working at CVIT on ML interpretability:
“The curriculum is really good - the assignments here are heavy and we learn from the assignments.” She “gained a lot of confidence in coding by moving here since the assignments are time bound and short.” Her key insight: “We can actually handle any challenge thrown at us later on if we are able to solve the assignments on time.”
On why the dual degree timing matters: “Working on research from the third year itself, whereas if we go for MS or higher studies we get to do it from the fourth year” (after completing a full B.Tech elsewhere). Research starts earlier here - that is a concrete structural advantage of the LEEE dual degree.
On her research: “My problem statement is kind of open-ended - I’m getting to explore a lot.” The open-ended nature of the work is presented as a feature, not a bug.
Apoorva Thirupathi - Research Student
Apoorva Thirupathi, research student under Prof. Ankit Gangwal:
She was initially “skeptical because they would put you back by a year” and “didn’t know whether research was something I was interested in doing, but then I thought I’d give it a shot.” She was also “concerned whether I was cut out for academic research.”
With the guidance of Prof. Ankit Gangwal she found her footing and is “loving the work right now.”
On the curriculum: “The intense coursework is a key component of life at IIITH and it plays a pivotal role in shaping us - it will be of great use in the work life ahead.”
Her arc - skeptic who wasn’t sure research was for her, now thriving - is one of the most honest and relatable testimonials in the corpus for aspirants who share that uncertainty.
Kritika Prakash - RL and Computational Privacy Research
Kritika Prakash, working on reinforcement learning and computational privacy under Dr. Praveen and Dr. Sujit at the Machine Learning Lab (MLL):
In her own words: “I joined because I was curious to learn how to do research and I wanted to be a part of the vibrant student community. I came in with very little information and a lot of faith. This was one of my bravest decisions and it turned out to be a huge milestone.”
“It took me a semester to adapt to the academic rigor here.” (A realistic, useful timeline for the adjustment period.)
She “gained immense perspective about the field of computer science and how widely it can be applied to help others.” Concretely: she directly works with NGOs to provide better healthcare resources to underserved communities using AI - a real social-impact application of her research.
IIITH also “provided a stage for me to grow creatively in my art and music” - the personal and creative dimensions of campus life were real for her, not just academics.
Rahul Anand - Alumnus, Meta (Cricket Video Analysis)
Rahul Anand, member of the first LEEE batch, IIITH alumnus, now at Meta Research and pursuing a PhD:
He worked under Prof. C.V. Jawahar and Vineet Gandhi, developing “several composition techniques to analyze sports videos.”
Landmark work: fine-grained annotation of cricket videos, which received significant attention and was covered by Washington Post, IndTV, and other outlets - a notable example of research impact from a lateral entry student.
In his own words: “The unique structure of the program allowed me to work on several research problems that led to many research publications. That ultimately helped me a lot in my PhD applications.”
The IIITH research experience “helped me tremendously during my work at Meta Research and continues to do so even now” in his PhD program. The value of the training is described as lasting, not just a credential.
Varun Chhangani - Multimodal Research at CVIT
Varun Chhangani, LEEE 2019 batch, working at CVIT on multimodal research under Vineet Gandhi:
On the research environment: “It’s multi-disciplinary - what I like about IIITH a lot. You can delve into multimodality and you can have students in your research group from several labs and several profs guiding you.” Cross-lab collaboration is a structural feature, not the exception.
On Hyderabad’s tech ecosystem: IIITH is in the “center of the tech hub of Hyderabad” - students get “amazing interaction with the city that many of the other colleges don’t offer.” The proximity to the IT industry (Microsoft, TCS, and others are immediately adjacent) is a genuine differentiator.
On the LEEE mentorship tradition: “Previous seniors helped a lot and that is a tradition we keep on - we keep helping the LEEE juniors that come through so that you catch up through the misdeals that other students have already had.” Lateral entry seniors actively pass down knowledge of how to navigate the program.
On why research is worth it: “What IIITH provides you is a sense of fulfillment of doing something innovative with your research - which if you are not into research you don’t get it. If you are just going through academia you don’t get the sense that yeah you are achieving something and that gives you joy from inside.”