Team India sweeps Gold and multiple awards at International Linguistics Olympiad at Romania
India’s contingent at the International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) 2026 in Romania has bagged one gold medal, three bronze medals and an honourable mention, continuing the country’s record of winning medals at the international competition for pre-university students, IIIT Hyderabad said in a statement. Shrilakshmi Venkatraman won the gold medal, while Aarav Anil Rao, Nishanth Shankar Lakshmanan and Advay Misra secured bronze medals. Soham Amit Pednekar received an honourable mention. The competition brings together school students from more than 40 countries and tests their ability to identify patterns in unfamiliar languages using logic and analytical reasoning. According to the Panini Linguistics Olympiad (PLO), at IIIT Hyderabad, the Indian contingent has so far won 37 medals: six Gold, nine Silver and 22 Bronze, along with nine ‘best solution’ awards, 19 honourable mentions and other team-level honours.
CIE at IIIT Hyderabad Selects Five Deep-Tech Startups for Avishkar Venture Studio Summer Cohort 2026
The Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at IIIT Hyderabad has selected five deep-tech start-ups from more than 110 applications for its six-month Avishkar Venture Studio Summer Cohort 2026. They will receive research support, mentoring, investor access and seed funding of up to Rs 10 lakh. The programme began on July 31 after 20 start-ups in deeptech, medtech, mobility and mediatech pitched before faculty, investors, entrepreneurs and industry experts. Entries were assessed on innovation, market potential, scalability, execution capability and founder strength. The ventures were Comply Ark Solution Private Limited, L2 Aero, Mimansa Play, SentraAuth Technologies and Stylique AI Private Limited, known as Yoko Styles. Their work covers DPDPA compliance, subsurface detection, speech development for children, behavioural biometric authentication and AI-based fashion design.
First Amgen Scholars Program in India launches at IIIT Hyderabad
Amgen today announced the launch of the first Amgen Scholars Program in India at the International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIIT Hyderabad), bringing the globally respected undergraduate summer research program to India for the first time. Supported through a two-year commitment from Amgen through summer 2027, the program reflects the company’s long-standing commitment to advancing science education and inspiring future innovators. The inaugural cohort comprises 10 undergraduate scholars, including students from India, Vietnam, Qatar, and Dubai, creating opportunities for scientific collaboration and exchange across Asia. As part of the intensive two-month residential research experience, students will explore artificial intelligence and machine learning applications in fundamental sciences, drug design and discovery, healthcare, cheminformatics, genomics and related areas alongside faculty mentors at IIIT Hyderabad.
He is a case study in deployment: IIIT Hyderabad Director on V Kamakoti’s achievements
India’s semiconductor push has gathered pace in recent years, but according to IIIT Hyderabad Director Prof Sandeep K Shukla, IIT Madras Director Professor V Kamakoti has been working towards indigenous processor design long before it became a national priority. “Prof Kamakoti started working on the SHAKTI processor – which is a RISC-V architecture-based processor, back in the early 2000s, and I recall that his team worked with Bluespec Inc to write the micro-architectural specification of the processor in Bluespec language,” Prof Shukla told India Today. Reflecting on Prof Kamakoti’s role in taking the project from the laboratory to the wider ecosystem, Prof Shukla said SHAKTI represents more than a successful processor project. Rather, he said, it demonstrates how long-term academic research can eventually translate into real-world impact. “Prof V Kamakoti’s role is a good case study in how long-horizon academic research reaches deployment,” he said.
Admissions open for 6-month AI/ML training program by iHub-Data at IIIT Hyderabad
iHub-Data at IIIT-H has opened admissions for an intensive six-month training programme in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) for undergraduate engineering students. Designed for B Tech students from AICTE-affiliated institutions in and around Hyderabad, the programme combines strong theoretical foundations with practical, hands-on learning to prepare participants for emerging opportunities in AI. The programme offers a comprehensive introduction to both classical machine learning and modern AI techniques through a blend of classroom instruc-tion and guided practical sessions. In-person classes will be conducted on week-ends at the IIIT-H campus and will be complemented by online tutorial sessions during the week. The programme starts on September 3, and the deadline for applications is August 15. For more details, students can visit course webpage: ihub-data.ai or contact programme coordi-nator at pavanmulkalla@ihub-data.iiit.ac.in
Bigger Not Always Better: IIIT-H Researchers Show That Compact Models May Be More Effective For Brain Studies
Researchers at the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT-Hyderabad), in association with peers from some other organisations, have identified a “sweet spot” in brain-artificial intelligence similarity studies. Their study reveals that a smaller language model can achieve brain alignment comparable to larger models, offering a more efficient, accessible approach to advanced AI. Smaller, efficient AI models are highly significant for India. They require less computational power, allowing researchers and developers to deploy advanced AI solutions on smaller instruments or mobile phones, overcoming limitations in access to massive cloud or GPU infrastructure. Subba Reddy Oota, Vijay Rowtula, and S Bapi Raju of IIIT-H presented the findings of the paper “Linguistic properties and model scale in brain encoding: from small to compressed language models” at the ICML in Seoul.
BTech in Civil Engineering or Civil, Infrastructure Engineering: What to choose?
As engineering admissions gather pace across the country, many students are comparing the long-established BTech in Civil Engineering with the newer BTech in Civil and Infrastructure Engineering. While the course names sound similar, many students wonder whether the newer programme offers better career prospects or a different learning experience. According to Dr P Pravin Kumar Venkat Rao, Assistant Professor at the Earthquake Engineering Research Centre, IIIT Hyderabad, the distinction lies primarily in the academic emphasis rather than the engineering fundamentals. Dr Rao notes that while the technical foundation remains common, students in infrastructure-focused programmes often work with broader questions involving urban mobility, integrated planning and long-term infrastructure management.
AI traffic cop VIOLA helps Telangana police detect violations using dashcams
IIIT Hyderabad researchers have developed a virtual traffic cop—VIOLA, an AI-powered traffic violation detection system that uses low-cost dash cams installed in police patrol vehicles. The technology deployed with the Telangana Police reported that nearly 96 per cent of the violations submitted by the AI are accurate. Presently, traffic enforcement depends on CCTV cameras and hand-held cameras with traffic police personnel. These cameras are expensive to install and maintain and limited to fixed locations. Further, drivers know where the cameras are and where they are not. In addition, the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology currently being used is unable to catch all violations automatically without humans in the loop. The AI model analysed footage to detect helmet violations, triple riding, wrong-side driving and other offences.
200+ Researchers converge at IIIT Hyderabad for National Software Engineering Summit
IIIT Hyderabad is hosting the Software Engineering Research in India (SERI) 2026 from July 16–18, 2026, bringing together faculty members, researchers, students, and industry practitioners from across the country to discuss the latest advances in software engineering research and practice. The program begins today at IIIT Hydera bad campus in Gachibowli. SERI 2026 is an annual update meet focuses on software development, programming languages, and testing agentic AI systems. SERI is an annual community-driven forum that provides a platform for researchers to present ongoing work, exchange ideas on emerging directions in software engineering, and strengthen collaboration between academia and industry. This year’s edition has received over 200 registrations and features a packed three-day programme.
Between Appointments: A Desi Digital Companion Who’s Got The Patient’s Back
Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore and IIIT Hyderabad’s Language Technologies Research Centre (LTRC) have developed BandhuCare, a multi-lingual AI-powered patient engagement platform designed specifically for cancer care. Unlike consumer AI assistants, BandhuCare, instead of trawling through the internet, answers questions only from information carefully curated and verified by clinicians. While CMC provided domain expertise and anonymised medical data, IIIT-H developed machine translation technologies that could be refined using continuous feedback from clinicians. The project, supported by the National Cancer Grid and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of India – MeitY’s India AI initiative, has reached Technology Readiness Level 5, with ethics approvals in place for clinical pilot studies involving patients.