SPARKS: Scholars Pursuing Advanced Research in Computer Science

The Department of Computer Science and Automation (CSA), Indian Institute of Science is soliciting applications for Scholars Pursuing Advanced Research in Computer Science (SPARKS) programme for August 2026.

  • The SPARKS program is open to bright and motivated people completed (or completing by the start of the project date as their highest degree) Bachelor’s (B.E./B.Tech/B.Stat/B.Math/B.Sc or equivalent) or Master’s (M.E./M.Tech/M.Stat/M.Sc or equivalent) in CS/ECE/EE/Maths or equivalent programme.
  • Each scholar will be engaged with a faculty member of CSA. The expected duration of the engagement is minimum 4 months and may vary with the requirement from the respective faculty member.
  • The last date for applying is 21st August 2026. Results will be announced by 15th September 2026. Link to the application: here.
  • This is not an internship position. The candidate must be available in-person and work for full time for the entire project duration. The candidate must not be enrolled to a degree course or have another part-time/full-time job during the entire project duration. Applications violating these rules will be rejected without review.
  • Emoluments will be provided as per institute norms.
  • List of project topics
    1. Scientific Visualization, Topological Data Analysis. TDA driven visual analysis for the study of granular materials, Topological analysis of time-varying data (Prof. Vijay Natarajan)
    2. Fast and efficient AI systems. Compiler optimizations for AI, accelerator design for AI (Prof. Sanchari Sen)
    3. Applied Cryptography. Quantum-Safe crypto for resource-constrained environment (Prof. Sanjit Chatterjee)
    4. ML Acceleration. Accelerating ML algorithms on FPGA (Prof. Sumit K. Mandal)
    5. Quantum Computing. Noise-aware quantum computing, on-chip quantum computing (Prof. Sumit K. Mandal)
    6. Reinforcement Learning (Prof. Gugan Thoppe, Prof. Aditya Gopalan, Prof. Sridharan Devarajan)

Two recommendation letters for the applicant from faculty (or someone working in similar position) where the applicant is currently affiliated are mandatory. Applicants will have to submit the official email id of the recommenders, and we will send requests directly to the recommenders for the shortlisted candidates. All information (e.g., GPA/percentages) entered in your application is subject to verification, and offers will be made to shortlisted candidates only after such verification.

The applications will be reviewed by a committee of faculty members at CSA, and the selected candidates will be informed of their selection by 15th September 2026, and the list will also be posted on this page. The decision of the selection committee will be final and no correspondence in this regard will be entertained.

Selected applicants in the previous cycle were

  • Prateek P Kulkarni
  • Santripta Sharma
  • Mansukhbhai Kalasariya
  • Anubrata Singharoy
  • Shaurya Pratap Singh

FAQ

SPARKS is not a short-term internship but rather meant to be an intensive research project spanning a few months to a year and that students currently enrolled in degree programs with commitments in the next few months will not be considered. They can apply once they have finished their degree commitments.