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Seminar on Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) in Higher Education and Research

By Babul Gogoi |


A seminar on “Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) in Higher Education and Research” will be held in Guwahati University, on December 3. The seminar will be organised jointly between Guwahati University and NRCFOSS (National Resoirce Centre for Free/Open Source Software) Chennai is mainly meant to create awareness of FOSS and its value and relevance to the Indian acacdemic and research community. The occasion would also be used to see how NRCFOSS can support the participating universities and colleges in introducing FOSS into their curricula for the benefit of the students.


The event is meant prmarily for the faculty and students of the BE(CSE)/BTech(IT)/ MSc(CS)/MSc(IT)/MCA programs from institutions located in and around Guwahati – such as Guwahati University, Assam Engineering College, IIT Guwahati, etc. Beyond the CS/IT areas, the Seminar would also discuss the role and scope of FOSS in Science Education and Research so that the event would also be of interest to the faculty and students of the Science Stream.


The event could be a full-day one consisting of the following components, depending on the interests of the participants:


i) One 90 minutes introductory session meant for Teachers, HODs, Deans, Members of Boards of Studies, etc. touching on the following: What is FOSS, and what is its relevance to India?



  • FOSS in CS/IT Education

  • FOSS in Science Education and Research

  • FOSS in Management and Administration

  • NRCFOSS and its Program with Universities


ii) One 90 mnts introductory talk to students of CS/CSE/IT streams on FOSS Technologies and how it can help their careers.


iii) One 45 mnts Meeting with the VC, Deans, HODs of CS/CSE/IT streams to decide on the modes of introducing FOSS into their curricula, with the support of NRCFOSS.


Including Q&A, sessions (i) and (ii) would end up taking 2 hrs each. One scenario could be to have (i) and (iii) in the morning (10.0AM to 1.0 PM), and (iii) in the afternoon (2.30 – 4.30PM). It could also be the other way around if found more convenient.


Presentations would be made by the following:



  • Prof. C N Krishnan, NRCFOSS, Anna University Chennai.

  • Prof. Savithri Singh, Principal, AND College, Delhi University

  • Scientist from C-DAC Kolkkata

  • Faculty from Guwahati University



For event information, please contact:


Dr. Shikhar Kr. Sarma
Associate Professor
Department of Computer Science,
Gauhati University
Guwahati, Assam-781014, India
Phone: +91-361-2571138 (0ff.).




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