Tata-UC Berkeley Academic Programs

The Tata group of companies has a long history of support for education and educational institutions. Through the years, the group has endeavored to strengthen the fabric of Indian education in multiple ways. A crucial component of the Tata idea of nation-building was, and remains, the creation and sustaining of exceptional institutions of learning, research, knowledge and intellectual capital. In the United States, Tata companies have sustained that tradition through a variety of programs designed to support American academic interest in India and to foster greater interaction between Indian and American institutions. Two Tata programs have been established at UC Berkeley. They are:

Tata Study Grants Program

The Tata Study Grants program was established in 2009 by the Tata Sons office in Washington DC at several prominent US universities: University of California, Berkeley, Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The grants are designed to facilitate scholarly excellence among undergraduate and/or graduate students interested in pursuing research on contemporary Indian issues. Grant recipients, known as Tata Fellows, are selected by committees formed within each university, and have the opportunity to travel to India during the 2009–2010 academic year to carry out their research.

Tata International Social Entrepreneurship Scheme

The Tata Group, one of India's largest private sector conglomerates and a global leader in innovative corporate social responsibility initiatives, in 2008 launched the Tata International Social Entrepreneurship Scheme (Tata ISES). The primary objective of Tata ISES is to provide international students with opportunities to contribute to community initiative projects of Tata Group companies in India and in so doing to promote international understanding. University of California Berkeley and Cambridge University in the UK are the first two participating universities. Berkeley will identify up to five upper division undergraduate or graduate students for 8-week summer Tata ISES internships with Tata Group's community initiative programs. Through this program, competitively selected interns join Tata community development teams working on the economic and social empowerment of communities surrounding the company's operating units.Tata ISES fellows spend eight weeks in India (June-August) working with Tata companies on various development projects. Before leaving India, the fellows make presentations on their findings and recommendations to Tata Corporate Sustainability Services management team. Once back in Berkeley, the students participate in a widely attended Berkeley-Tata Student Symposium to share their work and lessons learned.

Please click on the titles above for further details on these two programs.

Tata ISES 2008 Fellows in the field. Tata ISES 2008 Fellows in the field.