New Delhi [India], May 9 (ANI): The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has launched 500 Online ATAL Faculty Development Programs (FDPs) for the financial year 2025-26.

The program was inaugurated by Prof. T.G. Sitharam, Chairman of AICTE, at the AICTE headquarters in New Delhi. Vice Chairman Dr. Abhay Jere and Member Secretary Prof. Rajive Kumar also graced the occasion. The Council has already launched 500 offline FDPs for the year 2025-26.

According to an official release, in his inaugural address, Prof. Sitharam emphasized the significance of FDPs in imparting quality training to faculty members, postgraduate students and research scholars. He highlighted the importance of acquiring sound domain knowledge and relevant skill sets to apply in real-life scenarios with industry connections. He further stated that this initiative demonstrates AICTE's commitment to promoting continuous professional development and enhancing the quality of technical education in India.

Dr. Abhay Jere remarked, 'Since we have lectures by specialists in emerging areas during the FDPs, we should create a repository of some of the best lectures on our website so that others can also benefit from them.'

The online FDPs aim to foster a culture of continuous professional development, with 500 programs proposed to be conducted this year. Each program will be a six-day online course covering various emerging areas, including Advanced Materials, Semiconductors, Space and Defense, the Blue Economy, and more.

All Higher Education Institutions are eligible to apply for the Online ATAL FDPs. AICTE will provide a grant-in-aid of Rupees 1 lakh per FDP on reimbursement basis. These programs will benefit faculty members by enhancing their knowledge and skills, which they can further impart to their students. The application portal will open on May 10, 2025. Interested institutions may submit their applications until June 01, 2025.

The 17 emerging areas covered under this FDP initiative are Advanced Materials, Rare-earth & Critical Minerals, Semiconductors, Space and Defense, Blue / Green Economy, High Performance Computing, Energy, Sustainability & Climate Change, Advanced Computing (Supercomputing, AI, and Data Science), Next Gen Communications, Smart Cities & Mobility and Agritech & Food Processing.

It also includes Healthcare & Med-Tech, Disaster Management & Resilient Infrastructure, Manufacturing & Industry 4.0, Quantum Technologies, Hydrogen Energy, Cyber-Physical Systems and Cybersecurity and other emerging areas. (ANI)