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BENGALURU: At the PhD programme farewell hosted by the Office of the Doctoral Programme at IIM Bangalore, 18 students, along with their friends, families, loved ones, faculty, and the IIMB community, gathered to celebrate the extraordinary achievements of the graduating class of 2025. Prof. Rishikesha T. Krishnan, Director, IIMB; Prof. Mukta Kulkarni, Dean Programmes; Prof. Dinesh Kumar, Dean Faculty; Prof. Jayadev Madugula, Dean Administration; Prof. Sourav Mukherji, Dean Alumni Relations and Development; Prof. Ananth Krishnamurthy, PhD programme Chairperson; and Alok Apte, son of Late Prof. Prakash Apte, former IIMB Dean and Director, gathered to present the inaugural Professor Prakash G. Apte Research Award on 26 March 2025.
Recognizing sustained academic and research excellence, PhD’25 scholar Ashish Singh Bhandari, Production and Operations Management (PoM) area, under the guidance of Prof. Amar Sapra, PoM area, was bestowed with the award.
Finalists for the award, Ayesha Arora, under the guidance of Prof. Tarun Jain, PoM area; and Mareeswaran M, under the guidance of Prof. Venkatesh Panchapagesan, Finance & Accounting area, were also congratulated for their significant research achievements.
Celebrating the success of their achievement, Programme Chair Prof. Ananth set the agenda for the evening. He welcomed the students, andexpressed gratitude to their friends and families, the Dissertation Advisory Committee (DAC), faculty members, the Doctoral Programme Office, and the IIMB administration for their collective efforts over the past five years in nurturing a vibrant academic community in both mind and spirit.
Alok Apte addressed the gathering and shared a few words about the significance of the endowment fund established in memory of his father, which seeks to honor his remarkable contributions to IIMB.
“Completing a PhD is a stupendous achievement in itself. Anyone who knew my father understood his deep commitment to excellence and high-quality research. This award helps fulfill his vision. He firmly believed that deserving students should never be denied access to quality education due to financial constraints. I look forward to seeing how this award contributes to building iterative solutions from the ground up”, said Alok.
Extending his congratulations, Prof. RT Krishnan spoke of how the PhD programme has matured over time. “It’s really good to witness good quality, actionable research from our students, many of whom took their work into publication while pursuing a competitive and rigorous programme”. He also advised students on their upcoming journey as independent researchers, saying, “Developing a research agenda of your own, independent of your advisor, is a challenging transition. You now have to make an individual mark as a researcher yourself. So, chart your course thoughtfully”.
On the Professor Prakash G. Apte Research Award, which was instituted at the IDF Donor Reception held earlier this February, Prof. Krishnan said, “Prof. Apte, a former dean and director of IIMB, was someone who believed in individuals taking responsibility for themselves. He placed a lot of confidence in people figuring their own course”. He expressed thanks to Alok Apte, IIMB alumni and faculty, for setting up the endowment.
Prof. Mukta Kulkarni, OB&HRM area, addressed the gathering with a lighthearted remark, “No more chasing dissertation advisors or being chased by them”. She added, “We have prepared you for what’s to come, and we couldn’t be more excited for you to discover it”.
Prof. Dinesh Kumar, Decision Sciences area, encouraged the cohort to seek out meaningful problems that require research-driven solutions. He advised, “If you continue your research journey, I urge you to choose a problem not only that you want to solve, but one that the world needs you to solve.”
Prof. M. Jayadev, Finance & Accounting area, congratulated the students on achieving the highest academic distinction in a highly competitive programme. Healso highlighted their accomplishment of being published in A-rated journals. Meanwhile, Prof. Sourav Mukherji, OB&HRM area, welcomed the graduating cohort into the IIMB alumni fraternity, which now includes over 300 PhD alumni and more than 26,000 alumni from other IIMB programmes.
Ashoka Nag, Manager, DPO, delivered the vote of thanks for the evening.
