Prof. Lakshmi Kanta Dey has been working as an Associate Professor and the Head of the Department of Mathematics at NIT Durgapur, West Bengal. He has done his Masters in Mathematics & Ph.D. in Science from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Also, he has an amazing 16 years of teaching and research experience. Click here to read more.

NIT Durgapur

You have held key positions at education institutes throughout your professional career. What are the key factors that keep you connected with the education sector?

From my childhood, I realized the importance and influence of a teacher in one’s character building. This is the first factor that led me to choose and stick to the education sector.

Also, I was very lucky to get very good teachers during my entire career. During my PG and PhD tenure at Jadavpur University, I got the guidance of renowned professors like Prof. Pratulananda Das, Prof. Indranath Sengupta, Late Prof. T K Mukherjee, and many more such luminaries.

It gave me a new perspective and I started understanding the beauty of Mathematics. It also plays a key factor to be connected in an Institution where I get complete freedom of teaching and doing independent research and building the scholars who can inspire several generations of students.

Educating yourself fundamentally broadens your horizons. Thus, we can enlarge our horizons without being limited by our perspectives.

Being the HOD of Mathematics, what is your philosophy of leadership? How would you describe your leadership style?

As the Head of the Department, I believe that impartiality, honesty, values and belief systems are key to my motto of leadership. To be more precise, a leadership philosophy can include a wide range of ideas and values, such as the importance of teamwork, honesty, transparency, accountability, innovation, diversity and continuous learning. I try to be a good listener in a meeting, which allows me to be enriched by the ideas and opinions of other people. This helps me to be logically sound while taking an important decision after careful consideration of all the pros and cons. 

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What do you think your roles and responsibilities to the college and the students are?

Our Institute is a top-tier Institute – an Institute of National Importance – so we all have to wear multiple hats, that of teacher, researcher, and administrator, and at the same time we have to do it sincerely. 

As a teacher, I try to impart education in such a way so that my students can enjoy the process of learning and learn from the depth – I do not believe in spoon feeding. A teacher is supposed to be an expert in a particular field and should not just share the mathematical proof, which is available in any textbook, but rather explain the logic behind the proof in a cogent manner so that a student can develop independent critical thinking skills. 

We must motivate the students for learning a subject and give some emphasis on its usefulness so that they automatically get interested. We give thrust in and outside the classroom regarding their overall behavior – how to be a good human being and a responsible citizen. Most importantly we try to build students (mainly research students) in such a way that they are capable of inspiring two to three generations of people/academicians.

When you first came to this College, what was your vision for the university? Has it evolved over time, and how far along in implementing that vision are you?

I joined this Institute around 15 years back and my vision was to find new ways of teaching that can help students attain knowledge beyond the limits with a focus to find some emerging areas for independent research and guiding new students. Initially, I gave more and more thrust on teaching methodologies for undergrad engineering students and PG students. 

Yes, for sure, my vision has evolved over time. It is a continuous process of developing the pedagogical skill of teaching and at the same time, the intensity of good research work in multidisciplinary subjects and bringing good projects have evolved into it. 

I am confident in terms of attaining my vision but as I have said before, it is a continuous process of improvement. Most importantly, the proof of the pudding lies in how others will view this attainment of the vision I have for my Institute.

What would you like people to know about your college they may not know?

The excellent Student-Teacher rapport with emphasis on mentoring and counseling. The teaching-learning process including the research brainstorming inter-department and intra-department is something we are proud of. This helps our Institute to grow as a whole. 

On the other hand, well-organized extensions, community service programs such as Bihari More Education Programme (BMEP), and outreach activities by students and faculty members are some highlights of this institution that sometimes go under the radar.

What do you see as the College's greatest strengths?

I can tell that our Institute’s greatest strength is its nice work culture and practically no other untoward interference in teaching and research. This leads to a huge potential for all-around development in teaching and research.

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Any suggestions you would like to give to the current youth and the aspiring students?

We all know that the modern era is dominated by various technologies and endless information. The budding dreamers have to draw a line between what to consume and what not to. It is very easy to get carried away by the temptations around, but they have to stay focused. As I have told my beloved students, do not try to be better than your contemporaries but rather try to be a better version of yourself every day. 

 Again, we must all remember that although our lives may be driven by a lot of technological marvels, we should keep human emotions and values alive. The learnings, skills, and experiences should be used to contribute towards Nature, society, and its people.