Duke may push talent search

With its three-week summer studies program for Grades 7-10 running successfully at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), Durham-based Duke University is mulling to expand its Talent Identification Programme (TIP) in India.

Through TIP, Duke University identifies academically talented students through centralised tests and offers them challenging and innovative educational programs and conducts research on the nature of such talent.

Launched in 1980 in the US, TIP was recently introduced through its collaboration with IIM-A in India, the only other country to feature the programme. Already a week into the program, which comprises 34 students selected from 13 schools in four cities including Ahmedabad, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad, Duke has already begun evaluating options for expanding TIP in India.

"We are evaluating possibilities of introducing either e-studies or distant learning courses for students belonging to grades 8-12. While the current program is being sponsored by Duke in association with IIM-A, next year we might go for fee-based programs or corporate sponsored programs," said Martha Putallaz, executive director, Duke TIP.

Through e-studies, the university intends to conduct common educational programs for students from different countries like the US and India through video conferencing and online studies.

The university may also go for student exchange programs if need be, added Putallaz. Under the current Summer studies program, students are trained in Java-based video gaming and engineering problem-solving by faculties from Duke University at IIM-A which are derived from the graduate-level curriculum.