HYDERABAD : Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, today announced that the company’s flagship TCS Research Scholarship Programme (TCS RSP) will be extended for another five years to reach over 200 additional doctoral research scholars across India in the area of Computer Science.Till date, TCS has actively supported 188 research scholars across 33 institutes in India, under this programme. Six students have successfully completed their PhDs under this scheme and are now employed in Academia and Industry R&D centers.For the next five years, the TCS RSP will benefit 40 scholars annually. The programme supports nearly 20% of all the Computing Science PhD scholars in India.The TCS Research Scholarship Programme was launched in 2010 to provide a major fillip for quality research in areas such as computer sciences and engineering, information systems and technology, and software engineering. The programme also aims to promote development and innovation to contribute towards boosting the country’s technology landscape.“There is a big gap between the demand and supply of quality scientists in computational science disciplines in India. Recent studies indicate the growing need for more research in this area to help develop intellectual property in this country. To address this gap, TCS created Research Scholar Program to improve the research talent base in the country and given its success, we are delighted to increase the number of students funded by another 200,” said N Chandrasekaran, CEO & MD, Tata Consultancy Services.TCS has identified and shortlisted 61 top-ranking institutes and universities in India with active Ph.D. programmes in the Computing Sciences. Invitations seeking applications for the Research Scholar Programme are sent out to these institutes, in January and July. Students who are registered for full time PhD in areas such as Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, Software Engineering, and Information Technology are eligible to apply, with a recommendation from their institute. The Program is entirely free of any obligation on the part of awardees - the RSP scholars do not have to join TCS or share the IP of their work in any way.The selected Research scholars will receive cash scholarship and contingency funds for four years, with a provision of extending the support for one more year. Further, they will also be awarded significant travel funds for international travel to attend and present their research work in international conferences and workshops.TCS researchers and scientists from R & D and the CTO team offer technical mentoring, industry exposure, and insight into the real world scenario. The scholars are invited to various TCS conferences and symposiums and also have an opportunity to visit TCS innovation and research Labs.The TCS RSP has received the “World CSR Congress 2014 - Education and Training Social Enterprise Award."