Management at the
Intersection of Systems & Society
The Department of Management Studies at IISc works at the intersection of formal analytical methods and real-world systems — energy, finance, governance, health, and water. We train people who can formulate the right problem, choose the right method, and take responsibility for the answer.
Management Research Inside India's Premier Science and Engineering Institution
The department occupies a genuine third space — more computational depth than a typical management department, more policy and social-systems reach than a typical engineering one.
Problem-First Research
We start from real problems — in energy systems, financial markets, public health, or water governance — and appropriate analytical tools the problem demands.
Engineering Institution Advantage
Embedded in IISc, our students and faculty work alongside engineers and scientists. Methods developed in other parts of the institution are available to management problems.
Analytical Rigour
From stochastic control and game theory to epidemiological modelling, machine learning, and survey methods, we apply rigorous analytical tools to problems with real governance and equity consequences.
Public Consequence
Our research addresses systems that shape people's lives — resource allocation, energy access, health equity, data governance — in India and across emerging economies.
Latest from the department
Factor Investing and Asset Allocation — Modern Frameworks for Portfolio Implementation
A seminar on modern frameworks for factor investing and asset allocation, covering quantitative approaches to portfolio implementation.
Development and Comprehensive Evaluation of Closed-Loop Order Release Control Policies in Semiconductor Wafer Fabrication
Open oral presentation on closed-loop order release control policies integrated with due date-based dispatching rules to improve performance in semiconductor wafer fabrication.
What distinguishes the department
Very few management departments from around the world are a clean match for what we do. The combination of formal analytical methods with an explicit public-interest and systems-governance orientation is genuinely distinctive.
- Methodological depth rooted in an engineering and science institution
- Problem-first pedagogy: methods taught through real organisational and policy problems
- Research that is cited across management, engineering, and public policy communities
- Direct access to courses and collaborators across IISc departments
Data Governance & AI for Society
Data pricing frameworks, non-personal data policy, AI tools for low-income settings, and applied work building AI-assisted tools for underserved communities. Both the data and AI governance work ask: how are new technologies governed, and who benefits from them?
Our Programmes
Three programmes built around analytical rigour and real problems.
A programme built on analytical foundations, with access to methods from across the institute. Students learn to formulate problems, select appropriate methods, and interrogate the assumptions their models carry.
- Hard core in economics, statistics, probability, and finance
- Soft core drawing from engineering and science departments
- Six-month project inside an organisation or policy institution
Doctoral research in management at IISc, working on problems where formal methods meet governance and societal consequence. Research spans data governance, energy transitions, financial engineering, health equity, innovation, and water systems.
- Interdisciplinary coursework across IISc
- Supervision from faculty active in international research
- Institute scholarships and fellowships available
A research-focused programme built around a defined problem, producing publishable output and offering a natural pathway into the PhD. Suited to students who want depth in a specific area over a shorter horizon than a doctoral programme.
- Close supervision from faculty with active research programmes
- Output oriented toward publication in peer-reviewed venues
- Natural pathway into the PhD for interested students
Faculty
Our faculty work on problems in data policy, energy transitions, financial markets, health systems, innovation, and water governance — publishing across management, engineering, and public policy journals.
