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Rice, IIT Madras announce joint research award winners
Winning projects are across sustainable construction materials, entrepreneurship research and high-energy nuclear physics.
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Malvika Choudhary - Mon, 16, Mar 2026
- 17:28 EDT
- 26
IIT Madras' Raghunathan Rengaswamy, dean of global engagement and the Marti Mannariah Gurunath Chair in Department of Chemical Engineering, and Rice's Amy Dittmar, Howard R. Hughes Provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, sign a strategic collaboration agreement in November 2024. / Photo by Brandi Smith/ Rice University
Rice University and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) selected three faculty-led research projects for the inaugural IIT Madras–Rice University Strategic Partnership Collaboration Awards.
The awards support new multidisciplinary collaborations between researchers at the two institutions and are part of a broader initiative to expand joint research and academic engagement.
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The selected projects span fields including sustainable construction materials, entrepreneurship research and high-energy nuclear physics.
One of the projects, “AI-Guided Upcycling of Industrial Wastes for Cement Decarbonization,” is led by Rice assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering Kai Gong and Piyush Chaunsali, associate professor in the building technology of construction management at IIT Madras.
The research will explore how artificial intelligence and advanced materials science can convert industrial byproducts such as red mud into new cement binders. The team plans to use machine-learning models to evaluate performance, cost and carbon reduction while developing more sustainable cement production pathways.
The second project, “Does CSR Legitimize or Stigmatize? CSR Support and Perceptions of Women-Led Ventures in India,” is led by Rice assistant professor of strategic management Diana Jue-Rajasingh and Rupashree Baral, professor of organizational behavior and human resources at IIT Madras.
The researchers will examine how corporate social responsibility programs influence perceptions of women entrepreneurs in India through field experiments, interviews with entrepreneurship ecosystem participants and large-scale online studies.
The third project, “Next-Generation Nuclear Physics and Detector Innovation for the LHC and EIC,” is led by Rice professor of physics and astronomy Wei Li and Prabhat Pujahari, associate professor of physics at IIT Madras.
The collaboration will focus on advancing detector technology and data analysis used in high-energy nuclear physics experiments, including those at the Large Hadron Collider and the planned Electron-Ion Collider.
Planned activities include joint workshops, collaborative physics analyses and training researchers in advanced silicon detector instrumentation. The project also aims to establish a silicon sensor testing laboratory at IIT Madras.
The program stems from the Rice–IIT Madras Strategic Collaboration Initiative, launched after the universities signed a strategic collaboration agreement in November 2024 during a visit to India by Amy Dittmar, the Howard R. Hughes Provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Rice. The initiative aims to deepen partnerships in research and education while encouraging projects addressing global challenges.
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