DRDO has obviously changed gears to push the pace of research and reorient projects to be of value addition to users. The Directorate of Futuristic Technology Management (DFTM) at Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) HQs in New Delhi on February 07, 2025 released the redefined and augmented Research Verticals & Thrust Areas across DRDO Industry Academia – Centres of Excellence (DIA-CoEs) to streamline and enhance the focus of Directed Research.
The primary aim of establishing such DIA-CoEs has been to harness & synergize the combined strength of academia, student community, research fellows, niche technology industries & DRDO scientist to provide impetus to research & innovations in identified futuristic defence technological domains.
The realignment and augmentation of research areas include future technology requirements of DRDO laboratories and deep technology research areas. The existing 65 Research Verticals distributed across 15 DIA-CoEs have been redesigned into 82 Research Verticals. This important development is part of a strategic effort to refine the DIA-CoEs’ research focus and introduce cutting-edge deep technology research areas to strengthen the overall research outcomes.
Some of the new areas added to the bouquet of research verticals are ‘Compound Semiconductor Technologies’ at IITB, ‘Laser Beam Combining based Communication, Power Transmission & Manufacturing and Extraction & Recycling of Materials’ at IITH, ‘Software Defined Radios’ at IITK, ‘Emerging RF Technologies’ at IITR and ‘Cryptography and Information Security’ at IITKgp and many more.
The new realignment is expected to encourage stronger interdisciplinary, multi-institutional research collaboration engaging Industry & academia, minimise duplicative efforts, and maximise resource utilisation across the institutions. Additionally, it will also ensure that DIA-CoEs contribute meaningfully to address DRDO’s future technology challenges and shaping the future of defence technology.
The DRDO has been reorganising after the government approval of recommendations of the Vijay Raghavan Committee. The restructuring includes formation of committees and merging of laboratories.
Team BharatShakti
