Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading global IT services, business solutions and outsourcing firm, has announced a new program to encourage quality academic research and thereby increase the available faculty talent pool in India.

The company will be funding 200 doctoral candidates over a period of five years to take up PhD programs in reputed academic institutions all over the country. The TCS Research Fellows will pursue research in various aspects of computer science. Every year from a number of reputed academic institutes, forty doctoral or PhD candidates will be chosen as TCS Research Scholars through a process of selection conducted by TCS and the academic institutes.

The TCS Research Scholars program will help enlarge the R&D agenda and encourage exploration of new ideas by funding candidates in doctorate programs.

Shares of the company declined Rs 16.5, or 2.4%, to settle at Rs 671.60. The total volume of shares traded was 350,995 at the BSE (Friday).