Software services firm IBM's Indian arm will soon begin a program to prepare students from leading technical institutions in the country for a career in research and to address talent crunch in the field of higher studies.

"We will roll out the Blue Scholar program in our India Research Centre. We will induct graduates and post graduates from IITs and IISc and train them for a career in research," IBM India Research Laboratory Associate Director Manish Gupta told PTI.

He, however, declined to comment on the number of students to be inducted.

The students who graduate from the ongoing academic year will be eligible for the program and the company is already scouting for talent.

"IBM is looking at India as a major market and we are looking for talent in the domestic market," he said.

The Blue Scholars will work closely with the IBM worldwide research teams, immersed within a real-world innovation culture and drive the delivery of a wide spectrum of technology solutions.

"They will work closely with global research teams in top university labs, publish papers and engage in a challenging atmosphere that stimulates these collaborations to pursue breakthrough thinking mixed with scientific rigour," he added.

IBM has eight research centres globally in the US, China, Japan, Israel, Switzerland and India, with about 3,200 employees.