Srinagar: In a major push to the promotion of research in the varsity, seven major meetings of the Board of Research Studies (BORS) have been held at the University of Kashmir in a span of six months in line with the Vice-Chancellor’s instructions to conduct these meetings twice a year as per the Statutes.
During this period, more than 80 Ph.D. vivas have been conducted to facilitate a timely award of degrees to research scholars from various Schools of the University.
The BORS meetings were held in the School of Law; School of Arts, Languages and Literatures; School of Biological Sciences; School of Education and Behavioral Sciences; School of Social Sciences; School of Applied Sciences and Technology, and School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, while these meetings of the School of Business Studies and Centre of Central Asian Studies are lined up later this month and January 2023, respectively.
Vice-Chancellor Prof Nilofer Khan said that the research promotion has been prioritised with sustained involvement of the Office of Dean Research, which is looking after both Research and Projects Units. The Research Unit concerns admissions and registration of students to research programmes and issuance of academic clearances, while the latter is responsible for the implementation of research projects, schemes and programmes funded by different external agencies.
Presently, the number of sanctioned projects in vogue is 166. These are sponsored by DST, DBT, ICAR, CSIR, among other important agencies.
“It is our resolve to create a conducive research environment in the University for our faculty and students. We are doing well in research which is reflected in our NAAC and NIRF assessment and want to push the research promotion further by entering into a research collaboration with other institutions in the country and abroad,” Prof Nilofer said, adding that the University will keep pace with multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research in accordance with the National Education Policy-2020.
Dean of Research Prof Irshad A Nawchoo said an equal emphasis is laid on research promotion across disciplines while encouraging the faculty to draw more extramurally-funded projects.
“The Vice-Chancellor has issued clear instructions on conducting research that benefits the society at large. Our office is on job to attune our researchers to adopt this pathway so that our research is not out of sync with the societal requirements,” he said.
