Jammu: The Office of the Dean Research Studies at Cluster University of Jammu on Friday organized a one-day hybrid workshop on “Guidelines for the Fourth-Year UG Programme: Academic Excellence, Research Integrity and Innovation.”
More than 300 participants from various institutions attended the workshop, which featured interactive sessions and discussions.
The workshop aimed to provide orientation and capacity building to principals of higher education institutions, faculty members, staff and students regarding the Four-Year Research Dissertation Programme at the undergraduate level, as envisioned under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Cluster University of Jammu has introduced the four-year research programme for the academic session 2022–2026. The workshop focused on promoting holistic, multidisciplinary and experiential learning to encourage advanced studies, professional careers and meaningful societal contributions through undergraduate research.
The programme was organized under the leadership of Vice Chancellor Prof. K. S. Chandersekhar, who attended as the chief guest. In his address, he shared insights on implementing research at the undergraduate level and highlighted its potential to bring academic and societal transformation. He also assured full support from the university for the successful implementation of the programme.
Director Colleges Prof. Sheikh Ajaz Bashir, who attended as the guest of honour, congratulated the Office of the Dean Research Studies for initiating the formulation of guidelines for undergraduate research and organizing the workshop to build capacity among stakeholders.
Earlier, Dean Research Studies Dr. Satinder Kaur, in her welcome address and keynote speech, thanked the Vice Chancellor and Director Colleges for their support in framing and implementing the guidelines. She discussed the eligibility criteria, research supervision, dissertation format, institutional committees, research monitoring mechanisms, and the importance of ethics and integrity in research.
The workshop featured several expert sessions. Prof. J. N. Baliya from the Central University of Jammu spoke on “Optimizing Research Mentorship at Higher Education Institutions in Social Sciences.” Prof. R. K. Sharma from the Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi, delivered a lecture on “Integrating Research and Research Ethics in Undergraduate Education.” Prof. Vandana Sharma, Dean of the School of Languages at the Central University of Jammu, spoke on “Research in Literary Studies: Approaches and Methods.”
The programme was supervised by Dr. Kulvinder Kour, Principal of the host college.
Among others present were Registrar Ankur Mahajan, university deans, FA/CAO, members of the advisory and organizing committees, and principals of constituent colleges including Dr. Kulvinder Kour (GCW Gandhi Nagar), Dr. Sunil Gupta (SPMR College of Commerce), Dr. Romesh Kumar Gupta (GGM Science College), Prof. Archana Koul (MAM College) and Dr. Jyoti Parihar (GCOE Jammu).
The proceedings were coordinated by Dr. Avtar Changotra, Assistant Dean Research Studies. The technical coordination was handled by Prof. Amjad Bhatti, along with Prof. Paramjeet Singh, Dr. Sandeep Sharma, Dr. Roomi Rani, Prof. Shally Gupta, Dr. Sushma Bala, Dr. Pankaj Gupta, Ankush Badyal, Paras, Jyoti Sharma and Manohar Lal.
The workshop concluded with a vote of thanks by Dr. Vijender Kumar, Associate Professor at GCW Gandhi Nagar, Jammu.
