The University Grant Commission has directed Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to implement the newly formulated guidelines for the establishment of research and development cells (RDC). In its letter dated March 14, the commission said the establishment of the Research and Development Cell (RDC) in HEIs will facilitate the catalyzation of multidisciplinary/ transdisciplinary and translational research culture mandate in the New Education Policy (NEP 2020) while working for the target of ‘Atma-Nirbhar Bharat’.
These RDCs will be governed by a Research Advisory Council (RAC) headed by the vice-chancellor or principal or their nominee. The guidelines suggest for setup of a Research Information Management System (RIMS) to collect and manage all the research-related information, databases, publications, research projects, fellowship, patents, collaboration, innovation thrust areas etc.
The commission has stressed the development of a standard plagiarism check mechanism and making the software available to all researchers for smooth functioning. The RDCs are also expected to create awareness among the research community on dubious research and publishing practices and predatory journals.
The guidelines emphasize that research activities at the HEIs should be in sync with the mandate of different missions of Union government like sustainable development goals, Start-up India etc to make India self-reliant or Atmanirbhar. New HEIs will be encouraged to collaborate and connect with RDCs of established HEIs for guidance in research.
The new guidelines ask HEIs to increase their collaborative efforts with other institutions and organizations for joint research, exchange of students, scholars, and faculty. The commission has also suggested the HEIs should re-hire or designate experienced retired and eminent faculty as mentors in order to develop a resilient research ecosystem in the RDCs.
To finance the research activities at the HEIs, the RDCs can formulate a Corpus from government, industry, and other funding agencies. Further, they can also channelise the Corporate Social Responsibility Funds (CSR) and explore the option of venture capitalists, angel investors for funding research and innovation.
HEIs with good performance in research activities shall be awarded Institution of Excellence Awards by the UGC
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