The state has chosen to provide sustainability funds to research centers of excellence (CoEs) established in establishments under the World Bank-supported Odisha Higher Education Programme for Excellence and Equity (OHEPEE) in an effort to promote research at public universities.
Currently, research fellows—faculty members—conduct applied research focused on Odisha in the fields of natural sciences, engineering, humanities, and social sciences in eleven research centers of excellence that are operating at seven government-run universities. Utkal, Sambalpur, Berhampur, North Odisha, Ravenshaw, Gangadhar Meher, and Rama Devi are the universities.
Of them, four study literature, the humanities, and social sciences; the remaining three study a variety of scientific and public health-related subjects. Under the OHEPEE, they were established in 2019 and 2020 at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore per. Currently, these centers, which function under the direction of the Higher Education Department’s Odisha State Higher Education Council, have around fifty patents, some of which are still in the application stage.
According to officials, the government has decided to prolong sustenance grants under the new Mukhyamantri Research and Innovation Fellowship program in order to enable the centers continue to run smoothly and incorporate new components in research because all of the centers are doing well in their selected fields of study. The research centers of excellence that focus on science will get Rs 35 lakh from the state government, while those that study language, literature, and social science will receive Rs 25 lakh.
“Although the government already provides research grants to research fellows, the sustainability grants will support, among other things, the upkeep of the centers’ instruments and equipment, the introduction of student research internships, the publication of critical texts, and the hiring of research associates,” officials continued.
In addition to requesting that vice-chancellors of universities apply for sustainability funds, the Department of Higher Education has also urged that research internships be initiated by the centers for students who want to pursue research after receiving their master’s degree. The sustainability awards will be used to give incentives to the interns. The first institution to recently request applications from students for research internships is Sambalpur Institution.
Research COEs will be eligible for funds for sustainability under the new Mukhyamantri Research and Innovation initiative
The state government will provide centers studying scientific subjects Rs 35 lakh, while centers studying language, literature, and social science would get Rs 25 lakh.
A group of specialists has been assembled to assess grant applications.