DU to Intensify the Role of Industry in Research

Delhi University is taking steps to intensify the role of industry in various research initiatives. For this purpose, a new draft policy on promoting research has to be implemented. The draft policy has been published on the official website of DU for comments and feedback.

Usually DU awards around 400 PhDs every year. However, this year, it awarded 600 PhDs. On the other hand, the varsity receives research funds of around Rs. 300 crores from outside. The primary objective of widening the scope of industry in research is to boost the overall ranking and reputation. The new draft policy proposes increasing the number of institutes, grants, centres and themes which would respond to the national or societal need.

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The university-industry cell has been given responsibility to manage the collaborations with industry. The main emphasis is to be laid on bringing academics and industry together. The collaboration will also play a significant role in promoting university-industry linkages and create a database of collaborating industries.

Abha Dev Habib, Executive Council Member, pointed that the varsity must be cautious to deep involvement. More discussions have to be carried out on the kind of collaboration. It would be fine if the collaboration means working together in labs. However, industry should not dictate the director or outcome of research projects.

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The draft suggestions also include maintenance of grant for laboratories and equipment. The individual grants are not sufficient for developing laboratories and support for research start-ups.

Dev Habib further added that DU must assess the outcomes of initiatives before introducing more programmes. DU has a large number of guest faculty which would not help improve the quality of research. On the other hand, the existing semester system has taken away all the quality time for research.