Gondwana University, Gadchiroli

Proposed Research Policy

1. Preamble

Reputation of any educational institution depends on scholarship, research productivity and innovation. The success of a University in attaining its objectives is greatly contingent upon the alignment of the faculty with all the aspects of research initiatives. Therefore, the present research policy aims to help Gondwana University and it’s faculties to achieve excellence and contribute to various organisations and the society.

2. Objectives

1. To cultivate, promote and strengthen research activities
2. To plan, co-ordinate, supervise research activities in university departments, colleges and recognized institutions.
3. To raise funds for research activities in university departments, colleges and recognized institutions.

3. Promotion of Research

The University shall create conducive environment for carrying out research. Being newly established and due to unavailability of resources, the University may not support fully all research likely to be undertaken, but it shall allocate the space, facilities, partial funding, and other resources for research programmes based on the scholarly and educational merits of the proposed research proposals. It shall also provide developmental opportunities to researchers for writing research proposals, reports, publications, patent filing, etc.

4. Identification of Research Areas

Although the researchers have the freedom to choose their own topics of research, it is highly desirable to make research relevant to the needs of local region and society. The University expects the Post Graduate departments and affiliated colleges to prepare a list of research areas/topics. Under each faculty/discipline and department, there shall be an exhaustive list of such topics or areas, which can be called a bank of thrust areas.

5. Research at UG and PG Level

Teaching and research are equally important in any University. After the establishment of the Gondwana University, it was thought that in order to promote creativity among the undergraduate and post-graduate students, some research component in the curricula, especially in the final or pre-final year of the bachelors programme and final year in the master’s programme, is necessary. Similarly, in the postgraduate programme, research should be emphasised emphatically and students must be trained for robust research skills. The University shall further reinforce research training in both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the coming future. It is also mooted to encourage affiliated colleges for participation in Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) as means to engage oneself in research and technology development.

 

6. Establishment of Tinkering/Idea Labs

Students may have many innovative ideas and plans of research on which they want to work, but in the absence of the infrastructure, including the place and space, they are unable to work on desired plans. Therefore, the University would encourage an Idea/Tinkering Lab in affiliated colleges and in due course of time at the University level, where the students can research on an idea. The Idea/Tinkering Lab also provides the opportunity to the students to ask questions in different areas of knowledge. It shall equip them with an ability to think, concretise the idea, design research study, work on it and report the findings. It shall also encourage research scholars to publish and patent their research work.

7. Ph. D. Programme

Being newly established, Gondwana University has limited resources for conducting research and also for the development of the research infrastructure in different fields; therefore, it is mooted to have collaboration with different prominent National Institutions / Laboratories / Universities where they have requisite research infrastructures and also have expertise to guide the scholars in different areas. It shall also recognise the worthy R&D organisations for doctoral research and build bridges between them. The University shall encourage faculty and research scholars to get funding for attending International conferences from external agencies as a matching share so that the quality in research paper can be maintained. It shall urge research scholars to publish and patent their research work.

8. Minor Research Projects

The Minor Research Project helps young faculty think about research, prepare the proposal, conduct research and write a research report. It also assists them in preparing proposals for major research projects. The University shall take necessary steps to encourage young faculty to take up minor research projects and shall earmark appropriate budget for this purpose.

9. Major Research Projects

The University is to identify and publish a list of funding agencies. Faculty can submit Major Research Project proposals to these funding agencies. These proposals should be scrutinised before submitting the same to a particular funding agency. The University plans to evolve a mechanism through which it shall monitor the progress of Major Research Projects funded by an external agency, maintain its accounts and submit the utilising certificate in time to the funding agency as per the requirement of the funding agency. The University proposes to provide funding on its own to certain important Major Research Projects where the funding from the outside agency is not possible. It shall earmark appropriate budget for this purpose.

10. Collaborative Research Projects (Industry and Inter-disciplinary)

The University-Industry Interaction is the demand of the day. If we want to contribute to the society at large, the University has to closely work with industries and different organisations of the region. Industries and business organisations are facing different kind of problems and many of them would like to have the help from the University with an aim to find the solutions to their problems. For that, the University plans to promote and undertake (i) Industry Sponsored Research Project and (ii) Interdisciplinary Research.

11. Training for Research and Publications

Generally, faculties are eager to conduct research, but because of the lack of knowledge to write a research proposal or having insufficient research skills, they are unable to channelize their efforts effectively. Hence, in many cases, a research proposal is rejected by a funding agency. Even for publication of papers because of the lack of knowledge about how to write a paper and under which format it should be submitted, the papers may not be accepted. Therefore, the University shall organise rigorous training programmes for researchers in the identified areas.

12. Publication of Papers and Journals

Publication of papers is critical for the effectiveness of the University. Faculty must publish continuously in quality journals. Therefore, the University plans to encourage the publication of papers by the faculty with a targeted aim. A faculty member shall be expected to publish a certain number of research papers in refereed journals at national and international levels. These journals will be identified by University Post Graduate departments and affiliated colleges. Research papers to be published in identified journals and to be presented at national and international conferences shall be scrutinised and guided by a committee of senior professors. Each college shall be encouraged to publish a quality journal and organise research conference, from time to time to boost research activities in the Institute and to contribute to the existing body of knowledge.

13. Patent and IPR – policy document dealt in separate
14. Incentives for outstanding research

The Gondwana University would like to encourage quality research in different thrust areas. For this purpose, outstanding research contributions done by faculty, researcher, and research scholar shall be recognised. Therefore, the University proposes a scheme for providing incentive to researchers and scholars. The incentives are identified as under:

a) Incentive in terms of money

b) Incentive in terms of awards / prizes

c) Incentive in terms of more funding for the ongoing research

d) Incentive in terms of certificate or giving more weightage for the career advancement scheme, etc.

15. Research Misconduct

The University believes that the occurrence of misconduct is a threat to the basic principles of research. The University defines research misconduct, as any fabrication, falsification or plagiarism in proposing, performing or reviewing research or in the reporting of research results. Research misconduct does not include an honest error or differences of opinion, authorship disputes that do not involve plagiarism, and violations of other University policies (e.g., sexual harassment policy). Misconduct in research damages the integrity of the profession and undermines the credibility of scholars. It is also antithetical to the values the University strives to maintain and promote the research. The University shall take seriously all allegations of misconduct, and shall ensure that the procedures for the inquiry, investigation and adjudication of any misconduct are well defined for all parties involved.

16. Review of the Policy

The policy will be reviewed every three years.