Pointing at the expanding horizons of academic researches, H.M. Maheshwaraiah, Vice-Chancellor of Central University, Karnataka, has urged students to adopt inter-disciplinary or multi-disciplinary approach in their research so that disciplines could interact with each other for better results.
He was addressing a national workshop on “Research Methodology” at the Government College (Autonomous) here on Monday. The workshop was organised in association with University Grants Commission.
“Confining ourselves to a particular discipline while researching may not serve the purpose. The boundaries of research are expanding these days. We need to have inter-disciplinary approach,” he said.
He urged the research community to make use of abundant information available online.
He commended the Union government for its initiatives to digitise information and making it available online for all.
“At present, 29 crore students are benefiting from digital initiatives using digital libraries online in their academic pursuits. The number is expected to cross 47 crore in the next few years as the usage of technology-driven devices such as mobile phones and hand-held equipment is increasing. There is a great surge in the number of digital libraries and digitised works available online. The Union government’s initiatives, including e-suvidha, are boosting the digitisation process. Students should make use of these digital initiatives for their studies and research,” he said.
Referring to the poor Gross Enrolment Ration (GER) in higher education, Mr. Maheshwaraiah stressed the need to improve higher education scenario in the country by achieving at least 30 % GER by 2020. “Our present GER in higher education is just 24.5 %. The Union government has set a target of achieving 40 % by 2020, which may be difficult. We need to cross at least 30 %,” he said.
Nandagi Rachappa, principal of the college, expressed discontent over the diminishing quality of academic research.
“After the government made Ph.D mandatory for the post of lecturer in degree colleges, everybody started taking up Ph.D. The quality of Ph.D reduced horribly as the researchers were driven not by academic interest but by job aspiration. Obtaining a Ph.D became as easy as getting a degree certificate. The instances of copying from earlier research works and pasting them on as their own research work became common. The trend is still continuing,” he said. He advised students to choose a topic and do research in such a fashion that their work would help society in one way or the other.
Professor Rajamouli from Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad, and others were present.
