Governor P. Sathasivam on Monday asked why none of the universities in the country has been capable of being ranked among the finest in the world.
In his address at the launch of three new initiatives at the Cochin University of Science and Technology here, Mr. Sathasivam, who is the Chancellor of the varsity, said that he had “always felt a sort of riddle with regard to the performance of Indian universities”.
“We have eminent educationists and academics who constitute excellent faculties. Our students are brilliantly aspiring and ambitious as their counterparts elsewhere,” he said.
The Chancellor announced that Cusat faculty members, who bring projects worth more than one crore, would be aptly recognised under the new ‘Enrich’ scheme. Students who get best paper award in Science Congress will be felicitated.
Best researcher and best faculty awards will be given to the selected faculty under this scheme from the next academic year. Faculty taking up research projects from national agencies will be recognised. For projects up to Rs. one crore, a grant of ten per cent will be provided by the university to meet any expenditure relating to it, he said.
The varsity will release a contingency assistance of Rs. 10,000 to research students, who bag various awards, to meet their research expenses including travel.
Five fellowships will be instituted for women researchers to participate in international seminars within Asian countries. The entire expenses including registration will be met by the university.
The newly-launched Technology Business Incubator will work in the area of communication technologies. It will be managed by the varsity’s Centre for Innovation Technology Transfer and Industrial Collaboration. The adjunct faculty scheme will encourage academics from outside the university system to enhance faculty resources of Cusat, particularly at the post-graduate and research levels.
Cusat Vice Chancellor J. Letha delivered the keynote address. K. G. Nair, Director of Centre for Science in Society, and K. Mohankumar, Director of Advanced Centre for Atmospheric Radar Research, were felicitated on the occasion.
