Academic calls for multi-disciplinary research

Pointing at the expanding horizon of academic research, H.M. Maheshwaraiah, Vice-Chancellor of Central University of Karnataka, has called upon students to adopt an inter-disciplinary or mutli-disciplinary approach for better results.

He was addressing a national workshop on research methodology at the Government College (Autonomous), organised in association with the University Grants Commission, here on Monday.

“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 an inter-disciplinary approach,” he said.

He called upon the research community to make use of the abundant information available online and commended the Centre for its initiative towards digitising information and making it available online for all. “At present, around 29 crore students are benefiting from the digital initiatives, as they are increasingly using online libraries. Over the next few years, this number is expected to cross 47 crore, as the usage of technology-driven devices, such as mobile phones, is increasing. There is a surge in number of digital libraries and digitised works available online. The Union government’s initiatives, such as e-suvidha, are boosting the digitisation process. Students should make use of these initiatives for their studies and researches.”

Referring to the poor Gross Enrolment Ration (GER) in higher education, Mr. Maheshwaraiah stressed the need to improve the same by achieving at least 30% GER by 2020. “Our present GER in higher education is just 24.5%. The Centre has set a target of 40% by 2020, which may be difficult. We need to cross at least 30%,” he said.

Nandagi Rachappa, college principal, 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 began to take up Ph.D. The quality of Ph.D has fallen, as researchers are driven not by academic interest, but by job aspiration. Obtaining a Ph.D. also became as easy as getting a degree certificate. Instances of plagiarism also started getting reported. The trend is still continuing,” he said. He advised students to choose a topic and research so that their work would help society.

Rajamouli from Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad, and others were present.