New Delhi, January 30, 2019: O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) hosted Higher Education Leader’s Conference on the theme ‘Achieving Research Excellence within ASEAN and Indian Universities’ on 28th of January, 2019. This Conference was aimed to create an ethos for interdisciplinary research within ASEAN and Indian Universities.
In his opening address, Professor (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor, JGU emphasised on the need to build research-based partnerships and create an equal system to enable faculty members pursue the idea of research collaboration.
Dr. Raj Kumar reiterated JGU’s focus on research and said, “to encourage faculty members to deliver research-driven teaching has been an integral part of the founding vision of JGU. We have taken several steps to realise this vision including a rewards system for high quality research.”
In her introduction to the proceeding, JGU’s
Director of International Affairs Kalyani Unkule, Associate Professor, Jindal Global
Law School observed, “the unique significance of this conference lies in
bringing together institutions from 14 countries across the world to introspect
on key aspects of the global future of higher education. The foundations for
future co-operation to implement the outcomes of this conference has
have been laid through the signing of agreements between JGU and Derby
University, UK, Vietnam National University, Vietnam and University of Modern
Sciences, UAE, among others.”
The
conference comprised of three segments that supported the main theme; The
agendas of the segments were:
- Novel Approaches to funding research
- Industry-Academia interface for research and innovation.
- Creating an institutional environment supporting
interdisciplinary research.
Over 100 international students, mainly from south and southeast Asian countries attended the seminar. This diverse set of audience proved to be very informative and interactive towards community development and inter-disciplinary research.
The speakers addressed the challenges of implementing research projects, such as the lack of funding and participation by governments and existing internal conflicts within the organisations. Possible solutions towards establishment of an interface to expand research networks and strengthening institutional capacity were also proposed.
Moreover, the delegates focused on creation of an institutional environment conducive for interdisciplinary research. While most of them stated that funding is a key issue, imperative to be resolved, quite a few said that the quality of research can only reach excellent standards provided there is an acceptance of different cultures and integration of different departments to work together. Some of the delegates present also spoke about the traditional way of learning by students and how it has to be challenged given the emergence of new methods.
The diverse economic conditions of the nations fuelled further discussions on the issue of funding and its prospective solutions. Another delegate talked about “Industry 4.0” and whether the existing system will be able to keep up with the rapid advancement of the nations.
Another focus point of deliberation was on outreach. Delegates stressed on the importance of global initiatives of outreach programmes exposing students to different and possibly better resources and techniques, and the need of exposing the faculty to a certain level of professionalism and rules during research to maintain the standard and quality of the product of their work.
The discussions generated by this seminar will assuredly initiate worldwide discussions and expansion of global networks for partnerships in the field of research excellence. Preceding this event, last year Professor of Law Dr. Ade Maman Suherman of Jenderal Soedirman University, Indonesia had visited the campus to sign a Memorandum of Association (MoA) with JGU. This MoA is an indication of goodwill between the nations to work towards its main goal: Achieving Research Excellence.
