Vice Chancellor’s Message

Establishing O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) as a research-focused institution has been one of its foundational aspirations. The University fosters a strong institutional impetus to conduct and disseminate socially relevant research and knowledge while meaningfully engaging with the local, national, and global community. The ongoing research at JGU in the fields of humanities, social sciences, public policy, international relations, environment, sustainability, urban planning, business, entrepreneurship, innovation, and finance reflects our wide-ranging research focus.

JGU faculty has over 6000+ publications to its credit, garnering recognition and citations from scholars, policymakers, and jurists. The excellence demonstrated by JGU in research has led to it being recognized as an Institute of Eminence by the Government of India in 2020 and becoming the highest-ranking Indian Private University in the QS World University Rankings 2023. As per these rankings, it is also the highest-ranking Indian University dedicated to Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities. JGU has been awarded the prestigious Jean Monnet Chair by the European Union in 2020 and 2023.

Research contributing to holistic problem-solving often lies at the intersection of disciplinary boundaries. JGU encourages intellectual and academic collaborations among its 12 schools, 60+ research centers, and 4 research and capacity-building institutes. The university’s interdisciplinary research centers draw upon the varied faculty expertise from across the university to conduct their research, in the process not only contributing to the ongoing debates on topical issues of contemporary relevance but also leading and shaping these debates.

Research at JGU is supported through a framework of policies and committees that encourage and facilitate internal and external research funding, incentivize high-quality research, and promote the professional development of our researchers. To further enhance the institution’s research capabilities, we have established the Office of the Dean of Research (ODR), a university-level nodal office with the primary objective of fostering a university-wide research ecosystem by facilitating research-related activities and streamlining research-related processes at the institutional level. The office has a three-fold focus: Projects, Grants, and Publications, with a particular emphasis on inter-institutional research collaborations, especially with the institutions across the globe with whom JGU shares Memoranda of Understanding.

In addition to other research facilitation measures, the office has initiated three university-wide research and publication-focused initiatives: the Jindal Research Facilitation Program (JRFP), the Jindal Researcher-in-Residence Fellowship (JRRF), and the Faculty Development Workshop Series (FDWS). The Jindal Research Facilitation Program is a six-month-long immersion program for JGU researchers that provides a step-by-step path from ideation to publication. The Jindal Researcher-in-Residence Fellowship is designed to facilitate inter-university collaborative research with scholars affiliated with institutions across the globe by hosting them as researchers in residence at JGU. The Faculty Development Workshop Series is a capacity-building initiative for the JGU faculty whereby workshops on the fundamental aspects of research ethics, publication, and funding are conducted.

With the objective of encouraging and facilitating funded research at JGU, the Office of the Dean of Research has established steps & processes for administering the pre-award and post-award stages of research projects awarded to the university’s researchers. Since 2009, JGU has received upwards of US$ 5 million in competitive research grants from various multilateral donor agencies (such as UN, WHO, and ADB), foreign public bodies and departments (such as the US Department of State, Arts & Humanities Research Council (UK), Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia), GIZ (Germany), IRDA (France) and Norwegian Research Council); departments/ ministries of the Government of India (such as Indian Council of Social Science Research, Department of Science and Technology, University Grants Commission, and the Ministry of Commerce); private foundations and non-profit organizations (such as Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust) and private organizations including Facebook and Qualcomm. Through these grants, JGU researchers have explored and addressed a range of issues of public concern across diverse disciplines and topics, including intellectual property, sustainable development, supply chain management, micro-credit, trade and investment, education policy, agrarian policy, energy security, public health, mental health, gender equality, urbanization, digital piracy, civil society, behavioral studies, migration, and human rights. The office also administers internally funded research grants at the University. More than 40+ interdisciplinary research projects have been funded through the university’s Research Grants Policy.

As a  private university dedicated to promoting public service, through these initiatives, in the years ahead, we aim to further consolidate our past experiences and knowledge, invest greater resources and efforts to enlarge our research programs, promote greater interdisciplinary research, incentivize research projects that emphasize social impact, encourage research efforts that engage directly with local communities, strengthen research collaborations, and participate actively in global knowledge creation opportunities.