Bhubaneswar: Vice-chancellors of state public universities on Thursday stressed the need for a collaborative research ecosystem across Odisha’s universities at the Odisha Research Conclave (ORC) 2024 at Fakir Mohan University in Balasore.
Santosh Kumar Tripathy, vice-chancellor of Fakir Mohan University, appealed to VCs of the state public universities to collaborate with each other for research and innovation. “Let us go together to grow together. Following the collaboration, we can create a research ecosystem which will contribute towards the development of Odisha by 2036 and India by 2047,” he added.
Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) vice-chancellor Amiya Kumar Rath said every university should try to solve real-world problems. “Each university should focus on one particular research problem in their region and try solving it. We can use the latest technology like artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, and automation for this,” he added.
Berhampur University vice-chancellor Geetanjali Dash called for the need for funding to improve the quality of research. “State universities can lead the way in partnering with agencies for improving research quality,” she added.
N Nagaraju, vice-chancellor of GM University, Sambalpur, emphasised the need for interdisciplinary dialogues for project development catering to local issues. He also spoke about the creation of a research ecosystem. Kshiti Bhusan Das, vice-chancellor of Central University of Jharkhand and guest of honour of the conclave, spoke about research and innovation.
On the first day of the conclave, a round table of VCs on research and innovation in state universities of Odisha was held, along with an invited talk. An exhibition was also conducted by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at the conclave.
Over the next two days, technical sessions will cover contemporary research in commerce and business management, research and development in science and technology for higher education, research and NEP 2020, and research and development for the sustainable growth of industries.
A poster presentation will be held at the conclave. Researchers, students, scholars, and others will take part in the competition. As many as 30 jury members, subject experts, will evaluate the posters of the presenters. “We will give an award to the best poster presenter of each subject. Students will also get awards for their achievements,” said an official statement of the conclave.