Atotal of 38 central universities have already established Research and Development Cell (RDC) whereas at least six are in the process of it, said the University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar in a tweet. As part of the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020, higher education institutes were mandated to establish RDCs for facilitating multidisciplinary/transdisciplinary and translational research culture.
The UGC is set to arrange a meeting with many of these HEIs on August 23, to discuss how the establishment of the RDCs is set to improve the research ecosystem in higher education in the country. Kumar added that the work establishment of RDCs so far had been undertaken at 83 deemed universities, 45 state government funded universities, 29 private state universities, and 95 colleges.
The UGC, in March this year, laid down the guidelines for the establishment of the RDCs in HEIs across the country. The RDCs will be governed by a Research Advisory Council (RAC) headed by the vice-chancellor or principal or their nominee. The guidelines suggested setting up a Research Information Management System (RIMS) to collect and manage all the research-related information.
The commission emphasised the development of a standard plagiarism check mechanism and making the software available to all researchers for smooth functioning. Further, the RDCs were also expected to create awareness about dubious research and publishing practices and predatory journals.
The new guidelines asked the HEIs to ramp up their collaborative efforts with other institutions for carrying out joint research, and exchange of students, scholars, and faculty. The commission had also suggested the HEIs re-hire or designate experienced retired and eminent faculty as mentors in order to develop a resilient research ecosystem in the RDCs.
For funding the research activities, RDCs may formulate a Corpus from the government, industry, and other funding agencies. Further, they can also explore the option of channelising the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Funds or approaching venture capitalists, and angel investors for funding research and innovation.