The University of Hyderabad (UoH) celebrated the 75th Republic Day with the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. B J Rao, unfurling the National Flag at the Gurbaksh Singh Maidan on the campus.
Prof. B J Rao, paid tributes to the freedom fighters who brought independence and prepared the Constitution that guides us to function as a secular, democratic and republic nation. He also highlighted the achievements of the University during the year.
Earlier Prof. Ashwini Nangia, Senior Professor and Dean, School of Chemistry unfurled the National flag at Golden Threshold campus in the city.
A special patriotic dance was performed by the campus school students on the occasion.
Republic Day Speech by Vice Chancellor (26th Jan’24)
Dear faculty members, officers, staff, students, children and invited guests: Greetings to everyone assembled here for the 75th Republic Day celebrations. We have now completed 74 years of our Indian Republic, today. Our university stands as a treasure of knowledge and innovation. We are committed to fostering excellence in education and research. On this Republic Day, I am delighted to share with you some highlights of the remarkable research and development activities that have taken place within our esteemed University.
The University has decided to implement the National Education Policy 2020 in phases. In Phase One, a roadmap was created by all the academic units. The University constituted a committee, headed by Prof. Vasuki Belavadi recently to provide guidelines on implementation. The Committee has prepared the guidelines, and academic units will soon draft their curriculum in accordance with NEP. While the College for Integrated Studies has begun implementing NEP for the Integrated Programmes, other PG programmes will do so soon. Students across disciplines will be required to clear at least two General Education Courses which will be provided online.
Our researchers have been actively engaged in projects ranging from the development of novel solutions and findings emerging from our laboratories which is a testament to our commitment to pushing the boundaries of knowledge and creating a positive impact on society. We published around 1100 research findings in various forms such as journal article, conference proceedings, books etc. Our researchers were granted 33 patents, 10 in the year 2023 itself. As of today, within the campus, excluding IoE, 165 extramural projects worth 106 Crores are running that includes DBT wellcome trust grant to Dr. Prasad Tammineni of 3.5 Cr. INR. Since last January, 2023, we were granted close to 100 extra mural projects worth Rs. 59 Crores.
Moreover, our university has been actively collaborating with industry partners, government agencies, and international institutions to enhance the practical application of our research findings. In the year 2023, we partnered with 16 new organizations, out of which 12 are with Industries. With these numbers, we have sixty-five functional MoUs, out of which 42 are with institutes, 17 with industry, and 6 with NGOs. Further, these sixty-five include forty-four at the national level and 21 at the international level. Our visibility at international fora is increasing continuously. Recently our faculty members (Prof Pramod K Nayar and Prof Anna Kurian, the UNESCO Chair in Vulnerability Studies) in collaboration with Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) launched a 5-week online course titled, ‘ Ageing Through Literature from the Global South and Global North’. it is a first of its kind joint-teaching initiative of the UoH with an international partner. The UNESCO Chair in Vulnerability Studies has also launched an FDP with NIT Trichy. With a record number of 550+ participants from India, UK Iran, Indonesia and Pakistan and speakers from India, UK and Spain, the FDP fulfills the mandate of the Chair and served as a part of UoH’s SDG initiative, given that several of the SDGs were addressed within the FDP. In this direction, recently we had an international conference of Sustainable Development Goals. Many of our stakeholders actively participated in the conference. It has seen many dialogues related to SDG 2030 and beyond along with its implementation. Each small step we take today, whether it be reducing our carbon footprint or promoting eco-friendly practices, contributes to a larger collective effort towards a sustainable tomorrow.
ASPIRE, a Section 8 non-profit organization dedicated to fostering entrepreneurial initiatives at the University of Hyderabad, extends its influence through a variety of conferences, training sessions, and capacity-building programs, effectively engaging a broad audience. Last year, approximately 75 students, including 30 from various Life Sciences departments at University of Hyderabad, benefited from the internship training at our incubated start-ups.
ASPIRE foundation day, celebrated on March 7th, featured Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Member of NITI Aayog, as the chief guest and his emphasized on the importance of platforms like ASPIRE in academic institutions for fostering translational outcomes to face of the impending 6th wave of innovation through his speech. Furthermore, five startups incubated at ASPIRE – Variant Genetics, Urban Tiller, D-Nome Pvt Ltd, Vitulomics, and Arthro Biotech – were recognized as best startups in various categories at the International Knowledge Millennium Conference (IKMC) 2023.
Internationalization at University of Hyderabad is quite active and dynamic with quite a few international collaborations, exchanges and visits of International Delegations. Some of the select activities of OIA are: In a series of international engagements, Freie Universitat Berlin and Heidelberg University initiated a collaborative project with the University of Hyderabad (UoH) in Cognitive Sciences, Health Psychology, and Economics on September 21, 2023. The university hosted a two-day DAAD workshop on Internationalization at Indian higher education institutions on November 2-3, 2023, featuring German experts and alumni. Further, the International Students Orientation Program and Cultural evening occurred on November 8, 2023, enriching the global experience for students.
The Chinese Embassy delegation, led by Mr. Yang Xiuhua, Education Counsellor, visiting to foster bilateral cooperation in higher education and delegation of African journalists visit, coordinated by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, gaining insights into India’s accomplishments across sectors through presentations on internationalization, research and development, and incubation center activities etc. are highlights of the increased interests that the institutions are showing to collaborate with our university.
The IoE program is entering into the final year of its tenure. It is a good time to reflect on the metrics on which the University will be evaluated and where we stand on them. There has been a marked increase in the number of conferences organized by the University. In the last 18 months alone, more than 75 conferences/seminars/ workshops have been sponsored. Internationalization has been enabled by the visits of Chair Professors, travel by faculty and students to conferences across the globe and international collaborations. Large investments are made on new buildings, high-end equipment, apart from upgrading existing infrastructure.
However, in the last 3 years research publications have increased, but saturated at approximately 1100 per year although almost Rs 70 Cr have been sanctioned in research projects and professional development to faculty members. Unfortunately, very few new teaching programmes have been started. Clearly, we need to perform better commensurate with the public resources utilized. Let us try harder and improve our academic output further.
It is also gratifying to note that a few of our faculty have been actively involved in research activities bringing laurels to the university. It’s an honour that three of our faculty Prof. Balasubramanian Senthilkumaran, Senior Professor in the Department of Animal Biology, School of Life Sciences, Prof. M. Jayananda, Senior Professor and Head, Centre for Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Prof. Samar K. Das, School of Chemistry and Dr. Mohammed Javed Ali, an Alumnus of the Biochemistry Department, School of Life Sciences have been awarded with the prestigious JC Bose National Fellowship 2023. My congratulations and best wishes to them.
The Department of Sanskrit Studies floated two interdisciplinary courses under the IoE status during 2021. The first one floated by Prof Aloka Parasher Sen, Prof Emerita titled ‘WE LIVE, YOU LIVE AND THE MUTE ‘OTHER’: Negotiating Human – Non- Human Historical Interactions in South Asia’ involving faculty from University of Hyderabad, from outside UoH both within and outside India. This rigorous discussions during this course resulted into a book well received by scholars within and outside India. The other course was floated by Prof Amba Kulkarni on ‘Samsaadhanii Praveshika:Learning Sanskrit using Computational Tools’. This attracted many people outside the UoH both within India and abroad, and resulted into a popular course being offered again this year with equally good number of registrations, generating good revenue.
We look forward to having more such programs for wider reach and perception enhancement.The Centre for Digital Learning, Training & Resources (CDLTR) offers online courses through flexible and blended learning sessions, for both on-campus programmes and self-paced courses for individuals wanting to enhance their skill sets. It conducts a range of training workshops for teachers in developing online courses. I am happy to note that the centre has Developed Online Course under IoE titled “Samsādhanī – Praveśikā: Learning Sanskrit using Computational Tools” by Prof. Amba Kulkarni, Dept. of Sanskrit Studies (Course Launched in January 2024); developed Online Course under IoE titled “Individual and Organizational Behaviour” by Prof. Jyothi, School of Management Studies; Developing an Online Course under IoE titled “Gender Sensitisation” by Prof. Suneetha Rani, Centre for Women Studies, School of Social Sciences; Developing an Online Course under IoE titled “Birth Care Practitioners – Doula Course” by Prof. B. Shamanna, School of Medical Sciences.
I call upon all academic units to make use of the facilities at CDLTR for greater benefit of the student community and reach. I am happy to note that our Centre for Distance and Virtual Learning (CDVL) has started offering a new programme exclusively in the medical line with LV Prasad Eye Institute and Fernadez hospital. This year it is offering six months certificate programmes in Birth Care Practitioner (Birth Doula) (BCPCC) a collaborative course with Fernadez Foundation which will help to train many people in the area of Birth Care especially in the rural areas. Besides it is also offering Diploma in Community eye care and Diploma in Infection Prevention Control (DIPC) is one of the best programmes which is being offered at a global level with the help of the School of Medical Sciences faculty.
This year CDVL has taken up a new initiative in the name “Earn while your Learn” Under this it is going to provide Paid apprenticeship with the help of the TeamLease, Edtech Ltd which is having an association with more than 1000 industries. The students can avail the benefit of apprenticeship (paid) while undergoing the online programmes. In order to provide the Paid apprenticeship to the students, this year the CDVL has started 4 new programmes with an innovative learning experience that bridges academic knowledge with hand on practice. This distinctive diploma apprenticeship programmes learning equip the student with Industry relevant skills. As per UGC circular all CDVL students also started registering in the Academic Banking (ABC) portal which will help the students for the Credit transfer.
Four Special Recruitment Drives were undertaken by the University since September 2021 to fill up the backlog reserved teaching vacancies and also another Employment Notification for 76 fresh vacancies. 47 faculty appointments, 125 faculty promotions, 109 DPC promotions to non-teaching staff were accorded under the Mission mode Recruitment. The recruitment is in process for 88 notified teaching posts. The recruitment process for 95 non-teaching posts (Group-A, Group-B and Group-C) notified in September 2023 has been taken up by the National Testing Agency (NTA). First phase (Tier-I) of the examinations for Group-B and Group-C posts were successfully conducted yesterday (a day before Republic Day).
Viksit Bharat@2047 represents the government of India’s ambitious vision to transform the nation into a developed entity by the centenary of its independence in 2047, encompassing diverse facets of development such as economic prosperity, social advancement, environmental sustainability, and effective governance. This vision underscores the critical juncture at which India currently stands.
In the quest for imparting quality education to its students, five new buildings of the School of Economics, the School of Mathematics & Statistics, the School of Management Studies, Lecture Hall Complex – III and the Sarojini Naidu School of Arts & Communication (Annexe) were inaugurated virtually by the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, October 1, 2023.
Stanford University has recently published an update of its study of the global top 2% of most widely cited researchers in different disciplines. With 21 of UoH faculty in the global top 2% covering such a wide range of areas, UoH’s status as a research university has been reiterated, October 7, 2023.
India Electronics Semiconductor Association (IESA) which is India’s premier industry body for Electronics Semiconductor Design and Manufacturing, awarded the Technovation Award to Centre for Advanced Studies in Electronics Science and Technology (CASEST) as a best Skilling Entity in recognition of its M.Tech Programs, at its Vision Summit 2024 held on 24th January 2024. The uniqueness of the programs is in imparting combined training for students in Integrated Circuits Design and Semiconductor Manufacturing Process in a Class-1000 and Class-100 Clean-room inside the Campus.
Last year the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology granted Chip2Startup project to CASEST with free access to centralized EDA tools and Development boards to strengthen the program. Similarly, a 5G capacity building laboratory is in the offing at SCIS, UoH.
Golden Jubilee Celebration for us is no less pleasurable than the golden jubilee celebration of any institution anywhere on earth. No one can wipe out the indelible memories of this institution that has taught the highest values of life in significant ways to its students. We are here to ensure that its stature as an educational institution grows in the days to come and it becomes one of the best in the World. We will plan its future with commitment and outlook so that all its students feel truly proud of it in future.
Warm greetings, once again, on this 75th Republic Day to everyone present here, with tributes to our national leaders who brought us this freedom and built such a strong foundation through the Constitution.
JAI HIND, JAI BHARATH