3-Aug-2022: New scheme launched to augment research capabilities in state universities and colleges
A new scheme was launched to augment the research capabilities in a structured way to create a robust R&D ecosystem in state and private universities and colleges, including self-financed institutions working within these universities.
State University Research Excellence (SERB-SURE) is a new innovative scheme of the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), that can foster collaboration for high-end research at state and private universities and colleges.
“The new scheme will help bring the university system, which was so far mostly limited to teaching, into mainstream research and enable the young faculty there to participate in cutting-edge research,” said Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar, Chairman SERB and Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST) at the launch of the programme. He added that the new programme, which would also support data-driven social science research, would be a great stimulus to the latent potential that lies in our universities.
Chairman University Grants Commission, Professor M Jagadesh Kumar, said that this scheme would provide much-needed research opportunities to the faculties of state universities, 45% of which are located in rural areas. He also emphasized on the need to train the faculty of the universities on how to write and submit proposals, procurements, and management of projects.
“As a large number of the state universities are in rural backgrounds, they can also take part in ground-level research that would benefit the local industry and local farmers and work for grassroot problems needing innovative solutions,” said K N Vyas, Secretary Department of Atomic Energy.
“In this scheme, the state universities will have level competition to secure research funding, and present significant opportunities for strengthening of research ecosystem in state universities to upgrade their research capabilities to national and international levels,” said SERB Secretary Professor Sandeep Verma.
The growth of existing research capabilities at these institutions is imperative to ensure horizontal diffusion of research excellence reaching all research students hoping to contribute to national R&D ecosystem, to propagate scientific temper and promoting enhancement of quality through SERB support.
SERB-SURE scheme provides research support to active researchers belonging to state and private universities and colleges, including self-financed institutions working within these universities, across India, to undertake research and development in frontier areas of science, engineering, and quantitative social science.
10-May-2023: CSIR-NIScPR organized a Meeting of the water & Environment Sub-Committee under SVASTIK initiative
As a part of the national initiative for communicating India’s scientifically validated traditional knowledge to the society branded as SVASTIK (Scientifically Validated Societal Traditional Knowledge), CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (NIScPR) hosted the first meeting of the Water, Ecology & Environment Sub-committee chaired by Prof B N Jagatap, Senior Professor, IIT Bombay in hybrid mode.
Eminent experts including, Prof Pradeep P Mujumdar, Dr Virendra M Tiwari, Dr L S Rathore, Dr Manohar Singh Rathore, Prof Saroj K Barik, Prof Anil P Joshi, Dr Pushpendra K Singh, and Dr Viswajanani J Sattigeri attended the sub-committee meeting. SVASTIK team members from NIScPR were also present in the meeting. Prof Ranjana Aggarwal, Director, CSIR-NIScPR, welcomed the experts and gave a brief introduction about SVASTIK activities and its digital footprint. Dr Charu Lata, Head, IH&TKS, CSIR-NIScPR, gave a glimpse of the activities taken up under SVASTIK through her presentation.
The experts shared their experiences and suggested measures to document and disseminate Indian traditional knowledge and practices in the areas of water conservation, rainwater harvesting, surface water management, and water purification. Prof Pradeep P Mujumdar, IISc, Bengaluru provided a timeline of Hydrology in Ancient India through his brief presentation. Padma Bhushan Prof Anil Joshi exhorted on the need to understand the science behind nature for sustainably protecting and conserving water, ecology and environment.
Prof Saroj K Barik commented on the need to promote and create awareness of the importance of the ancient water conservation systems to society. In addition, traditional knowledge in biodiversity conservation measures such as scared groves and bun cultivation were also discussed.
The sub-committee meeting ended with an open discussion on measures to disseminate Indian traditional knowledge with scientific basis on water conservation and various ecological practices.
18-Aug-2020: Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad launches “Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge” to realize the ambition of self-reliance and a momentous stride towards “Aatmanirbhar Bharat”
Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister of Law & Justice, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology, launched today “Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge- Innovate Solutions for #Aatmanirbhar Bharat” to provide further impetus to the strong ecosystem of Start-up, innovation and research in the country.
IIT Madras and Center for Development of Advance Computing (CDAC) have developed two microprocessors named SHAKTI (32 bit) and VEGA (64 bit) respectively using Open Source Architecture under the aegis of Microprocessor Development Programme of Ministry of Electronics and IT. “Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge- Innovate Solutions for #Aatmanirbhar Bharat” seeks to invite innovators, startups and students to use these microprocessors to develop various technology products.
As one of the concrete steps towards realizing the ambition of self-reliance and a momentous stride towards “Aatmanirbhar Bharat”, this initiative is aimed at not only meeting India’s future requirements of strategic and industrial sectors but also has the potential to mitigate the issues of security, licensing, technology obsolescence and most crucially cutting dependency on imports. The design, development & fabrication of these state-of-the-art processor variants at foundry in the country and abroad, is the successful step to leapfrog to ultimate goal of vibrant ecosystem of Electronic System Design & Manufacturing in the country.
The “Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge” is part of the series of proactive, preemptive and graded measures taken by Ministry of Electronics and IT to spur the technology led innovation ecosystem in the country and staying at the forefront of digital adoption. Open to students at all levels and startups, the Challenge demands contestants to not only tinker with these Swadeshi Processor IPs & facilitate them with innovating the frugal solutions for societal needs but also make available the entire home-grown ecosystem around Swadeshi Processors to develop the complex designs for catering to both global and domestic requirements in near future.
Ministry of Electronics and IT offers a slew of benefits to the contestants and technology resources that include not only the internship opportunities and regular technical guidance from the best VLSI & Electronics System Design Experts in the country but also the business mentorship & funding support, facilitated by Incubation Centres. Financial support to the tune of Rs. 4.30 Crore at various stages of the Challenge for developing the hardware prototype and incubating a start-up is being offered.
The Challenge spread over 10 months, kick-starts with registration process at https://innovate.mygov.in on 18th August 2020 and culminates in June 2021, with an opportunity for 100 Semi-finalists to win total Rs. 1.00 Crore of Award, 25 Finalists to win total Rs. 1.00 Crore of Award and top 10 teams entering the finale, will get the seed fund of total Rs 2.30 Crore and 12 months incubation support. Above all, participants will get an opportunity to translate their innovations around Swadeshi Processors, showcase them at a higher viewership platform and facilitate them to scale from ideation to marketplace, thereby standing a chance to contribute to the overall mission of #AtmaNirbharta of Government.