The Kerala State Higher Education Council (KSHEC) has recommended to the government the formulation and implementation of a State policy on academic research to create a research culture and an environment conducive for research.
The advisory body also called for the modification of the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations to address the problem of shortage of research guides and, thereby, enhance seats for Ph.D programmes.
A six-member expert panel chaired by the council executive body member J. Rajan, which studied the problems of researchers in the State, observed that the decision — by adopting UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of M.Phil/Ph.D degrees) Regulations, 2016 — to disallow retired faculty to become research supervisors had adversely affected research in State universities.
While the superannuation age for university and college teachers in Kerala is 60 and 56 respectively, it is 65 in many other States. Besides, the faculty in Central universities have an opportunity to become Emeritus Professor and thereby receive an extension of five years. The panel opined research pursuit and not retirement age must be considered to permit research supervisors to guide scholars. They also urged the Central government to enhance financial support to spur research and innovation.
Centres of Excellence
While welcoming the State government’s intention to establish 30 Centres of Excellence in State universities, the council urged both the Centre and the State to develop provisions for bringing mandatory industry-university interface for research. The curriculum of universities should also be suitably designed to enhance such linkages.
The KSHEC also advocated strengthening Research Directorates in universities to coordinate academic research and reduce delay in research-related procedures. The council also flagged the lack of uniform procedure in governing various activities, including admission, commencement and tenure of research, and fellowship.
Research fellowships, scholarships
Finding that the inordinate delay in the distribution of research fellowships and scholarships has affected many researchers, the expert panel urged the State government to adopt immediate steps to streamline the procedure for their disbursal, similar to the system implemented for the direct benefit transfer (DBT) schemes.
Time-bound action has also been sought for the evaluation of Ph.D theses and declaration of results. Provisions to fix a limit of six months for adjudicating Ph.D theses, similar to the norm in several national-level institutions, have been proposed to prevent inordinate delays in awarding doctoral degrees.
Teaching grants
In a bid to ensure financial independence among researchers, the council also recommended providing them teaching or research assistant grants to cover their fees and subsistence requirements. They proposed tasking Ph.D students with taking tutorials for undergraduate students and assisting them with regular obligatory essay writing. It would also improve the overall quality of higher education in the State, stated the council.