Universities, industries can collaborate to form R&D clusters now: UGC chairman

According to UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar, universities and industries will have the opportunity to establish collaborative Research and Development (R&D) clusters at both state and central levels soon. This initiative aims to address the technological requirements of specific regions.

The establishment of these clusters will allow students to gain practical skills and become more employable through internships. By creating a technology-focused mechanism, the clusters can effectively identify and tackle local issues. Students will be assigned relevant projects related to these problems, which will contribute to their academic credits.

To further the same, UGC recently approved the ‘Guidelines for Sustainable University-Industry Collaboration in Indian Universities’ which will be released later this week for public feedback.

“Higher educational institutions have been asked to take measures to boost research and development by creating R&D clusters at State or regional levels through University-Industry (UI) linkages. The NEP recommended vibrant UI linkage, with emphasis on exposing students to real-life examples and making them globally competent,” Kumar said.

“The guidelines will promote research and development through collaborations between universities and industries. Establishing the linkages between university and industry will help create training and apprenticeship opportunities in the industries, R&D labs, and research organisations,” he added.

According to the guidelines, the varsities can appoint highly experienced industry professionals to governance bodies and can also onboard professionals from the industry as ‘Professors of Practice in accordance with the UGC guidelines.