In appreciation of research and development at the University of Hyderabad (UoH), the department of science and technology (DST) has granted it a Rs 32.8 crore fund under the Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence (PURSE) for a period of four years from 2014.
Diverse schools of the university are pursuing research. In a report filed by the UoH about the research projects taken up by the university from period of April 2011 to March 2012, 61 projects were pursued by 11 schools of the university out of which 29 projects were undertaken by the school of life sciences.
In the past two years, UoH has received research projects worth Rs 50 crore. “The university has 252 ongoing research projects worth Rs 215 crore, accommodating more than 170 research associates and research assistants” said Ramakrishna Ramaswamy, vice chancellor, UoH. Till date, out of the 21 patents that have been filed so far, 15 have been approved. In the past three years, more than four patents have been filed.
This is the second fund granted to the university. The first one of Rs 30 crore was granted in 2009 for a period of three years. PURSE is an initiative of the DST to boost research and development activities in universities. The initiative supports universities in all aspects of research which includes improvement of research equipment and facilities, expenses incurred for man-power and organisation of conferences related to the research topic.
The main objective of the scheme is to improve research performance in terms of publications which will help in adding up to upgradation of H-index.