HYDERABAD: The University of Hyderabad will set up two interdisciplinary research centres — one each for the sciences and the social sciences and humanities departments — in a bid to energise cross-disciplinary research in the university. The move has been put forth as part of its plan to leverage its Institution of Eminence tag. These centres will be the first-of-their kind in the country.
Interdisciplinary research centres are meant to bring researchers from different disciplines together under one roof to work collectively on the various aspects of a research project, said Prof Pramod K Nayar, head of the Department of English at the School of Humanities.
Elaborating on the idea, he said: “At least five different departments are planning a project based on drugs, which is already a massive research initiative under the School of Medical Sciences. The interdisciplinary centre would be the locus for these departments to come together.”
As an IoE, the university will receive additional grants, with financial and administrative autonomy to execute its plans in a span of 15 years. However, as funding would be received only during the initial five years, UoH is drawing plans to focus on infrastructure development and research during this period.
“We are still in the process of drawing proposals on how much funding would be required by each project,” said Prof Vinod Pavarala, spokesperson of UoH.
More academic, administrative control
The IoE status demands that within the next 10 years the university must move into the list of top 500 institutions of the world. Vice-chancellor Appa Rao Podile is confident of UoH featuring somewhere within the 200th position in the World QS ranking in the next five years. Along with the IoE status, the UoH was also conferred graded autonomy last year. The dual status not only means increased financial autonomy but also more internal academic and administrative control