State launches research-oriented project with Dundee varsity

Bengaluru: In a bid to spur competency among students to deliver real time solutions to practical issues, the Department of Higher Education launched a project on Thursday, in collaboration with the University of Dundee (UoD, Scotland, UK). This collaborative project is claimed as an outcome of implementation of NEP-2020.

The research oriented project "Transforming Lives: Karnataka, Dundee and Beyond" was launched by Dr. CN Ashwath Narayan, Minister for Higher Education. This is a student competition project envisioned jointly by Karnataka State Higher Education Council (KSHEC) and University of Dundee, one of the world's leading research Universities and has been supported by the British Council.

In this context three Karnataka HEIs, namely Gulbarga University, University of Visvesvaraya College of Engineering and University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, have been selected to participate in University of Dundee Competition.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister Narayan said, the project will provide higher education students in Karnataka an opportunity to pit their wits, intelligence, and innovative skills in the competitions which align closely with the research areas. It also facilitates developing institutional links between the UoD and HEIs in Karnataka, he added.

The Director (South India), British Council, Janaka Pushpanathan said, "Under the project, students will work on real-world problems co-mentored byexperts from Dundee & Karnataka University. Students will also get an opportunity to experience Technical know-how in University of Dundee."

Each participating HEI will identify research- based projects and assemble an interdisciplinary team of 4 or 5 students and a host supervisor from an academic background. The duration of the project will be 4 months (March- June) where the students will be trained together by Karnataka HEIs and University of Dundee.

After 4 months all the three teams will be hosted at University of Dundee for One week. The UoD will provide arrangements for accommodation on the University campus. The winning team will get the opportunity for scholarships of up to £6,000 to enrol in a 12-month PG course at the UoD (eligible for September 2023 entry) and partial financial support will be extended to the participating teams by British Council, UoD and KSHEC.

Students team along with one mentor each from three participating universities were present at the event. Prof. Hari Hundal, Prof. Dyce Davidson, Grant Smith, (UoD), Prof. Dayanand Agsar, VC, Gulbarga University, Dr. S V Suresha, VC, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bengaluru, Prof. Deepa Shanai, Principal (In-charge), University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Prof B ThimmeGowda, Vice-Chairperson, and Dr.Gopalakrishna Joshi, ED, KSHEC attended.