THE NEWS
The Ministry of Human Resource Development has launched the web portal of the Scheme “Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC) in New Delhi.
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The Ministry of Human Resource Development has also launched Impactful Policy Research in Social Sciences (IMPRESS), with an aim to build a research ecosystem in educational institutions.
Under IMPRESS, 1,500 research projects will be awarded for two years to support social science research in higher educational institutions.
SPARC
SPARC is a joint research project between Indian institutions with best of global Universities which will immensely benefit students, faculty and improve the perception of Indian Institutes across the world.
The scheme is aimed at improving the research ecosystem of India’s higher educational institutions by facilitating academic and research collaborations between Indian Institutions and the best institutions in the world.
Key Area: The scheme will focus on broad thematic areas such as state and democracy, urban transformation; media, culture and society; employment, skills and rural transformation; governance; innovation and public policy; macro-trade and economic policy and social media and technology.
Under the Scheme, 600 joint research proposals will be awarded for 2 years to facilitate strong research collaboration between Indian research groups with the best in class faculty and renowned research groups in the leading universities of the world, in areas that are at the cutting edge of science or with direct social relevance to the mankind, specifically India.
Fund: The Government in August 2018 had sanctioned the scheme “Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC)” at a total cost of Rs.418 Cr for implementation up to2020.
Implementing Agency: Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur is the National Coordinating Institute to implement the SPARC programme.
KEY FEATURES OF THE SCHEME
The SPARC scheme is furthering the already launched GYAN scheme.
A set of 5 Thrust Areas (Fundamental Research, Emergent Areas of Impact, Convergence, Action-Oriented Research, and Innovation-Driven) and sub-theme areas in each thrust area has been identified for collaboration under SPARC based on emergent relevance and importance for the nation.
Each Thrust Area will have a Section Chair. The role of Section Chair of each Thrust Area is to review shortlist and recommend the potential joint-proposals submitted under SPARC scheme.
SPARC proposes to enable productive academic cooperation by supporting the following critical components that can catalyze impact making research
Visits and long-term stay of top international faculty/researchers in Indian institutions to pursue teaching and research
Visits by Indian students for training and experimentation in premier laboratories worldwide
Joint development of niche courses, world-class books and monographs, translatable patents, demonstrable technologies or action-oriented research outcomes and products
Publication, Dissemination, and Visibility through a high profile annual international conference in India.
GIAN
Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) is cooperation between the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) of India and the National Science Foundation (NSF) of the United States of Americain Higher Education.
The scheme aims at tapping the talent pool of scientists and entrepreneurs to engage with the institutes of higher education in India to augment the country's existing academic resources, accelerate the pace of quality reforms, and further strengthen India's scientific and technological capabilities.
ROLE OF NODAL INSTITUTIONS
A set of Nodal Institutions (NI), from India, for each participating foreign country has been identified.
The role of a Nodal Institution is to help, handhold and coordinate with willing Participating Indian (PI) Institutions to forge an alliance with the Institutions of concerned participating foreign country, for academic and research collaboration.
25 such reputed Institutions have been notified as Nodal Institutions.
ACADEMIC & RESEARCH COLLABORATION
This scheme will improve the research ecosystem of India’s higher educational institutions by facilitating academic and research collaborations between Indian Institutions and the best institutions in the world.
As many as 28 foreign countries have been chosen in the first phase of the scheme: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom(UK), United States of America(USA)
The institutions will jointly solve problems of national and international relevance.
254 top Indian Institutes and 478 top ranked global Institutes have been already identified.
MAJOR IMPACT OF SCHEME
SPARC is expected to have a major impact in providing the best international expertise to address major national problems, expose Indian academicians to the best collaborators abroad, enable international faculty to stay in India for a longer duration.
The scheme will provide Indian students with an opportunity to work in world-class laboratories, to develop strong bilateral relationships in research, and improve the international ranking of Indian Institutes.
CONCLUSION:
The Indian higher education is a highly complex and fragmented system. One of the major reasons for its current dismal state is the presence of multiple regulators with varying quality and standards of monitoring and assessment. Currently, India has 903 universities, 39,050 colleges, and 10,011 standalone institutes. These universities and their affiliated colleges are often criticized for being substandard as they are overwhelmingly underfunded and mired in politics of both the state and the central governments. At a time when India is among the fastest growing in the world, the education system needs to complement it by producing a skilled and educated workforce that can accentuate this economic growth. Therefore, policies such as SPARC should be implemented in a progressive way.
