JNU vice-chancellor meets union science minister Jitendra Singh; discuss potential areas of research

NEW DELHI: Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) vice-chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit called on union minister of state science and technology Jitendra Singh and discussed startup collaborations as well as academic projects. The JNU operates various projects in support of the biotechnology department in particular and the ministry of science and technology.

The JNU vice-chancellor was accompanied by university rector Satish Chandra Garkoti, Dean School of Life Sciences professor Supriya Chakraborty and other senior faculty. They discussed with the minister and his team potential areas of research in plant genomics, life sciences and other disciplines.

Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit briefed the minister about the new advances in the university after she took over as V-C as well as the campus infrastructure development and the prestigious institution’s contribution to jobs creation. The delegation discussed in detail the ongoing societal development projects of the JNU supported by the department of biotechnology (DBT) under the ‘Boost to University Interdisciplinary Life science Departments for Education and Research’ (DBT-BUILDER) programme.

25 state-of-art instruments at AIRF

The delegation also highlighted the 25 sophisticated state-of-the-art instruments available at the Advanced Instrumentation Research Facility (AIRF) catering to interdisciplinary applications in research to all the JNU science schools as well as other academic research institutes and private companies/ industries within and outside Delhi.

Underlining the ‘whole of science’ approach, Jitendra Singh said the department of science and technology has instituted joint monthly meetings of all scientific departments of the union government to focus on infrastructure development and spur jobs creation. “The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (NRF) and the National Education Policy (NEP-2020) supplement the startup ecosystem with the promise to open new career and entrepreneurship opportunities for students and youth in India,” he said.

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Pandit said the JNU’s School of Life Sciences is the first to implement the NEP 2020 in its MSc programme while the BTech (computer science) programme has emerged as a tremendous success among the students. She also mentioned that the University is providing live feed and recorded videos of subject lectures to IIT Delhi students and the same can be provided free-of-cost to students of other Institutions while the same will be available to foreign students at a nominal cost. Pandit also sought the minister’s attention to granting JNU the status of Institution of Eminence.