Sambalpur University sets up incubation centre

SAMBALPUR: To encourage and mentor innovative start-ups, Sambalpur University has set up an incubation centre, on the premises of the institution on Monday. The ‘Sambalpur University Start-up Forum’ was inaugurated by the vice-chairperson of the Higher Education Council, Ashok Das through video conferencing.

Vice-chancellor Bidhu Bhusan Mishra, registrar, Nruparaj Sahu and PG Council chairman, Sanjukta Das besides other senior teachers of the institution were present during the inauguration. The incubation centre, which will be looked after by the teachers of different departments of the varsity.

The primary goal of the incubation centre is to provide support to the entrepreneurs, especially the student entrepreneurs in every possible way and guide them at every step in their journey of entrepreneurship. The centre will offer a range of facilities including mentoring, networking opportunities with investors, training on business-related topics as well as workspace, etc.

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The incubation centre will also help in connecting entrepreneurs with different industries so that they can learn. It will continue to help the students till their start-ups take off and attain sustainability. "Aspirants can approach us with their ideas for start-ups. We will help them with guidance and infrastructure to carry forward their ideas and turn them into a reality," said vice-chancellor Bidhu Bhusan Mishra.

In addition to the incubation centre, a new building for the Central Instrumentation Facility (CIF) centre of the varsity was also inaugurated by the vice-chairperson of the Higher Education Council on Monday. While the building has been constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 2 crore, different instruments worth Rs 4.5 crore will be purchased for the CIF centre, sources said.

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"The CIF centre will help in boosting the research and science activities in the region. It will house sophisticated instruments for different science disciplines. The main objective of the centre is to strengthen the technological infrastructure to carry out advanced research in various science disciplines under one roof. The building is ready now. The instruments will be procured shortly. The centre will be made operational within 3 to 4 months," said the vice-chancellor.