SOA focusing on inter-disciplinary research: Vice-Chancellor

City-based Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed to be University (SOA), which has quality academics and innovative research as its bedrock, was now focusing on inter-disciplinary research as it was the need of the hour, SOA Vice-Chancellor Prof. Pradipta Kumar Nanda said on Monday.

The university has identified 26 thrust areas for research and the faculty members and researchers need to take the initiative for expanding such activity, Prof. Nanda said while addressing the inaugural function of a week-long Faculty Development Program (FDP) on the subject ‘Research Methodology and Pedagogies in Legal Education’ at the SOA National Institute of Law (SNIL), the university’s faculty of legal studies.

The University, the Vice-Chancellor said, had set up the Centre for Climate Smart Agriculture and Centre for Bio-medical Research recently to provide thrust to the research work and a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre (ICMR-RMRC) last week for mutual cooperation and research.

The National Education Policy 2020 (NEP-2020), he said, sought to encourage the concept of Multi-disciplinary Education and Research University (MERU) with the intention of transforming education and make students skilled.

Prof. Nanda said SOA had been doing well in the field of publication of Scopus Indexed research papers which stood at more than 10,700 but there was a need for all faculty members, researchers and scholars to help the university scale new heights in the area of research.

The inaugural program was presided over by Dean of SNIL, Prof. S.A.K. Azad. Professor Prabir Kumar Patnaik, senior professor, also addressed the participants of the FDP..

The FDP, which is being held in hybrid mode, has five resource persons including Dr. Kamalakanta Muduli, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Papua New Guinea University of Technology, who was present. Dr. Prabal Chakraborty, Associate Professor in the Department of MBA, Budge Budge Institute of Technology, Kolkata and Dr. Sujoy Kumar Jana, Associate Professor, Department of Surveying and Land Studies, Papua New Guinea University of Technology, will be the resource persons who would address the participants online.

Besides, Prof. Manoranjan Das and Prof. Ayaskanta Mohanty, Professors of the faculty of Management Sciences, SOA, will be the other resources persons for the program.

Prof. Nanda also released a new book titled ‘Research Methodology and Statistics’ jointly authored by Prof. Kamalakanta Muduli and Prof. Manoranjan Dash on the occasion.