The Berhampur University and CSIR-IMMT, Bhubaneswar inked an MOU as part of the MAITRI programme (Mentoring Academic Interventions for Technological Research and Innovation) here on Friday.
The method of collaboration will involve group work on sharing research resources, providing joint MSc, MPharm and PhD mentoring, sharing intellectual property and publishing findings.
Professors, researchers and students from many university departments were present in the audience. Following the event, the university hosted an Extramural Lecture Series in which Vice Chancellor Professor Geetanjali Dash presided.
Director of CSIR-IMMT Bhubaneswar Professor Sudhasatwa Basu delivered a lecture titled, "Implementation of National Education Policy (NEP-2020): Hurdles to be overcome."
Prof Basu, in his address, emphasized the top-down nature of the existing curriculum and the dearth of UG-level academic studies that need to be introspected. He also discussed the university's approach to teaching, where one instructor follows the curriculum, someone else creates the test questions, and someone else assesses the students' responses and assigns grades. The new curriculum must emphasize creativity and innovation, and experiential learning should start at the elementary school level, he opined.
Vice Chancellor Dash in her address commended Prof Basu for his noble remarks and emphasized that other systems should emulate the liberal arts experience-based learning and open subject selection systems.