Bhubaneswar: The state's higher education ecosystem has recorded a significant surge in research and innovation output over the past two years, with universities reporting a nearly fourfold increase in patent filings and a substantial rise in research publications.
Commissioner-cum-secretary of the higher education department, Aravind Agarwal, stated that the number of patents generated by universities and higher educational institutions in Odisha has increased from around 300 two years back to 1,155 at present. This growth has been driven by both public and private universities, reflecting a stronger focus on research, innovation, and industry-oriented academic work, he said while speaking on the sidelines of the VC conference on Monday.
One of the highlights of the research by public universities has been an anti-diabetic drug tech transfer to the industry from Ravenshaw University. Industrial production of this technology is currently underway, Agarwal added.
Alongside the increase in patents, the state has also witnessed a 33% rise in research paper publications during the same period. Within the last two years, there have been over 20,000 research publications from higher education institutes in the state, said Agarwal. He added that two research papers have been published in The Lancet, one of the world's leading medical journals with an impact factor of 98.5, from Utkal and Ravenshaw universities.
Currently, there are 22 centres of excellence (CoEs) in eight state public universities, and new CoEs are in the pipeline with research focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and nano science, among other areas, he said. While CoEs at Utkal University are focusing on AI, climate change, and public health, those at Berhampur University are focusing on nano science and sensor technology. Similarly, Sambalpur University is focusing on research on natural products and therapeutics, and Rama Devi Women's University is focusing on AI and robotics through their respective CoEs.
To strengthen the research ecosystem, the state is currently supporting more than 300 PhD scholars under the Mukhyamantri Research and Innovation Programme, where scholars are provided Rs 30,000 every month as fellowship. Besides, 60 extramural research grants of up to Rs 10 lakh per project are being provided by the government annually. We are also supporting publication in Q1 journals by providing Rs 50,000 per article and Rs 50,000 as patent filing assistance. In the two-year period, 215 projects have been funded, he said.
Additionally, many public universities have signed 75 MoUs with national and global institutions for advancing research within this period.
