Bhubaneswar: To promote advanced research in emerging and socially relevant fields, and create opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration, the higher education department has recently approved a proposal to establish six centres of excellence (CoEs) across five public universities in the state, with an investment of a total of Rs 26 crore.Officials said Rama Devi Women’s University will establish a CoE for microbial research for sustainable development with an investment of Rs 3.75 crore. Sambalpur University has been allotted Rs 5.85 crore for a centre focused on translational research in natural products.Gangadhar Meher University will host two centres of excellence — one on nano science and energy storage with a budget of Rs 3.75 crore, and another a DDU centre for public policy and governance, with an allocation of Rs 1.55 crore.Utkal University will set up a centre on brain health and neurodegenerative disorders for Rs 5.85 crore, while Fakir Mohan University will establish a centre dedicated to smart materials and thin films with an investment of Rs 5.25 crore.Officials said the centres of excellence will provide advanced infrastructure, encourage collaboration among researchers and institutions, and help position the state’s public universities as leading centres of research and knowledge creation.Currently, there are 22 CoEs across eight state public universities, most of which were established under World Bank-supported Odisha Higher Education Programme for Excellence and Equity (OHEPEE). These centres were set up at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore each.At these CoEs, research fellows and faculty members have been undertaking Odisha-centric applied research in the fields of natural sciences, engineering, humanities and social sciences.Operating under the guidance of Odisha State Higher Education Council and the higher education department, these centres have generated more than 1,000 patents, excluding those currently at the application stage.Officials said the govt’s focus is on transforming public universities into research-intensive institutions. Besides, the ongoing recruitment of faculty members is expected to further strengthen research output in the coming years, they added.
