Bhubaneswar: Sambalpur University’s Center of Excellence for Natural Products and Therapeutics has launched a research internship program for students from within the institute and outside the state, becoming the first public university in Odisha to do so.
The internship is for both undergraduate and postgraduate students who can learn about research techniques, approaches, equipment among other things at the Center of Excellence. Senior officials of the Higher Education Department said that this is the first research internship program in any university and about 136 students are undergoing training on various aspects of research on natural products and medical sciences.
Of them, 30 are from Sambalpur University, 66 from other higher educational institutions in the state and the remaining 40 are from outside Odisha. This will help students gain first-hand experience in research methodologies before pursuing it at the PhD level.
Odisha State Council of Higher Education vice-chairman Ashok Das said the initiative aims to provide training to UG and PG students in sophisticated analytical techniques and tools.
For training purpose, the government has decided to provide a maintenance grant of Rs 35 lakh to the university under the new Chief Minister Research and Innovation Fellowship Programme.
Established in 2018, the Center of Excellence focuses on inter-disciplinary research on medicinal plants found in the biodiversity-rich Gandhamardan region. The center is collaborating with the Department of Biotechnology and Bio-informatics and the School of Chemistry.
Officials said similar research internships will be conducted at centers of excellence in all public universities.
At present, there are 11 research centers of excellence functioning in seven government-run universities where research fellows (faculty members) are carrying out Odisha-centric applied research in the areas of natural sciences, engineering, humanities and social sciences.
The universities are Utkal, Sambalpur, Berhampur, North Odisha, Ravenshaw, Gangadhar Mehar and Rama Devi. While four of them are doing research on social sciences, humanities and literature, the rest are doing research on various subjects related to science and public health.
