(As per Guidelines for Establishment of Research & Development Cell in Higher Education Institutions, vide UGC letter F No. 1-5/2021(NEP/DESK-PARL dated March 14, 2022)

In the dynamic landscape of academia, the establishment of a Research and Development Cell (R&D Cell) within educational institutions has become not just a necessity but a catalyst for growth and innovation. The R&D Cell plays a pivotal role in nurturing a culture of inquiry, innovation, and continuous advancement. Therefore, Integral University has established a Research and Development Cell (RDC) within the Integral Centre for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Research (ICEIR), in alignment with UGC guidelines and the vision of Atma-Nirbhar Bharat, as outlined in NEP 2020. The primary objective of the RDC-ICEIR is to cultivate a robust research ecosystem in accordance with NEP-2020 mandates. This encompasses various vital components such as human capital, intellectual resources, governance, finances, information management, research promotion, ethical considerations, capacity building, and monitoring mechanisms.

The RDC-ICEIR is committed to enhancing the research landscape of the institution by fostering excellence, collaboration, and efficient management of research initiatives. It catalyzes promoting diverse scholarly outputs, including publications in esteemed journals, authored books, chapters, and patents. The RDC shall be administered by the Office of the Dean, Research & Development, at Integral University, Lucknow.

Here are key facets underscoring the importance of an R&D Cell

The purpose of RDC within ICEIR, Integral University is to create a conducive environment for enhanced research productivity in the Integral University and to encourage collaboration across industry, government, community-based organizations, and agencies at the local, national, and international levels, and to facilitate greater access to research through mobilization of resources and funding. It is hoped that the establishment of ICEIR will help in creating new knowledge, creating a research ecosystem for reliable, impactful, and sustained research output, and facilitating intellectual growth that would promote quality research and contribute meaningfully towards the goal of a self-reliant India.

Research promotion activities aligned with the mandates of various National Missions, SDGs, and Start-up India leading to a Self-Reliant India (Atma-Nirbhar Bharat). Research Guidance from RDC will aim to encourage faculties to conceive ideas through enhanced industry-academia interactions and prepare research proposals for funding from various agencies, technology transfer, and commercialization of research to facilitate innovation. Organizing events like capacity-building programs (Research Methodology and Research Techniques) and specific research theme-based workshops and Research Internships to motivate the end-users (students, scholars, and faculties) and to participate actively in the process of ideation and innovative research in emerging areas.

To develop a Research Information Management System (RIMS) for the advancement of research and innovation for the benefit of faculty, students, industry, and other stakeholders. The purpose of RIMS will be to collect and manage research-oriented information, databases, publications, research projects, fellowships, collaborations, patents, thrust areas, innovations etc. aligned with the IU’s research policies. It will provide a platform for accessing resource-centric information pertaining to human capital (Expertise), physical capital (State- of-Art Research Laboratories and Sophisticated Instrumentation Facility), and knowledge capital (Digital Library and information, Intellectual Property Facilitation, Quantitative Methods and Data Analysis, Analytical and Consultancy Services). Further, it may also provide requirements of various regulatory agencies, in terms of research compliances such as protocol approval, training records, equipment lists, etc. Thus, RIMS can provide a centralized and integrated database to manage issues related to radioactive safety approval clearances, use and disposal of biological, chemical, and radioactive hazardous materials, protective equipment measures, surveillance of staff, appropriate training/workshops, etc.

The office of the Dean, R & D may also create a blog or portal for Institutional Research Information and Institutional Repository and explore the possibilities for inking an MoU with UGC- INFLIBNET to access and upload the research information through Shodh Ganga, Shodh Gangotri, Shodh Sindhu, Shodh Shuddhi, and Shodh Chakra.

Thrust areas for Research in Integral University will be identified, underpinning the societal needs and the availability of key resources, including in-house human resources, faculty research competencies, and support systems. This would help the Center of Excellence for Interdisciplinary Research (ICEIR) to work smoothly in the identified contemporary areas of research. In this context, it is desired that the Research Clusters and/or Research Consortia should be formed by RDC to bring all researchers, faculty, students, scholars, and Post-Doctoral Fellows for collaborative high-value (interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary) research projects to avail national and international funding opportunities. Shared infrastructure and expertise will enable the cross-fertilization of ideas and the mobilization of resources. Further, forming Research Consortia adds a synergistic advantage in finding solutions in inter-disciplinary, trans-disciplinary, and multidisciplinary areas.

The RDC should facilitate resource mobilization and work for creating a Corpus for research and development from industry, and other funding agencies and channelize internal funds for sustenance and furtherance of research activities. Apart from creating a Corpus fund exclusively for R&D, RDC can also explore venture capitalists and angel investors for funding in research and innovation. It needs to liaise with funding agencies and track funding opportunities from industrial consortia. In the long run the corpus created for research could also support the seed funding for freshly recruited faculty for developing research facilities, publications, and patenting.

Regular initiatives by RDC shall ensure that researchers understand the importance of integrity and ethics and comply with ethical codes of research and publishing practices at institutional, national, and global levels. A standard plagiarism check should be mandatorily implemented and the requisite software in this regard made accessible to all researchers. In addition, the RDC will sensitize the research community about dubious research and publishing practices and predatory journals.

RDC would play a crucial role in building the capacity of faculty and students to undertake research problems in line with the latest advances in diverse disciplines to push the boundaries of knowledge through publications and contribute to technological developments relevant to societal needs. It would also pave the way for Universityto attract more research grants under norm-based funding, improve its accreditation ranking and enhance its brand image. Regular events such as refresher courses, workshops, training/internships, group discussions, and seminars/conferences may be organized for capacity building. RDC would play a pivotal role in creating central R&D facilities with the provisioning of associated training/internship thereon.

The office of the Dean R &D shall formulate and adhere to specific quality benchmarks for research to meet global/ international standards. The RDC should conduct a quality review (SWOC Analysis) or internal evaluation of the research papers and suggest Scopus Indexed, Web of Science (WoS), or UGC-CARE-recognized journals for appropriate publications. Besides, the RDC must ensure that all the Research Labs in the institution fulfill the norms of Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) and Safety (Bio and Chemical) measures, recognized as QIP center and by the National Accreditation Board of Laboratories (NABL).