60 out of 180 faculty members to get extra mural research funding this year

BHUBANESHWAR: The Odisha state higher education council (

OSHEC

) has selected

research proposals

submitted by 60

faculty members

of

degree colleges

and universities functioning under the higher education department. The state government will provide extra mural funding to the selected faculty members to conduct research on their innovative and unique ideas.
The funding will be covered under the ‘Mukhyamantri Research Innovation (MRI) for extramural research funding 2023’ under the Mukhyamantri Research and Innovation Programme (MRIP) launched by chief minister

Naveen Patnaik

in August this year. The MRI has replaced the previous Odisha University Research and Innovation Incentivization Plan (OURIIP)-seed funding for young faculty.
These 60 faculty members (below 50 years of age) will be the first batch of researchers under the MRIP. The council has selected them after conducting a rigorous selection process of around three months. It had invited applications from eligible candidates between September 1 and September 30. Around 180 teachers had applied for the funding, but only one third of the applicants have been selected after scrutiny, screening, reviews and presentations.
“We have completed the process of selecting the right candidates for extra mural research funding. We will send it to the government for approval. I hope names of the candidates will be announced by the first week of January,” said Asoka Kumar Das, vice chairman of OSHEC.

Tenure of the funding will be two years from the date of sanction of funds. The state will provide a grant of Rs 10 lakh per faculty for science and other laboratory related projects. This amount is Rs 7 lakh per faculty for social science and other non-laboratory related projects, said Das.
According to the notification, those who have availed the seed funding grants from the higher education department earlier before 2023 and have completed their projects and settled their financial matters with the OSHEC can also apply for this funding.

Their research proposal must address a research/technology/innovation gap in the concerned subject area or generate data relevant for the development of thrust areas of the state or the nation. The OSHEC is administering the entire programme of the MRI extramural research funding programme along with the Mukhya Mantri Research Fellowship Test (

MRFT

).
The state government will conduct MRFT to select top 300 PhD candidates across disciplines to provide a research fellowship of Rs 30,000 per month. It will help the research scholars, who do not get any fellowships from other agencies. The webportal has been opened for applicants who want to appear for the MRFT 2023 till the end of this month.