Srinagar: A three-day meeting of the expert committee of Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) that works under the aegis of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) Government of India started at the University of Kashmir.
Vice-Chancellor Prof Nilofer Khan inaugurated the high-level meeting, where 721 proposals for grant of National Post Doctoral Fellowship (N-PDF) will be evaluated during three days by 15 experts from different reputed institutions and universities across the country, including the host member Prof Sharief-ud-din Pirzada, Head, Department of Mathematics, University of Kashmir.
Dean Research KU Prof Irshad Ahmad Nawchoo and Registrar KU Dr Nisar Ahmad Mir also shared the dais at the inaugural session.
In her special address, Prof Niofer emphasised that the students from UT of J&K in general and those from University of Kashmir in particular should be encouraged to apply for such prestigious fellowships.
“Grant of such fellowships to our students will give them a huge exposure to evolve as independent researchers and also give a greater visibility to our institution on the national research landscape,” Prof Nilofer said.
Chairman of the committee Prof Aswini Gupta gave the brief introduction of N-PDF scheme, which aims to identify motivated young researchers and provide them support for doing research in frontier areas of science and engineering.
In their remarks, Prof Irshad A Nawchoo thanked DST-SERB for providing research grants to the University of Kashmir in various forms, while Dr Nisar Ahmad Mir gave a brief introduction of the University of Kashmir and hoped that more such meetings will be held in the university.
Earlier, Head Department of Mathematics Prof Sharief-ud-din Pirzada delivered the welcome address and gave an account of the objectives of the three-day expert committee meeting.
Pertinently, SERB is a statutory body established through an Act of the Parliament—SERB Act 2008— and aims to build up “best management systems to match the best global practices in promotion and funding of basic research”.