The University Grants Commission (UGC) has come up with guidelines for the establishment of research and development cells in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). This is administered by a Research Advisory Council (RAC) chaired by the vice-chancellor or principal, or their nominee, UGC has said in its guidelines.

The UGC said: “The establishment of Research and Development Cell (RDC) in HEIs will enable attainment of targets of Atma-Nirbhar Bharat and is expected to play a pivotal role in catalyzing multidisciplinary/ transdisciplinary and translational research culture mandated in NEP 2020."

The commission suggests the establishment of a Research Information Management System (RIMS) to collect and manage research-related information, databases, publications, research projects, fellowships, collaborations, patents, thrust areas, innovations etc. The UGC also suggests re-hiring or designating experienced retired and eminent faculty as mentors in order to develop a resilient research ecosystem in the RDCs.

In order to make India self-sufficient, the UGC further stressed that the research promotion activities at the HEI should be aligned with the mandates of different national missions by the Union government, sustainable development goals, Start-up India etc.

For research purposes, the new HEIs are asked to connect with RDCs of established HEIs. The guidelines instruct HEIs to collaborate with other institutions and organizations for joint research, exchange of students, scholars, and faculty. For their achievements, HEIs will be given Institution of Excellence Awards.

The University Grants Commission also stressed establishing a standard plagiarism check and making the software accessible to all researchers. RDC is also expected to spread awareness among the research community on dubious research and publishing practices and predatory journals.