Jain University conducts annual research retreat seminar

Jain University has concluded its annual Research Retreat seminar at the JGI Knowledge Campus.

The key highlights of the seminar included discussions on topics ranging from the fourth industrial revolution, the scope for interdisciplinary research in the country, to emerging trends in branding, and concluded with a valedictory speech by Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director of Biocon.

The first leg of the two-day event began with the inaugural address by N. Sundararajan, Vice-Chancellor of Jain University. He said: “This is the third annual 'Research Retreat' and is an initiative by Jain University to provide researchers a unique platform where they can share their ideas and demonstrate progress in their research works.”

He also urged students and mentors to take full advantage of all modern facilities and advanced tech solutions for a comprehensive execution of their research works.

The event offered researchers an opportunity to learn about emerging opportunities and rising demands in different fields at panel discussions addressed by notable dignitaries. There were sessions specifically meant for scholars to enable them to engage in discussions on topics of interest and to crowd-source ideas to improve their knowledge base and offer them a better perspective.

Each of these sessions were participated by 20 scholar researchers and were hosted by the heads of each department, company executives said. The event was designed with the aim of provide a platform to Ph.D. students to demonstrate progress in their research works and build a forum for exchange of ideas among researchers at Jain University.

As many as 262 scholar researchers attended the event and participated in different breakout sessions. Besides, the retreat also organised three special plenary lectures, four plenary sessions where domain specialists interacted with researchers, 23 concurrent sessions where Ph.D. students presented their works, and 16 concurrent workshops on diverse themes.

During one of the sessions on the ‘Inter-Disciplinary Approach to Research’, K Gopa Kumar, Vice-Chancellor, Central University of Kerala, told the students about the importance of adopting an inter-disciplinary approach in their research work.

“Research has no boundaries and it can be done on any discipline. It is the stage where the concept of inter-disciplinary comes to picture and diversity of ideas are encouraged,” he said. He further added that creativity is possible through inter-disciplinary orientation. "Flexibility and an inter-disciplinary approach will give you the diversity and the ability to think big,” he said.

The second and final leg of the event included discussions on different subjects such as science, engineering, social sciences and management and the topics ranged from ‘Co-evolutionary arms race between bacteria and their viruses’ to ‘how brands help in overturning conventions in the marketplace’.

Shaw said the scientific talent pool of India had done wonders over the years and added that more needs to be done to unlock its potential. Appreciating the high number of woman researchers who participated in the event, she said: “Science and technology is one area where there is no gender divide. It is about knowledge and knowledge has no gender divide. And today I am happy that in R&D 40 per cent of scientists are women.”   

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