Shillong, Sept 5: In a historic day for North-Eastern Hill University, the University on Monday signed MoUs with 9 organisations which includes Universities, institutes of research and higher learning and start up industries to strengthen the research activities in the University.

The MoU signing ceremony was graced by the Governor of Meghalaya, Satya Pal Malik, who is also the Chief Rector of the University. The event also saw the celebration of National Teachers’ day.

Speaking of the occasion, Malik said research is the key to solving a lot of problems and evolving into one of the self-sufficient nations, in contemporary times. However, because of lack of collaborations, the growth is not being observed. Giving the example of Patna University, which was at one time called the Oxford of East, the Governor said the quality of research has gone down in Indian Institutes and Universities which is evident from the fact that only 10 to 12 Nobel Laureates are Indians, half of whom are foreign citizens and a few are Indians but are foreign born like Mother Teresa who received the Nobel for Peace Prize.

The Governor also stressed on the point that the Govt should work on investing more in education and that any education bill is passed in Parliament without any debate which is a shame as education builds the next generation and the nation. Citing example of Great Britain, the Governor stated that the British Govt never reduces the budget on education and same should be done in India.

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Prabha Shankar Shukla, said the MoUs will provide ample scope for NEHU as well as the participating institutes and industries to collaborate in cutting edge technologies to bring about change in academia and way of doing research.

“The signing of this Memorandum of Understanding and Exchange Agreement in between our two institutions today symbolizes a partnership which we believe will lead to many new joint research initiatives that produce new synergies, and add academic value for both NEHU and all these other prestigious universities, institutes and industries,” he said.

He exhorted on the point that the MOUs focus on key areas of cooperation like academic, scientific and Academia-Industry-Businesses cooperation between NEHU and these institutions, universities and industries in terms of collaborative programs and other academic exchanges.

He further stressed on the importance of NEP 2020 in collaborating with different organisations for collaborative work. He also stressed on the point that in order to step up the varsity’s collaboration in innovation, technology and research with other Universities, Institutes and Industries, NEHU has been attracting both nationally and internationally renowned R&D institutions and universities to the university which have been evident in the past six months with the visit of foreign delegates and officials to the University campus paving the way for collaborations.

List of Institutes and collaboration areas

• CSIR- National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), Lucknow,

• CSIR-Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR), Lucknow,

• G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar,

• Sawaiom Fresh, Shillong,

• TURBIT, Shillong,

• National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), New Delhi,

• JDBP Agri International Pvt. Ltd. (Meerut),

• Regional Centre for Biotechnology, DBT, Faridabad, and

• Golden Signatures Research and Consulting, Delhi.

The various aspects of the MoUs signed include research collaborations ranging from Biotechnology, Environmental Science, Pharmacology, Genetics, Plant Breeding, Agricultural Sciences, Plant Conservation, Agro-technologies, Food, Drug, Chemical, Computational and Regulatory Toxicology together with Health Toxicology Assessments to industrial collaborations like entrepreneurship activities skilled livelihood practical training courses for students aspiring to be entrepreneurs, sharing and demonstrating technologies and innovations for socio-economic benefit for the people of the North East India, skilling of students by providing internship opportunities under SAHAKAR MITRA- The NCDC Scheme on Internship Program (SIP) among students, faculties and staff.