Doctoral Research to focus on National Missions and Global Challenges

With a view to inspire the research community around the globe to the noble objectives of scientific research, the World Doctorates Day is celebrated each year on August 25th. This year the honour of hosting the World Doctorates Day 2021 was given to Research and Innovation Driven Amity University Haryana, Gurugram. The day also marked the hosting of the 9th International Conference on Issues and Challenges in Doctoral Research.

 A galaxy of eminent speakers who shared their thoughts at the World Doctorates Day today included Nobel laureate of Peace Shri Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Laureate of Peace Prof Muhammad Yunus, Distinguished National Scientist Padma Vibhushan Dr RA Mashelkar, Distinguished Educationist Padma Shri JS Rajput. The President of Association of Indian Universities Dr G Thiruvasagam was the distinguished guest of honour and India’s Father of PARAM Supercomputer Dr Vijay Bhatkar was the Chief Guest at the Inaugural Function that was graced by Chancellor of AUH Dr Aseem Chauhan.

Inaugurating the World Doctorates Day 2021 Celebrations Padma Bhushan Dr Vijay Bhatkar said “We in India are in a highly opportune time to play a major role in fostering a new era of scientific explorations and technological advancements that shall not only meet and greet the current challenges but also help in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals SDGs for the global community”. India can reap rich dividends from doctoral research as it has a highly innovative and inspired minds of young India pursuing their higher education and research in areas of high relevance to the new age of mind boggling scientific advancement and technology innovations”. The purpose of research should invariably be linked to the purpose of life to make the pursuit of research sustain this beautiful world, added Dr Bhatkar.

The renowned scientist and former Director General of CSIR Padma Vibhusan Dr RA Mashekar in his address said “World Doctorates Day celebrates the achievement of human mind in terms of ability to create new ideas and new knowledge. The research they carry out should solve the current and future challenges. The researchers of the new age must also translate this knowledge into innovations and create new innovative products and technologies to foster growth of new enterprises. They must also consciously work for the well being of human society. For this they must practice scientific ethics and human values”.

Addressing the august gathering of global research community at the World Doctorates Day today, the Nobel Peace Laureate Sri Kailash Satyarthy emphasised on imbibing a deep love for research and its unrelentless pursuit to dig deep into the treasure that lies hidden in the depth of knowledge. He enthralled the researchers saying that “Your research is not only for your personal achievements but for the betterment of human society. Think also of the millions of children in the world who have no access to knowledge that you have. As such your research should also result in actions for the betterment of these millions of children around the globe.”

Addressing the august gathering Nobel Peace Laureate Prof. Dr. Muhammad Yunus said “This is a good time for the research students because the pandemic has raised so many questions which we don’t have answers of. This is the time where we can actually research, to figure out what we can do to design a new world free from global warming and other problems so that we can live peacefully and in harmony with nature.”

Padma Shri Prof J S Rajput, India, Chair UNESCO inspired the researchers said, “When we talk about research, first thing comes to our mind is knowledge. People who are engaged in creating knowledge, generating knowledge, new knowledge and this knowledge is being investigated for its possible utility in the interest of others. Researchers should take pleasure in doing research of great value to the society and for nation building.”

Distinguished Guest of Honour, President of Association of Indian Universities Dr G Thiruvasagam, Vice Chancellor of AMET Chennai said, “Quality research should not merely be the compulsion for the research scholars rather it should be the passion for them”. Voicing his concern for quality of research in Indian Universities Dr Thiruvasagam said that we need to formulate concrete plan of action to apply corrective measures as the research is of great value for nation building.

In his highly inspiring and action packed presidential address Dr Aseem Chauhan, Chancellor, Amity University Haryana emphasized that better quality of the faculty members and research are important parameter which can change the landscape of higher education in Indian Universities. Amity University ecosystem for research and innovation focuses on consortia research and interdisciplinary research clusters that foster peer review and make research relevant for national missions and global challenges. Under the visionary leadership of the Founder President of Amity Education Group the Amity Universities are committed to make nation proud of the research quality from our universities. For us quality research has a great value if it results in benefiting the industry and society, added Dr Chauhan. 

“Now that a new world is emerging post Covid-19, and a new India is being created, we need to constantly remind the researchers around the world of the mandatory non-negotiable compliance to Research Integrity, Scientific Ethics and Professional Morality that need to be complied by researchers around the world with utmost sincerity and unconditional commitment to build a kind, compassionate and blissful world of our dreams. The doctoral research must necessary be aligned to national missions and global aspirations” saideminent academician Professor Pritam B Sharma, Vice Chancellor Amity University Gurugram who is also the host this year for the World Doctorates Day 2021. Our commitment to quality of education and research is unconditional and with a firm resolve to create Advantage India from our doctoral research and innovations.
The World Doctorates Day also had the Industry captains sharing their perceptions on Industry Academia alliance for improving the quality of doctoral research. These included Mr Anshul Sonal, Principal Engineer and Global Director Digital Readiness Program, Intel Corporative, Singapore, Mr Ravi Mehra, Deputy Director, Minda Group, Mr Vivek Birla, Head of Business & Operational, India & APAC, Airbus Inc, Mr Vijay Aggarwal, CFO, American Tower Corporation, Mr Anil Bhasin, President, Havells India Ltd, Mr Alok Sinha, CEO, Globus Eight. They all emphasized on need for effective ecosystem for university-industry partnership for research. We realise that the power of partnership and collaboration with academia is a win win situation for both as it advances our business and assures quality of education and research as many of the ground breaking innovations blossomfrom the academic campuses.

Prof. Dr. Kamal Kant Dwivedi, Senior Vice President, Ritnand Balved Education Foundation (RBEF), Founder of the Global Network of Doctorates presented an opening talk with generis of the World Doctorates Day. He told that the observance of “World Doctorates Day” started in 2012 and on this day every year an international conference on “Issues and Challenges in Doctoral Research (ICICDR)” is organized and a pledge is adopted. This conference is held in 10 sessions with about 40 Speakers of eminence including 2 Nobel Laureates, 20 Vice-Chancellors, Academicians and 6 Industry leaders. Experts from 10 Countries presented details of doctoral programs in their respective countries based on recommendations of the conference, a document “Amity Declaration on Quality in Doctoral Research” was adopted by thousands of participants and released by Dr. Aseem Chauhan, Hon’ble Chancellor, Amity University Haryana.

The World Doctorates Day 2021 was attended by over 10000 researchers around the world. The program also included country perspectives on Doctoral research from eminent speakers from US, UK, Europe, Taiwan, Russia, Singapore, Malaysia, UAE and Zimbabwe informs Dr Sanjna Vij, Organising Secretary of the World Doctorates Day 2021.

Dr. Raj Singh, Vice Chancellor, JAIN (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru, Prof. Dr. Pankaj Mittal, Secretary General AIU, New Delhi, Prof. Dr. R.K. Pandey, Vice Chancellor, Amity University Chattisgarh, Dr. U.N. Singh, Prof &Dean, Faculty of Arts, AUH, Prof. Dr. SayaleeGankar, Vice Chancellor, DY Patil University, Pune, Prof. Dr. W. Selvamurthy, President, ASTIF, Amity University, Noida, Prof. Dr. Rakesh Bhatnagar, Vice Chancellor, Amity University Rajasthan, Prof. Dr. Manoj Kumar Patairiya, Advisor, DST, Govt of India, New Delhi, Prof. Dr. J.S. Chauhan, Director, Samrat Ashok Technological Institute, Vidisha, Prof. Dr. Balvinder Shukla, Vice Chancellor, Amity University, Noida, Prof. Dr. Gurinder Singh, Group Vice Chancellor, Amity University, Noida, Prof. Dr. Amita Dev, Vice Chancellor, IGDTUW, New Delhi., Prof. Dr. Regina Chermokina, Udmurt University Izhevsk (Russia), Dr. Yathrib Ajaj, German University of Technology, Sultanate of Oman, Dr. Sandeep Poddar, Dy. Vice Chancellor (Research & Innovation), Lincoln University College, Malaysia, Dr. Easwaramoorthy Rangaswamy, Principal & Provost, Amity Global Institute, Singapore addressed the plenary sessions at the international conference organised on World Doctorates Day to deliberate and discuss the way forward for significantly raising the quality and relevance of the doctoral research worldwide.

Prof. Dr. Amit Jain,Pro-Vice Chancellor, Amity UniversityRajasthan, Prof. Dr. S.K. Garg,Former Pro Vice Chancellor, Delhi Technical University, New Delhi, Prof. Dr. C.S. Sharma, Professor, SRCC, Delhi University, Delhi, Prof.  Dr. Manoj Dixit, Former Vice Chancellor, Avadh University, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, Dr. PayelSen, Asstt. Professor, JAIN (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru, Prof. Dr. Surinder Jaswal, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, TISS, Mumbai, Prof. Dr. Nupur Prakash, Vice Chancellor, The North Cap University, Gurugram, Prof. Vikas Madhukar,Dy Pro-VC, Amity University Haryana, Prof. Dr. Ajay Rana, Dean and Director (AIIT), Amity University, Noida, Prof. Sumit Narula, Deputy Dean Research (P&C), Amity UniversityMadhya Pradesh, Mr. Dhiraj Upadhyaya, Director (EDA), RBEF, Amity Education Group also addressed the august gathering.

Dr AK Nagpal, Chairman Amity PACIFIC Forum,Dr. Gunjan M. Sanjeev, VP, RBEF and Director, Intl. Affairs, Amity University Haryana, Prof. Dr. Quinton C. Kanhukamwe, Vice Chancellor, HIT, Zimbabwe, Prof Kamal Bhattacharya, Prorector Research & Transfer, IUBH InternationalUniversity of Applied Sciences, Germany, Prof. Raj K. Tiwari, Professor,NY Medical School, New York, USA, Dr. Rajyalakshmi Manda, Former Principal Research Scientist, DCIDSTB, Nashville, USA, Prof. Barbara Howell, Associate Dean Global Engagement, Coventry University, UK shared their valuable thoughts during the conference.
A pledge was also administered at the inaugural function of the World Doctorates Day to uphold high ethical standard, integrity and quality of doctoral research and to advance sustainable development and social progress in the world.