The Road
QS Higher Ed Summit:
Goa, India
The key to internationalisation of Indian institutions lies in research excellence and collaboration.
By Gauri Kohli
In recent years, global collaboration has become a key component of research at top Indian universities. With the Indian government’s focus on internationalisation of its higher education sector, it is crucial that research excellence and collaboration receive the required attention and impetus.
This was reiterated by international educationists at one of the panel discussions of the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) India Summit 2023, held last month in Goa. Titled ‘Research Excellence Amid a Changing Landscape,’ the discussion brought to the fore critical issues, challenges and solutions to boosting research excellence and celebrating collaboration among higher education institutions in India and the world.
Notably, the Indian government is encouraging foreign academic engagements through policy outlined in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The NEP discusses the need for more collaboration in teaching and research as well as faculty-student exchanges, which the Indian government plans to facilitate through mutually beneficial agreements.
Why investing in research is critical for Indian universities
The summit was held ahead of the 20th anniversary of QS’ flagship World University Rankings. Experts at QS, the international higher education network, are optimistic about India’s academic research output, which has grown by nearly 54 percent over the past five years. “It is more than double the global average and a tangible sign of progress in the right direction,” said Ben Sowter, Senior Vice President, QS.
Deliberating on the need to think freely and critically, the academicians - who also participated in conversations with Indian government officials last month - highlighted the importance of research excellence, and how it can create an exciting environment for transdisciplinary solutions to some of the global challenges.
However, one of the challenges in achieving excellence, mainly for private Indian universities, as per the panel, is to “simulate the same infrastructure seen in leading global universities.”
Highlighting this issue, Dr S Sundar Manoharan, Director General, Pandit Deendayal Energy University, India, said, “In the context of research excellence, the challenge we face is to simulate the same infrastructure that we see in some of the leading universities abroad. We can follow any education system - be it Australia, Europe or the US - but when it comes to research, we have a segmented approach. Why we don’t see foreign students coming to Indian institutions with the same momentum as Indian students going abroad, is a question we need to address.”
Professor Dawn Freshwater, Vice Chancellor of the University of Auckland, who moderated the panel discussion, said: “In an age of pragmatism, we must continue to undertake research that doesn't have an identified endpoint. Being in India, we know that there is a wealth of expertise here in terms of that translation and creating value from the research for our societies.”
Professor Freshwater also observed that there is a need to retain the ability to think freely, and this is quite a challenge for many institutions across the globe at the moment.
The experts also underlined the importance of collaboration among institutions, which is critical to solving some of the real-world challenges. While celebrating collaboration, there is also the need to acknowledge some of the leading geopolitical issues that create barriers for institutions to cooperate freely.
“Geopolitical instability… nationalism, protectionism, inward-looking nations, hard borders and mixed attitudes towards immigration are some of them,” added Professor Freshwater.
She then emphasized the necessity for research institutions and researchers to continue to hold fast their global connections and partnerships, agreements?
Cross-disciplinary student, faculty exchanges are key
Another interesting approach to solving some of these challenges is to begin with the students. Cross-disciplinary student interactions can help too.
Allowing students to talk to the community, understanding their social needs and then looking at solutions to problems that they face can go a long way in achieving the desired outcomes. “We need to train our young minds... we’ve let engineering students live with medical students because it’s only when they start interacting in classrooms, and in informal spaces, that they will start finding real solutions to real-life problems,” said Dr Vidya Yeravdekar, Pro Chancellor, Symbiosis International University, Pune.
This also holds true for the faculty. Breaking the silos between disciplines is key. “Unless you do that, you are not going to have a social science or a psychology teacher talking to a law teacher or a psychology teacher speaking to someone from engineering. What kind of research will those from STEM disciplines do unless they really don’t reach out to the social sciences? A number of progressive universities in India are making this attempt,” she said.
There are many universities in India that have excellent outreach programs which are not just community service oriented, but also find creative solutions through research.
However, getting the faculty to work across disciplines and collaborate beyond the boundaries of the departments of schools does not come naturally. “Many of us were brought up in that kind of environment where we were exposed to a single discipline and therefore, we feel very comfortable with that. At NTU Singapore, we started this conversation on interdisciplinary collaboration more than a decade ago. We set up a few pan-discipline, pan-university, multidisciplinary or even interdisciplinary research entities,” said Professor Ling San, Acting President, Deputy President & Provost, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Creative solutions will ultimately pave the way
It is essential to reflect on the fact that institutions are being held accountable by the public, students, society, funding agencies and the government for their research outcomes more than ever before. Institutions need to assess what research excellence means for them, how it is measured or assessed, and to whom they are accountable.
The University Grants Commission’s move in India to allow students to opt for different disciplines early on, is another way to foster collaboration.
According to Dr Yeravdekar, equal funding to public and private institutions to improve their research capabilities can play an important role. Along with that, pursuing exchange with faculty from developed and developing countries can create an exciting and efficient ecosystem.
It is important to bring in interdisciplinary and collaborative activities. Ultimately, we need to understand our own definition of research excellence. We need to shape our strategies to make sure that we work together in the space we have found ourselves, said the panel.