New Delhi, May 20: The Research National Research Foundation (ANRF), India’s leading research funding agency, has selected 10 Convergence Research Centers of Excellence (CoE). This initiative aims to deeply integrate scientific knowledge with social sciences and humanities. The Ministry of Science and Technology announced this development in an official statement on Wednesday.
The ministry stated that the goal of this initiative is to establish pioneering centers that address complex social challenges through integrated and multidisciplinary research, combining social sciences, humanities, science, and technology.
The selected institutions include IIT Gandhinagar, NIAS Bengaluru, IIT Madras, NIT Agartala, IHD Delhi, IIT Dharwad, IIM Jammu, IIT Kanpur, Chanakya University, and PSGR Krishnammal College for Women.
These centers will work on various subjects such as archaeology, traditional knowledge systems, digital humanities, rural development, health, and computational economics.
The program mandates interdisciplinary collaboration within a single institution or among different academic institutions, publicly funded organizations, various ministries, and private entities.
Co-principal investigators (Co-PIs) associated with these centers represent a network of diverse institutions. In total, they are linked to 20 collaborating institutions, including state universities, central universities, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), private universities, colleges, and recognized research and development institutes.
The program has received an overwhelming response from academic and research institutions, with a total of 945 proposals submitted, reflecting its national significance and relevance.
By integrating scientific knowledge with social understanding, this program aims to find comprehensive solutions to regional and national challenges. In the era of artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and big data analytics, such coordination could open new avenues for socio-economic progress and assist in achieving sustainable development goals.
The ANRF’s Convergence Research Center of Excellence program is inspired by the National Education Policy 2020 and aligns with the vision of ‘Developed India 2047.’
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