The Kairali Research Awards 2021, instituted by the State government for lifelong contributions to research, will be presented here on Thursday. Higher Education Minister R. Bindu will present the awards on the occasion.
Indian-born Canadian cardiologist and epidemiologist Salim Yusuf will be given the Kairali Global Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding research contributions in science. The Kairali Lifetime Achievement Awards will be shared by literary critic M. Leelavathi, scientist A. Ajayagosh, and economist M.A. Oommen for their contributions in the respective fields of arts and humanities, science and social science.
The Kairali Gaveshaka Puraskaram for post-doctoral research in interdisciplinary fields and the Kairali Gaveshana Puraskaram for teachers undertaking research will also be given away on the occasion.
NIRF rankings
Speaking to mediapersons here on Tuesday, Dr. Bindu said 42 colleges from the State made it to the top 200 institutions in the country in the India Rankings 2023 prepared under the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF). Kerala University also came in for praise for its jump to the 24th position among universities.
Claiming that the performance was a reflection of the support provided by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, the Minister said the rankings indicated that the recent reforms had set the higher education sector on the right path.
Future goals
Dr. Bindu said universities would soon facilitate inter-university transfers for students including dropouts. A meeting of Vice Chancellors that was held on May 30 resolved to adopt steps in this regard. The existing university laws did not enable such transfers and lacked clear rules for credit transfer. Such rules will be framed by the Higher Education Reforms Implementation Cell in consultation with the universities.
The government will also strive to amend university rules and regulations to overcome the hindrances faced by researchers in the State. Steps would be adopted to simplify processes such as de-registration, re-registration, thesis submission, and result declaration in accordance with the government policy to promote ‘Ease of Doing Higher Education’, she added.
