Javadekar opens web portals of two research-oriented schemes

NEW DELHI: After the ‘failure’ of Prime Minister Research Fellowship (PMRF), Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar launched two other research schemes -- IMPRESS and SPARC – aimed at building a research ecosystem in educational institutions.

The objective of both the research schemes is to promote academic research and build research ecosystem in educational institutions to stop brain drain and provide all the needed facilities so that they can do research in India at par with international level.

While addressing the reporters after launching web portals of Impactful Policy Research in Social Sciences (IMPRESS) and Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC), Javadekar said, “A country achieves prosperity on a sustainable basis only through innovation which can happen only by good research and which is currently a major focus area of the government.”

Notably, under the PMRF scheme, the HRD Ministry ‘managed’ to find only 135 researchers eligible for the prestigious fellowship, which was to be awarded to 1,000 researchers. When asked as if the SPARC would also have a similar fate like PMRF, a senior official said, “The SPARC would not face the shortage of researchers and it would create a spark in the field of research.”

The objective of Impactful Policy Research in Social Sciences (IMPRESS) is to identify and fund research proposals in social sciences with maximum impact on the governance and society.

“It will provide an opportunity for social science researchers in any institution in the country which includes all universities (central and state) and also a few private institutions meeting the requirement,” he said, adding that the scheme would be implemented at a total cost of Rs 414 crore till March 2021.