Guwahati, Sept 24: The primary mandate of universities is to create new knowledge through quality and cutting-edge research, and make a tangible and sustainable impact on the society.
Research has societal benefits through contribution to the social capital of a nation, in stimulating new approaches to social issues or informing public debate and policy-making.
This was stated by Dr SR Joshi, Prof. and Head of the Department of Biotechnology, NEHU while addressing the fresh batch of Ph.D. scholars at an orientation programme organised by Research Division of the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya here today, according to a Press release.
The orientation session was also addressed by Prof Rabin Deka, Head of the Department of Sociology, Tezpur University, apart from others. The orientation was attended by more than 100 fresh Ph.D. scholars of the university as well as by faculty supervisors.
Addressing the scholars on how to begin preparation for research, Dr SR Joshi said that during the first six months, a Ph.D. scholar’s main motivation has to be to enrich the domain of knowledge in his or her area of research.
He said that basic research is done for knowledge enhancement and for the welfare of human, animal and plant kingdom and not for commercial potential. Speaking about significance of research, he was of the opinion that research is done to gather necessary information, make changes, improve standard of living, know the truth, explore our history, understanding arts, developing technology and augmenting productivity.
He also said that there may not be immediate impact but with time, research may add immense value to innovation. Applied research is problem oriented and problem-solving research, such as the recent invention of the vaccine for Coronavirus disease. He also explained in detail regarding qualitative and quantitative research.
Prof Rabin Deka from Tezpur University spoke on philosophy of quality research. He said that pursuing Ph.D. is a knowledge producing activity. Deriving Karl Popper’s views on research, he said that every individual is a source of knowledge. Social science could be scientific, but social scientific knowledge has to be based on deduction and falsification