DU looks to ignite innovation, to fund research projects

By Ruchi Shrimali

Delhi University (DU) has definitely hit the mark by inviting undergraduate students to send proposals for innovative projects that are not directly linked to their prescribed syllabi. The selected proposal will receive a grant of up to Rs 10 lakh and will have to be executed within a year's time.

With an aim to encourage students think innovatively, DU has issued following guidelines for the project proposal:

• The project should have strong interdisciplinary flavour and should not be directly linked to any part of the prescribed syllabus of the concerned students.
• The project proposal has to be prepared by a team of ten undergraduate students, three faculty members who are from at least two different departments, and a mentor outside the college system to help the team with the project.
• For the selected proposal, students of the team will also receive a stipend of Rs 1,000 per month and the mentor will receive a one-time honourarium of Rs 25,000.
• The funding for the project will be disbursed in two phases. A team of experts will review the project in mid-term. The second installment of the funding will be given to the team, only if the review turns out to be satisfactory.

The teams will have to submit their project proposals by 28th February, 2012 to the Dean, Research through email.

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