Maulana Azad National Urdu University Research Policy

Promotion of Research

Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) is established not only to promote higher education through Urdu by means of teaching, but also the Powers of the University in its Acts and Statutes makes it necessary that research must be carried out to promote the Objects of the University. The first power mentioned in MANUU Acts and Statutes reads: to provide for instructions and research in such branches of learning as are relevant for furtherance of the objects of the University.

Therefore, MANUU mandates all the Department of Studies and Centres to prioritize all activities which lead to academic research and fulfil its vision and mission. The Departments and Centres can promote research a) through PhD programmes and b) through undertaking Sponsored Research Projects

All the matters pertaining to the research that leads to the academic degree MPhil or PhD must be addressed and processed by the Departmental Research Committees (DRCs) of the Departments of Studies.

All the matters pertaining to the sponsored or funded research projects sanctioned by government or industry must be dealt and processed by the Office of the Dean Research and Consultancy (Dean, R&C).

Guiding Principles

Every Department and Centre of MANUU should…

  • foster environment conducive to research,
  • necessitate the relevance of the research to the present times/issues,
  • mandate that the research area and topic must address issues leading to the upgrading of human, social, environmental conditions in the nation and the world,
  • ensure that the research they oversee or conduct must promote the cause of Urdu,
  • promote interdisciplinary research,
  • obligate that the research should result in the meaningful contribution to the existing body of knowledge,
  • obligate that the research activity shall not pose any threat to the safety, privacy and personal life of any human being or inflict injury to animals or harm the environment,
  • promote academic and intellectual honesty in research proposed or conducted or reported,
  • provide complete freedom to the scholar to conduct research independently, and
  • arrange for space and facility for the scholar for conducting the research,

Scholar’s Responsibilities

Every scholar shall…

  • follow all the Rules and Regulations of MANUU pertaining to the Research Programme
  • conduct independent research inquiry,
  • choose areas and topics which should carry research problems and which are undertaken to be solved,
  • refrain from unethical research practices,
  • conduct research in academically established honest ways, by acknowledging others’ contribution and declaring findings, and
  • carry out plagiarism check of the report/thesis of their research before submission of the same for evaluation

Sponsored Research Projects

  • All the Departments and Centres must strive for international/national recognition through schemes and funding.
  • All the Departments and Centres are required to motivate their faculty to apply for government funded research projects /schemes.
  • The University must provide seed money for internal projects with the ultimate aim of encouraging the faculty to apply for government funded or industry sponsored projects.
  • The University shall provide required basic infrastructure to the faculty/scholar for conducting research.
  • The faculty must file patent for all their research projects on successful completion.
  • All research work must be covered by IPR and copyright protection

Consultancy

  • The University shall have comprehensive policy on Consultancy
  • The University must encourage the faculty to provide consultancy services to industry/institutions
  • The consultancy work shall bring monetary benefit to the University, or enhance its academic reputation
  • The consultancy work must not negatively affect the academic responsibilities of the faculty

Research Funding

  • The University must provide fund and facilities to foster research environment in every Department through its resources, however where it cannot meet all the research demands due to the limited resources, it must ensure priority should be given to the research activity on the merit, its usefulness to the society and its meeting the mission of the University.
  • Nevertheless, the Department of the University must encourage every research scholar and faculty to strive to secure funding from external agencies.
  • The application to secure any external funding must be submitted through Registrar’s Office, after obtaining necessary approval from the Dean, Research & Consultancy or Departmental Research Committee as applicable.
  • The Finance Section must provide financial management service; and the Office of the Dean Research and Consultancy shall provide the utilization certificate after the successful completion of the research project.

Research Incentives

  • The University shall incentivize every research activity which results in contribution to any discipline of knowledge, in one of the following ways:
  • Issue a Certificate of Excellence
  • Acknowledge it by displaying the achievement of the faculty/scholar on University website.
  • Extend monetary incentive in line with the UGC/MHRD regulations, to the faculty/scholar who brings international recognition to the University through their project.

Office of the Dean, Research and Consultancy (Dean, R&C)

The Dean Research and Consultancy shall deal with all the external or sponsored research projects

All proposals and applications for any sponsored research project must be verified and approved by the Dean R&C before submission.

The Dean R&C must process all the matters related with the funds, its distribution and utilization till the completion of the research project in collaboration with the Finance Section.

The faculty/scholar must apprise every three months or as demanded by the Dean, R&C about the progress of the research project.

All the applications and proposal of acceptance of consultancy work whether research type or non-research type must be processed through Dean, R&C.

The Dean R&C must form a committee to decide the incentive to be given to the scholar/faculty after the successful completion of any project.