A productive interface between industry and academia, in the current era of a knowledge driven economy, is critical. And this idea appears to have taken deep roots in Kolkata.
Two prominent varsities in the city, the University of Calcutta (CU) and Jadavpur University (JU) along with the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM) have been promoting industry-institute interface in their academic activities. The concept had initially been suggested by the National Knowledge Commission in its reports.
On the 150-year celebrations of the universities of Calcutta, Mumbai and Madras in 2007, CU took the initiative to get into a partnership with the two other institutes to establish the Centre for Research in Nano-science and Nano-technology (CRNN).
“The CRNN has two representatives from the universities of Mumbai and Madras,” said Dhrubojyoti Chattopadhyay, pro-vice chancellor of CU. The university has tie-ups with several Indian and foreign varsities for exchanging visiting fellows and professors.
“On the initiative of the West Bengal Higher Education Council, we take part in the inter-university exchange programmes. Several such programmes have been undertaken by the departments of Environment and Sanskrit, among others. At least 50 faculties of other universities have visited CU till date,” said Chattopadhyay.
CU had asked the Confederation of Indian Industry for suggestions in the area of Nano-technology before setting up CRNN. The university had also asked Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata for upgrading its syllabus for the Commerce department. “We have the Calcutta University-Industry Partnership Programme (CU-IIP) in place that interacts with the industry. All departments are party to this initiative,” Chattopadhyay added.
JU, which has made a name for itself in science and technology, has also taken initiatives for increased interface with the industry. “We are into consultancy services in a big way. Last year, we serviced 350 industries with consultancy. JU is the nodal centre for the Industry-Institute Partnership in the eastern region. We are into this kind of partnerships for a long time," said Siddhartha Dutta, pro-vice chancellor of Jadavpur University.
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The first management institute of the country, IISWBM, also has strong bonds with the industry. “We invite experts from the industry to share their expertise on various topics on a weekly basis. This interaction continues for two hours. Apart from this, we send students to visit plant sites so that they get first hand knowledge about the industry,” said SN Ray, director of IISWBM.
The students are required to submit a project report as part of their management degree programmes. “We have set up the Centre for Research in Materials Management (CRIMM) which is one of three institutes in the world and the only one in India. CRIMM trains working executives in materials management in association with the Indian Institute of Materials Management and the certificate is provided by the International Federation of Purchase and Supply Chain Management,” said Ray.
“Already, 12 researchers have received their fellowships under this programme. The CRIMM board is a perfect blend of industry-academia partnership. The board comprises 60 per cent members from the industry and the rest from the academia.”
IISWBM updates its syllabus every two years to keep itself abreast with the changing scenario. “We have made the Marketing Research paper more applicable. Last year, we started the specialisation in Operations Management. Before that, we had called in for industry inputs and held workshops to know what they expected from the students,” said Ray.