With an aim to focus on research which leads to betterment of society, more than 41 vice-chancellors from different universities are set to participate in the North Zone Vice Chancellors' meet here tomorrow.
Jointly being hosted by the Aligarh Muslim University and the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), the conference will have Justice Markandey Katju, former judge of Supreme Court of India and till recently the Chairman of the Press Council of India as the chief guest.
The theme 'Research in Institutions of Higher Education for Betterment of Society' has been deliberately chosen with an aim to focus on research in universities on issues directly linked to the betterment of society instead of fettering away time and resources in conducting research on irrelevant issues, AMU Vice-Chancellor Lt Gen (retd) Zameer Uddin Shah told reporters today.
"The AMU has offered to host this year's conference as we would like to showcase the university's achievements in the field of higher education in the country," he said.
In recent weeks, an erroneous impression has been spread as if the AMU is a retrograde institution where a medieval mindset prevails. Let the country's top educationists come and see for themselves how we plan to serve the country and society as a whole, the VC said.
Referring to the recent controversy pertaining to celebration of the birth anniversary of freedom fighter Raja Mahendra Pratap, Shah said, "I stand by my commitment to organise a national seminar on the role of Raja Mahendra Pratap in the country's freedom struggle.
"This seminar will, however, not be limited to Raja Mahendra Pratap's role but will draw scholars from all over the country to highlight the role of the entire galaxy of alumni of the Aligarh Muslim University in the country's freedom struggle."
"We are committed to remind the nation of the role of these stalwarts in the task of nation building," he said.
AMU is also drawing up a comprehensive plan for channelling efforts in some programmes of national interest.
"Our objective is to take the lead in ushering a second Green Revolution in the country. This second Green Revolution will be powered by our pioneering research in the field of Nanotechnology," he said.
"Our main contributions will be in the field of nanotechnology and environmental issues, including providing vital inputs in the national Ganga Cleaning Project, for which we have the expertise," he said.
