The University Grants Commission (UGC) has initiated a remarkable new initiative known as the Scheme for Trans-Disciplinary Research for India’s Developing Economy (STRIDE). The primary objective of this initiative is to back research projects that hold relevance socially, cater to local needs, and are significant on both national and global front. The scheme will be managed by an advisory committee led by Bhushan Patwardhan, the Vice Chairman of UGC.
The Structure of STRIDE
The STRIDE initiative is composed of three core components. Each component aims at fostering research, nurturing talents, encouraging social innovation, and improving people’s wellbeing with allocations of substantial grants.
Component 1: Nurturing and Mentoring the Young Talents
The first component of the STRIDE scheme is targeted at research capacity building across various disciplines. This includes mentoring and nurturing young talents to assist them in innovating practical solutions for problems of different scales – local, regional, national, and even global. Projects under this component can have access to a grant amounting up to Rs. 1 crore.
Component 2: Enhancing Problem-Solving Skills through Social Innovation
The second component lays focus on enhancing problem-solving abilities with the help of social innovation and action research. This would subsequently lead to improving people’s wellbeing and contribute towards India’s developing economy. The grant amount available for projects falling under this category ranges from Rs. 50 lakh to Rs. 1 crore.
Component 3: High Impact Research Projects
The third and final component will fund high-impact research projects identified thrust areas in humanities and human sciences through a network of eminent scientists from leading institutions. Funding is available upto Rs. 1 crore for an individual higher education institution and up to Rs. 5 crores for a multi-institutional network.
Expected Outcomes of the Scheme
| Outcome | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Strengthen transdisciplinary research culture | STRIDE aims at promoting team efforts from various disciplines to address common problems using new conceptual, theoretical, and methodological innovations that go beyond disciplinary approaches. |
| Promotion of knowledge utilization | The scheme goes beyond mere knowledge production and extends to practical application of generated knowledge outside academic ventures. |
| Builds multi-sectoral linkages | It provides an opportunity to establish links between university-government-community-industry aimed at national development and wellbeing of people. |
| Boost high-impact research | STRIDE will give a significant boost to high-impact research in Humanities and Human Sciences. |
About University Grants Commission (UGC)
The University Grants Commission (UGC), the orchestrator of the STRIDE initiative, was established on 28th December 1953. It became a statutory body of the Government of India per an Act of Parliament in 1956. The primary responsibilities of UGC include coordinating, determining, and maintaining the standards of teaching, examination, and research for university education. The UGC’s headquarters are situated in New Delhi.