Khagol _112 _October 2017

| KHAG L | No. 112 - OCTOBER 2017 | 03 pointed out, the IUCs play a key developmental role by providing platforms for the University sector to engage in collaborative and innovative research togetherwith scientists. There were presentations by the four Directors: Somak Raychaudhury, IUCAA, Pune; Dinakar Kanjilal, IUAC, New Delhi; Ajit K. Sinha, UGC-DAE CSR, Indore; and Jagdish Arora, INFLIBNET Centre, Gandhinagar. Each of them gave a report on the facilities available at the respective Centres, and how the university community has been using these. Therewere presentations byDipankar Bhattacharya from IUCAA, on Major Facilities at IUCAA: Present and Future; N. Madhavan from IUAC, on Renaissance in Accelerator based Research and Development; and Vasudeva Siriguri from UGC-DAE CSR, on Research using Mega-Projects by Universities and Institutions in India. Selected users of three IUCs made presentations: (i) Harinder Pal Singh, from the University of Delhi, presented on IUCAA- Universities Interaction: AnAssociate's Perspective, (ii) Prasenjit Sen, from Jawaharlal Nehru University, NewDelhi, on Opportunities and User Experiences at the IUAC, and (iii) Shankar I. Patil, from Savitribai Phule Pune University, on UGC-DAE CSR: A User's Perspective. Kewal K. Sharma addressed the participants and stressed that the educational scenario in India has been expanding in a big way, as regards both institutions of excellence such as IITs, IIMs, scientific institutions, etc. as well as Central and State universities. This meeting, he said, was therefore a very useful opportunity for stock taking. Sharma highlighted several examples of Government initiatives that are currently in place or still being discussed, with the aimof addressing the question: Do adequate facilities exist to nourish the quest of those who are already teaching and those who are potential students? These included ideas for increasing and easing access between universities and scientific laboratories, enabling digital/online education, implementing reforms that give more autonomy to top-ranked universities, incentivising talented students to pursue PhDs in India, facilitating teacher training through schemes such as the Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Teachers Training Programme and increasing access to higher education across the country in general. There was a Panel Discussion led by Jagdish Arora, Virander S. Chauhan, Dinakar Kanjilal, Somak Raychaudhury, andAjit K. Sinha. At the outset, Raychaudhury mentioned that the main and general discussion would be the way, in the future, how the IUCs and UGC could interact with the universities in their research and teaching enhancement. He invited comments from participants who have never used IUC facilities, as well as IUC users who have benefited from their interaction and could suggest what more the IUCs could do.