The University of Mumbai will soon initiate a plan to implement the meta-university concept through collaboration with other state universities in the state, vice-chancellor Dr Ravindra Kulkarni said during the annual convocation held on Saturday. This will be part of the initiatives that will be undertaken within the framework of the plan that commemorates the 170th anniversary of the creation of the university, which will begin in July.
Bombay The university was established in July 1857. “As India moves towards a developed and inclusive nation, the university’s journey ahead of the 170th anniversary must reflect those transitions from access to excellence, from disciplinary silos to interdisciplinary areas and the development of documentary models to ecosystems driven by research and innovation,” said Professor Kulkarni.
As the varsity moves towards establishing specialized technology schools for research and development (R&D) purposes in areas such as advanced materials, artificial intelligence, data science, quantum and cloud computing, sustainable science, clean energy initiatives, among others, Professor Kulkarni highlighted that the varsity will take steps for research translation by developing commercialization models, intellectual property rights management, revenue generation, etc. “We are also moving forward in implementing the meta-university concept through collaboration with other state universities in Maharashtra.” he said during his speech.
Meta-university, a concept introduced over a decade ago by the then Union government, envisaged collaboration of universities by using the latest technologies available to enable students to benefit from the learning resources available in different institutions, with a view to providing them with a more holistic learning experience by offering joint degree programmes.
Meta University is a concept based on the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. “After breaking disciplinary silos of learning, the next step is to break institutional silos, allowing students to design their own degrees. Different universities and institutions can come together to offer students the best possible mix of subjects,” said Professor Kulkarni. He added that the University of Mumbai plans to offer this cafeteria approach to learning to students by collaborating with other universities and institutions in the state. “However, this is a futuristic concept that is currently at a very primary stage and will require another 2-3 years to take shape,” he said.
Noting that the concept had been debated in the past, Professor Kulkarni further said that hybrid or online learning was not feasible then. “Though envisioned earlier, it was not implemented due to constraints. However, with the flexible learning approach encouraged by NEP 2020, this cafeteria learning approach is now possible. Going forward, Mumbai University will initiate such collaborations with other universities in the state and globally.”
More than 1.7 lakh degrees awarded
The University of Mumbai held its annual convocation on Saturday where more than 1.7 lakh degrees were awarded, including 1,49,982 undergraduate (UG) and 22,540 postgraduate (PG) degrees. The students included 84,318 men and 88,202 women and two others. Women outnumber men not only in UG courses but also in PG programmes. At UG, with 75,252 students, girls were slightly more than 74,729 boys. While at PG level, with 12,950 students, girls were significantly more than 9,589 boys.
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Awarding a total of 609 doctoral degrees, the varsity recorded a nearly 50 per cent increase in the number of doctorates awarded last year, which stood at 401. “This is the highest number of doctorates awarded in the last nine years,” said Prof Dr Ajay Bhamare, deputy vice-chancellor, University of Mumbai, further highlighting the university’s special emphasis on research and innovation activities. Of the total doctorates, the largest number (269) came from the Faculty of Science and Technology. (See box)
Chief Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, Prof. Dr. Ajay Kumar Sood, was the chief guest at the convocation ceremony. He spoke about the recently launched Union government initiative – a Rs 1 lakh crore research, development and innovation (R&D) fund to boost private sector R&D. “This is the first time this has happened anywhere in the world. This fund is a game-changer and provides long-term, low-interest financing to help private companies and startups turn deep tech prototypes into commercial realities,” he said.