IGNOU’s new hot seat

Raman Chair is a special position created by the university's School of Science to promote interdisciplinary research and teaching

IGNOU's new hot seat

Raman Chair is a special position created by the university's School of Science to promote interdisciplinary research and teaching

Not all chairs are about handling corporate chaos. The Indira Gandhi National Open University's newly established Raman Chair, for instance. The initiatives and objectives of this Chair will include coordinating the promotion of integrated science teaching and multidisciplinary research activities, conceiving, initiating, coordinating and propelling academic and research activities and planning and execution of integrated Master's level degrees. Its aim also encompasses inviting expert teachers and scholars from all branches, including mathematics, to come together in an attempt to create a convergence between the modalities of IGNOU and scienceu00a0 institutions of repute, such as Indian Institute of Science, Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research.

Vice Chancellor Prof VN Rajasekharan Pillai announced the development recently, with Prof P T Manoharan as Raman Chair Professor. He is currently Ramanna Fellow, Department of Science & Technology and an Honorary Professor (JNCASR, Bangalore) at IIT, Madras.

Vital science

The Chair will also help in creating projects to develop curricula and syllabi for new courses at all levels degrees, diploma and certificates. It will innovate new methods of science- education with modern communication technology and promotional activities in the field of educational and training materials, such as writing of books and multimedia materials for different modes of learning needs. Developing courses in multidisciplinary subjects such as nanoscience, green chemistry, business mathematics will also be an objective.
It aims to identify bright young talent in the final years of schools from all sections of society and regions to participate in the development of science through seminars, with the help of scholars from all over India. Last and not the least, Raman Chair will work with national policy making bodies to map out strategies for science promotion at all levels.

"It is gratifying to witness a growing realisation that basic scientific research is the real key to technological development, without which a nation like India cannot evolve into a global economic power and sustain the tempo of its increasing need and thirst for new and sophisticated technology," asserted Professor Pillai. He further added that the health of a nation is dependent on the health of its scientific base, which will in turn propel new technology. Now that's what we call some chair-leading!