Careers360 World-class universities: What can India learn? | Page 20

Global Nobel Prizes World class universities produce persons of high recognition with honours such as Nobel Laureates, Fields medalists, national and international awardees and fellowships of prestigious academies. Such universities become sought after destinations both to students and faculty who are willing to innovate, experiment and evolve in an atmosphere of unlimited autonomy and academic freedom Prof. JAK Sareen Former Vice Chancellor, Pondicherry University Columbia University Universit of Chicago Stanford University 18 18 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 18 21 University of Cambridge 18 29 Harvard University University of California, Berkeley 17 16 35 10 California Institute of Technology Princeton University University of Oxford Source: www.nobelprize.org (affiliation at the time of grant) Column | G Vishwanathan What should the Government Do to get world class institutions world, the government needs to accord highest priority to the following aspects. Q uality higher education plays a significant role in shaping the future of a nation, and the world. Ranking of universities has become a yardstick for assessing the quality of higher education. It is distressing to note that Indian universities do not figure in the top 200 universities of the world despite the large number of universities in our country. Government should significantly increase budgetary allocation for higher education. If our universities are to feature in the top universities of the Research & Publications: Research is the most important criterion for universities to become world class. Government should increase funding for research by a significant proportion. When required funds are available to fuel research activities, our universities will emerge as strongholds for research and development. Subsequently, the quantity and quality of publications will increase. This will ultimately lead us in our march towards attaining top ranks for our universities. Patents: Universities should evolve as powerhouses of patents. High quality research results in developing patents. 51 Careers 360 January 2014 This can happen when there are abundant funding opportunities. Hence, government needs to financially help universities in the patent filing process. Internationalization: This is inevitable in the wake of liberalization and globalization. Present-day universities prepare students to face a world without borders and barriers. If this has to happen, student and faculty mobility should be the driving factors. For this, government policies on visa should be conducive to free mobility. Funds for international travel and research opportunities should be generously available for faculty and student exchange. (The author is the Chancellor of VIT University, Vellore)