Kharagpur: The central government provided Rs 80 crore funding to the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, for phase two of the Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC) set up by Ministry of Education, reported Jagran Josh.
Speaking at the event, Professor Adrijit Goswami, who is leading the Pan India Coordination of the programme, said that the funding would aid in the promotion of virtual and e-learning. Goswami also said that academic collaborations at SPARC-approved institutes look positive, thanks to phase 2 of the funding, structured format of e-workshops, webinars, online classes and virtual research.
He said that the opportunities have increased for the students regarding collaborative work owing to online education, despite its drawbacks.
SPARC Director Virendra K Tewari spoke about the approval of close to 400 research proposals. The director said that the data indicated a shift towards trans-disciplinary research addressing the global challenges and cutting edge research.
According to Tewari, the Indian Science and Technology institutes will benefit from the insights by the alignment of their trust areas with global trends for more international collaboration opportunities.