THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala University (KU) will establish an Advanced Centre for Materials Research with financial support of the ISRO. University Vice-Chancellor A Jayakrishnan told reporters here on Tuesday that the centre, to be named after the great space scientist Bram Prakash, will get an aid of Rs 100 crore from the ISRO.The centre is a result of the discussions held during the Indian Science Congress co-hosted by the Kerala University. The idea was supported by Dr G Madhavan Nair, former Chairman, ISRO. Several rounds of discussions were completed between Kerala University and ISRO and the project report will be presented to the Space Commission this year itself, Jayakrishnan said.If approved by the Commission and the Union Government, this will be a world-class centre for materials research exploring advanced materials for the 21st century, he said.Another major initiative of the university will be the proposed ‘Purse grant’ from the Union Department of Science and Technology for establishing a Centralised Instrumentation Facility. The Department has sanctioned a grant of ` 9 crore for the same. This facility will be established on the Kariavattom campus. Jayakrishnan said that the university has introduced a ‘school system’ in order to make increased interaction and facility sharing. This was introduced after several discussions with Academic and Administrative sections of the university, including service organisations. The university statute was amended for the move to the school system. It will be introduced once the Chancellor gives assent to it.Another statute amendment that has been completed is the change of the designation of teaching faculty. The Chancellor’s assent is awaited for this also, he said. Yet another statute amendment facilitates the constitution of a Students’ Grievance Cell. The university could also publish the eighth volume of the Malayalam Lexicon during the last two-and-half years of his tenure. It was after a gap of more than 10 years that the Lexicon Department could bring out a new volume. The State Government has agreed to purchase volumes of the Lexicon worth Rs 50 lakh.In an attempt to save the use of printing paper, students have been allowed to print their PhD thesis on both sides of paper in 1.5 space, instead of double spacing and only on one side of the paper as has been done till now. The university has also made compulsory the submission of the CD of the thesis. This is aimed at uploading the thesis in the national depository via INFLIBNET.The university has also tightened the regulation regarding submission of the PhD thesis by allowing a one-year grace period for all those pending cases.The Vice-Chancellor said that the university could publish the eighth semester BTech results ahead of other universities in the State for the last consecutive years.
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