Six TN universities bag DST funding

COIMBATORE: Six leading universities including the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and Bharathiar University in Coimbatore and the Madurai Kamaraj University are among 30 institutions in the country which will receive funding from the Department of Science and Technology (DST) under its flagship 'PURSE' programme.The DST's 'Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence' scheme research grants are provided to universities based on their scientific publications in the Science Citation Indexed Journals through the internationally accepted Scopus (or SciVerse) database."We received a communication from the DST on Friday intimating that we will receive Rs 2 crore annually for the next three years under the 'PURSE' scheme. We had sent our proposal for this earlier," Tamil Nadu Agriculture University Vice-Chancellor P Murugesa Boopathi told Express. "The funds will be used for research in niche areas including nanotechnology, post-harvest management and crop physiology," Boopathi added.The TNAU has been listed as a Category D institution along with the Alagappa University in Karaikudi among the selected universities.On the other hand, the Bharathiar University, Madurai Kamaraj University and the Bharathidasan University in Tiruchy, which have been classified as Category C institutions based on their scientific index ratings, will receive Rs 3 crore each for the next three years.From Tamil Nadu, only Annamalai University, a private university, figures among the Category B institutions, which are entitled for a grant of Rs 5 crore per annum for three years.The first installment of the department's grants will be disbursed for the academic year 2010-11.