Preamble: Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) are platforms of treasured knowledge sharing and transmission, and erudite exploration. These core and complementary exercise of scholarship, innovation and research productivity principally determines the graduate research and outcome which are the two cardinal features that reflect the caliber of alumni and define the prominence of HEIs. The successful attainment of this milestone is greatly contingent upon alignment of the dynamics of teaching-learning process, a guaranteed academic freedom and shared responsibilities.

Dr.N.G.P. Arts and Science College's central functions of teaching-learning are complemented by research, which depends upon an atmosphere in which freedom of inquiry, thought, expression and publication are given the fullest protection. This policy document presents the broad principles that guide the research enterprise at Dr.N.G.P. Arts and Science College and assure the integrity of scholarly inquiry that aims at helping students, scholars and faculty of Dr.N.G.P. Arts and Science College to achieve excellence and contribute to the societal development.

The college is committed to promote a research culture among Faculty and students as basic long term research provides the foundation for future development of the Institution. The research policy of the college aims to develop and promote scientific temper and research aptitude of all learners; to realize the vision and mission of the college and to identify research areas of academic, practical and socially relevant significance thus contributing to national development. It also aims at ensuring that the research activities of the college conform to all applicable rules and regulations of the affiliating University and U.G.C. as well as to the established standards and norms relating to safe and ethical conduct of research. Our research policy provides a broad framework to the research activities with the following objectives:

Principles

The Academic Council of Dr.N.G.P. Arts and Science College hereby affirms the following principles concerning research:

• Individual scholars should be free to select the subject matter of their research, to seek support from any source for their work and to form their own findings and conclusions.
• These findings and conclusions should be available for scrutiny and criticism as required by the policy of the college on openness in research.
• Research procedures should not violate established professional ethics pertaining to the personal rights of human beings (such as health, safety and privacy).
• The College fosters an environment conducive to research, yet may not be able to support all research demands because of limited resources. However, it shall allocate space, facilities, funds and other resources for research programs based on the scholarly merits of the proposed research.
• The College shall also provide opportunities to researchers for writing research proposals and reports, publications, patent filing, etc.
• The principle of freedom of access by all interested persons to the underlying data processes and to the final results of research is one of overriding importance.

The above principles provide a broad framework to guide research and integrity of scholarly inquiry at Dr.N.G.P. Arts and Science College with respect to research at all levels - Bachelors to Ph.D. as well as research supported with extramural funding. They reinforce the individual research personal responsibility to assure that the conduct of research, the sources of funding for the research and its perceived outcomes are consistent with the individual researcher's judgment and conscience.

Objectives

• To establish a system for research
• To promote research, innovation and intellectual capital
• To sustain research and publication
• To incentivize the generation of intellectual capital
• To take research findings to society
• To establish links with local, national, regional and global institutions through MoU
• To engage in consultancy and extension activities
• To motivate the staff to utilize the skills towards enhancement of knowledge
• To increase external funding for doing research by way of writing proposals to Government and Non-government agencies
• To implement research-based learning
• To enter into research partnerships with other institutions
• To ensure integrity, quality and ethics in research
• To provide a proper coordination of all research activities of the college and aligning these to the vision and missions of the college and national development goals
• To promote interdisciplinary research and establish policies or involving external agencies/experts in such projects
• To create an awareness about patents and Intellectual Property Rights and motivate them to apply for patents
• To take initiative for granting study leave, sabbatical leave, duty leave, seed money, reduction in workload, etc. to deserving faculty members for advanced research
• To create an ecosystem for innovations including Incubation centre and other initiatives for creation and transfer of knowledge

Thrust Areas

Although researchers have the freedom to choose their own topics of research, it is highly desirable to make research socially relevant. Dr.N.G.P. Arts and Science College expects the various cells, forums, and Departments to identify the trends for research. Dr.NGPASC will support the innovators (academic community and local community) with impactful socially relevant ideas which have great potential to be a successful Social Enterprise. This centre is confined to the following thrust areas:

• Health care
• Education
• Women and Child welfare
• Poverty
• Water and Sanitation
• Sustainable Agriculture
• Environmental Management
• Waste Management
• Sustainable Employment Creation
• ICT, etc.,

Promotion of Research

The College believes that researchers are free to choose the subject of their research, to seek support from any funding source for their research work, and to report their findings and conclusions. However, the research shall be available for scrutiny to the faculty/advisor concerned and constructive criticism of the peers. The following steps shall be taken to promote research at Dr.N.G.P. Arts and Science College.

• Principal Investigators of funded projects will be rewarded with cash incentives.
• Dr.NGPASC accords high priority recognizing the outcomes of research (Ph.D. Degree, publication, patent, and other recognitions). Publications in peer-reviewed/ indexed Journals as well as those presentations made in Conferences/ Seminars/ Symposia if that result in ISBN/ ISSN numbered proceedings attract cash incentives.
• Research Advisors whose scholar is successful with the Ph.D. degree and two International publications (with Thompson Reuters IF) can claim cash incentive.
• A successful research proposal will be given seed money for carrying out the research project.

Research Committee

The research cell is constituted with the Principal as chairman, Dean R&D as Coordinator, and all research guides as members. The ways and means of improving research activities is discussed in the meeting of Research cell.

Objective

• A qualitative and consistent review mechanism for research is put in place for all proposals dealt by this Committee

Role

• To review all research projects to be conducted at Dr.NGPASC irrespective of the funding agency
• The committee shall take care of all cardinal principles of research ethics viz. Autonomy, Beneficence, Non-malfeasance and Justice in planning, conduct and reporting of the proposed research.
• The committee shall review the proposals before start of the study as well as monitor the research throughout the study until and after completion of the study through appropriate well documented procedures like annual reports, final reports, site visits etc. The committee shall also examine compliance with all regulatory requirements, applicable guidelines and laws.

Code of Ethics in Research

Every researcher of the college has a responsibility to foster an environment which promotes intellectual honesty and integrity. The researcher should resist from indulging in activities which infringe on the copyrighted materials which would amount to misconduct in any aspect of research. The Research misconduct may mean and inclusive of any behaviour of the researcher that borders conflicts of interest, fabrication, falsification, plagiarism in proposing, performing or reviewing research or in reporting research results. Research misconduct does not include honest differences in interpretations or judgments of data. The College shall take seriously all incidents of research misconduct and shall ensure that the procedures for the inquiry, investigation and adjudication of any misconduct are just for all parties involved. Dr.NGPASC not only views research misconduct as extremely troubling but also views the same as a threat to the basic principles of research and ethical standards the College strives to maintain and promote. Dr.NGPASC undertakes to comply with the provisions formulated by the UGC in its Draft Policy Note No. F. 1-18/2010 (CPP-II) dated 1st September 2017 - UGC Regulations (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Education Institutions) - 2017.

• All students pursuing research in the college are expected to maintain high standards of integrity, honesty and professionalism in respect of all the work undertaken by them
• Since the college is affiliated to Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore, the college follows the regulations of the University and U.G.C. regarding plagiarism and malpractice in research
• A Ph.D./ M.Phil. thesis submitted from the Institution is screened by Bharathiyar University, for plagiarism before it is accepted. Each student can avail the facility in the university to check plagiarism of the paper publications.
• Whenever a paper is to be published in peer reviewed journals, the journal will normally have a committee to check the originality in the content.
• An ethical committee has been constituted and a Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) is adopted for monitoring research activities of the college
• The objective of this SOP is to contribute to the effective functioning of the Committee by ensuring a qualitative and consistent ethical review mechanism for health and biomedical research involving human participants.

Research Forum

In each research department, Research Forum may be formed comprising of research scholars. Motivated PG and UG students can also be members of the Research Forum. The members of the Research Forum may be given chance to interact with the scientists and experts in the field whenever possible. The members may be given information on the summer research fellowships available in IISc, IITs and other research institutes. The members may be encouraged to apply for projects announced by Tamilnadu State Council for Science and Technology (TNSCST), Department of Science and Technology (DST), University Grants Commission (UGC), and other agencies. The Research Forum may organize regular research oriented discussion on recent developments in research.

Seed Money

Dr.NGPASC follows a proactive policy of encouraging professional development of teachers and provides T.A., D.A. and Registration fee for those who present papers in national/ international seminars organized by other institutions. Seed money is granted for researchers for publishing research papers per publication per researcher at the rate of Rs. 500 and Rs. 250 respectively in international and national journals. This in turn motivates researchers to apply for research projects from Government and Non-government agencies to take up research.

Seed money is given to departments for conducting national/ international seminars/ conferences/ workshops for dissemination of research findings.

DrNGPASC is keen to participate in the research, transmission and enhancement of knowledge and to encourage the staff and the students to take part in the socio economic and scientific development of the nation.

External Funds

All researchers are encouraged to get funds for research through submitting research proposals to Government and Non-government agencies.

Research at UG & PG Levels

Inclusion of research component in the curriculum is a way of promoting creativity among the undergraduates and postgraduates. Accordingly, group, lab on and individual Research Projects are included in the final year curricula of the Bachelors and Masters programme respectively. Upon submission of the dissertation, viva voce is conducted on the dissertation.

Roles and responsibilities of UG/ PG Project Coordinators (PCs)

• The concern Class Advisor(s) of UG/ PG project performing student batch will be the UG/ PG Project Coordinator(s) (PCs)
• Before the commencement of UG/ PG classes, HoD should convene a staff meeting to identify all possible research areas for the department and assign expertise staff for each domain
• PCs should communicate the core research areas and staff expertise of department to UG/ PG students within a week of class commencement
• PCs should orient UG/ PG students in selecting research topic and collecting review of literature, methodology, etc. This process should be completed within 3 weeks
• Student shall make PPT presentation (3 slides only) highlighting Research Area(s), Literature Review and Methodology. Based on the student research interest and staff expertise (available), the PCs in consultation with the HoD will assign project guides. This process should be completed at the 5th week
• PCs should prepare UG/ PG student project list including the guide and cost involved and the report is submitted to Overall Project Coordinator (OPC)
• Every week for an hour, the departmental project review meeting shall be organized where each student/ team will present progress report for 10 minutes. Project guide(s) should also be present during the student presentation. Members presiding over the review meeting should give suggestions for project work improvement
• OPC will organize monthly meeting wherein the project progress shall be discussed
• PCs will issue general guidelines and other regulations for the dissertation preparation and should follow accordingly
• Draft copy of the thesis shall be submitted to Dean R&D
• From this academic year 2019-20, it is the responsibility of the concerned guide to ensure that student projects are submitted for publication in free journals where student should be a 1st author and the guide is a corresponding author. Authors who have contributed (directly or indirectly) may be co-authors
• It is mandatory to get the communication ID before proceeding for publication
• The acknowledgement column should include the following
  • Funding agency (only in externally funded projects)
  • Lab facility from host institutions
  • DST-FIST Scheme
  • DBT-Star Scheme
  • Management
  • Principal
  • Dean, R&D

Roles and Responsibilities of Overall Project Coordinator (OPC)

The Overall Project Coordinator (OPC) is responsible for student allotment, implementation and monitoring of project progress and outcome at various stages. OPC shall convene monthly Project Review meeting between 3.15 pm to 4.15 pm on any day except on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Project review committee comprises of Principal/ Principal Nominee, Dean R&D, OPC, PCs and the HoD

Issues, non-availability of resources if any are to be discussed in the project review meeting and the report is to be submitted in Principal’s office through Dean R&D. OPC shall give guidelines for the preparation of dissertation

• Overall thesis format/ spacing
• Certificate format
• Font type and size
• Bibliographic style

It is the responsibility of the OPC to ensure that

• All project work is converted into research paper
• The students are motivated to choose research as their career
• Translational research should be encouraged
• Start-up project’s to be motivated

At the end of academic year, projects list and the resultant publications should be submitted to Dean R&D/ Principal’s office

Minor & Major Research Projects

Research projects supported by Government agencies as well as sponsored extramurally form an important resource for augmenting infrastructure and professional recognition of the faculty and therefore the College. The institution has been encouraging the faculty to conduct research as a means of augmenting and complementing the teaching process. Research Committee would identify a list of funding agencies – government as well as industry, and develop a scheme for providing financial assistance in the form of seed money to conceive research ideas and realize the project. For this purpose, every year the College earmarks financial budget. The Minor Research Project Scheme helps young faculty to prepare the proposal, conduct research and begin publishing. It also assists them in preparing proposals for major research projects.

Collaborative research project

For collaborative research there should be formal agreement between the parties involved in the project. Then the proposal can be submitted to the agency for the financial assistance. Also the intellectual property rights of all researchers involved in the project must be clearly spelt out.

Guidelines to carry out research

The HoDs should motivate and encourage initiating research by individual staff.

The staff, who is pursuing part time/ full time research, can utilize the available infrastructure facility for doing research.

The staff can also use the lab facility for doing research during holidays with prior one time approval.

Individual staff can bring out research publications in referred and peer-reviewed journals along with good impact factor with Dr.N.G.P. ASC affiliation.

The staff who involve in research can decide the co-authorship(s) in paper publication.

The staff can write proposal to any funding agency on their field of interest.

The staff responsible in conceiving and bringing out the project is the P.I. and who are supporting will be co-investigators.

In case, if the staff not holding the Ph.D., he/she can identify the P.I. wherein the staff can be the co-investigator.

The co-authorship in the paper publication and the P.I./ co-investigatorship in funded proposals are not mandatory to include the senior professor/ HoD.

It is directed to use the following heads to claim the expenditure for all the projects hereafter:-

Equipment
• Salary-SRF/ JRF (Fellowship)
• Travel
• Consumables
• Contingencies
• Overheads

All Payments Exceeds Rs.500/- should be made only through electronic transfer/ cheque

All the Principal Investigators/ Co-ordinators of the ongoing projects/ schemes are directed to maintain the following files;

• Letter-in
• Letter-out
• Accounts (Bills)
• Progress Report
• Equipment
• Consumables
• Contingencies
• Salary

Guidelines to appoint Junior Research Fellow (JRF) and Senior Research Fellow (SRF) in funded projects/ Management sponsored projects

The selection committee to appoint JRF and SRF shall be constituted

The following are the composition of the committee:

Chairman - Principal

Dean - Research and Development

HoD - Principal Investigator (P.I.) affiliated department

Subject Expert- Concerned area of research (TA/ DA shall be availed from research fund)

Selection Process

• The advertisement should be given in one national (English)/ regional (Tamil) daily and display in the notice boards of different Colleges/ Research Labs/ Universities.
• Initial screening of the application based on the required qualification.
• Sending call letters 15 days in advance for interview after scrutiny.
• The interview consists of entrance test and the personal interview on the concerned research area.
• Candidates will be interviewed by the selection committee.
• Committee will finalize the suitable candidates and list their names as per the ranking.
• The approval of the selected candidate shall be obtained from the Managment.
• The appointment order will be released by the Chairman of the selection committee.
• The fellowship for the JRF/SRF will be as per the norms prescribed by the funding agency.

Promotion of JRF to SRF

• The progress of the JRF candidates will be reviewed by the committee after completion of 2 years of JRF position.
• Based on the performance, publication of research papers and progress of the research work, the committee may/may not recommend the promotion to SRF.
• The Principal will release the promotion order.
• The candidates are eligible to receive the Senior Research Fellowship based on the terms and conditions of the funding agency, after their promotion from JRF.

Purchase Policy

• All research equipments will be purchased as per the norms put forth by the sponsoring agency. The researcher may also use the equipment supplied by the donor.
• Upon completion of the project all equipments purchased using research grants shall become the property of the College.

The following are the guidelines for purchase of equipment:-

• The prominent vendors/ suppliers for purchase of different equipment should be identified by the respective Head of the department
• The list of identified vendors should be added in the approved vendors list of the Institution.
• Identification of equipment with required specifications by the respective staff and the lab in charge along with the discussion of HoD.
• The HoD should take necessary steps to get different quotations at competitive rates from the list of approved vendors.
• The quotations should consist of comprehensible specifications of the equipment such as make, model, warranty and payment policy along with terms and conditions.
• The comparative statement of the quotations received by different approved vendors should be prepared by the HoD.
• The comparative statement should be discussed with the purchase committee constituted by Principal.
• The purchase committee will identify the terms and conditions regarding the payment of the selected vendors.
• The identified prominent vendors should be called for demonstration/ presentation of the equipment.
• The HoD will narrow down the equipment based on the model, make and specification.
• The negotiation of the pricing will be made in the presence of the following members:
  • Secretary of the Institution or her nominee
  • Principal
  • Members of the purchase committee
• The following members are nominated as members of the purchase committee for our college in addition to Madam Secretary of the Institution or her nominee
  • Principal
  • Dean - Administration
  • Member Secretary
  • HoD - Respective Department
  • Staff in-charge of the lab - Respective Department
• After the approval of the Management, the CEO (Regular Purchase)/ Principal (Project Purchase) will place the purchase order (PO) to the respective vendor.

Payment Policy

• As an advance, 40% of the payment will be made at the time of releasing the purchase order.
• The remaining 40% of the payment will be made after the delivery and commissioning the equipment.
• The balance 20% of the payment will be made after one month of successful performance of the equipment.
• In case of foreign order, either the payment will be made through wire transfer or demand draft or letter of credit.