Vice President dedicates Centenary Faculty Block at NIAS

Bangalore, Jan 13(UNI) Vice President M Hamid Ansari dedicated to the nation the Centenary Faculty Block in the Campus of National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) here today.

Stating that the intellectual output in the Universities have gone down, Mr Ansari, in his inaugural address, said that "Universities have increasingly parted ways with research and development activities, even within the Universities and as a result, the intellectual output of the Universities leaves much to be desired.

In the earlier days there were inter-disciplinary studies leading to cross-polination of ideas and over a time, however, what commenced as a functional division of work tended to crystallize into rigid boundaries, he said.

"The problem has been accentuated by the structure of our higher education system and our research institutions", he added.

Terming NIAS as an oasis, he said that the books, reports, working papers published by it bear testimony to the scope of work being done and are perhaps unique for an Indian academic institution.

The study under the same roof of archaeomentallurgy with primatology, sociology and anthropology with nuclear and strategic issues, philosophy with astrophysics and aeronautics, rural development and gender issues, philosophy and number theory makes for new and facinating outcomes, he added.

Mr Ansari said that a multi-disciplinary approach is critical to the advancement of knowledge.

Stating that the pursuit of knowledge is an exercise of walking towards receding horizons, he said that "each generation makes its own judgement about the success of the endeavour. The important thing is to create conditions conducive to undertaking the walk." Karnataka Governor Rameshwar Thakur, in his presidential address, said that the success of NIAS was real example for the need for more and more collaboration between public and private sectors in higher education.

"Creating institutions of global standards is a task that requires substantial and increasing financial resources. High quality research requires investment both in terms of the facilities required as well as in terms of attracting the best talent and at the same time, it is in the interest of industry too to ensure that it does not run into knowledge barriers when it pursues its own goals", he added.

Earlier, NIAS Director and Scientist C N R Rao detailed role played by the institution in the research field.

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