About

The Deanery of Projects works with the mission of promoting advanced academic research in diverse disciplines. The Deanery facilitates new and interdisciplinary project initiatives and collaborative ventures with national and international institutions, industries, academic forum and other research bodies. The college has been recognized by the UGC as ‘College of Excellence’ and granted with a funding support of Rs.1 crore to augment infrastructural development and research. The college has been awarded with the prestigious FIST Grant of Rs. 1 Crore by the DST, Government of India towards “College as a Whole” Scheme for the development of PG programmes. The college has also been selected by DBT for the ‘Star College’ Scheme and was sanctioned with a grant of Rs. 35 lakhs for the development of Life Sciences along with the Basic Sciences at the UG level. The college has received funding for undertaking major and minor research projects from various agencies like UGC, DST SERB, DBT, DST FIST, TNSCST and MOFPI New Delhi to augment the facilities of the Science Departments and the Central Instrumentation Facility (HAIF). The college has received Rs. 55.71 lakhs to undertake 6 UGC Major Research Projects. A total amount of Rs. 80.03 lakhs have been sanctioned by the UGC to carry out 47 Minor Research Projects. The college has also received an International Funding grant of Rs, 28.31 lakhs from United Board for Christian Higher Education (UBCHEA) Hong Kong to carry out four major projects. A total number of 63 Minor Research Projects were sanctioned under the BHC Management Research Fund to the teaching faculty of the Self-financed section of the college during the years 2019-2021. As part of Post Review of Research, 32 Minor Project holders of our college submitted their Impact Analysis Report and the Success Indicators to the Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi.

Policy Document

The Deanery conducts Administrative Audit every year and all the departments are asked to submit audit statements along with the bills which are duly audited and verified by the Principal, Bursar, Superintendent along with the Deanery. The Deanery provides funding support for the staff members to carry out Minor-research projects by constituting a committee to scrutinize, select proposals and finalize the budget.

Policy for Minor Research Project funded by the Management:

The Deanery of Projects enables the faculty of arts and sciences to undertake Minor Research Projects (MRP) funded by the Management of the college. The following are the Policies and Procedures followed by the Deanery with regard to the MRP scheme:

• The faculty members who are regular employees of Bishop Heber College are eligible for the MRP scheme. They should have served the college for a minimum period of one year.
• The faculty should demonstrate keen acumen and possess aptitude for research.
• The faculty who are availing themselves of the MRP scheme should not have previously received funds from any other government or non-government agencies for carrying out major/minor project.
• After receiving the notification from the Deanery of Projects, the project investigators and co-investigators should appear in-person for a presentation of the research proposal and provide justification for their proposed research as well as for their budgetary requirements.
• The project holders are expected to attend periodic review meetings and submit a report on the progress of their research, output achieved in terms of publications/patents and also provide the budgetary expenses incurred.
• After completing the project, the investigators shall submit the report along with the original bills/vouchers and other testimonials for scrutiny. The bills will be scrutinized by the accounts department and if any malpractice, in terms of submission of bills is detected then an explanation will be sought from the project holders regarding the same. If the explanation is not satisfactory, the bill amount will be collected back from the project holder.
• If the project holders are faced with the need to spend more (than the budget allotted under a particular head) on buying instruments/software, field visits, etc., they need to get permission from the Deanery of Projects and the management before doing so.
• Unspent money should be returned to the management after completion of the project.
• If the project holder is unable to submit the project before the stipulated period, the Deanery shall consider their request based on the genuineness of the case and shall forward the request to the management for the extension of time.
• If the project holder leaves the institution or is not able to carry out the project, then the money sanctioned should be refunded to the management.
• The management has every right to withdraw the sanction order and the sanctioned money without prior notice if the project is not carried out properly.

Procedures to be followed:

• The Deanery will convene a meeting regarding the amount to be sanctioned for the Minor Research Project scheme and will prepare a budget to be presented to the Management through the Principal and Bursar.
• Once the budget is approved by the Management, the Deanery shall send a circular to all the faculty calling for submission of research proposals and budgetary requirements.
• The Deanery will constitute a Screening Committee comprising: VP-Projects, Associate Deans of Projects, Dean-IQAC, Dean-R&D and subject experts – to scrutinize the proposals.
• The faculty will be asked to present their research proposal including the aim, methodology, budget and expected outcome of the research. The Deanery of Projects will select the candidate based on the recommendations of the Scrutiny Committee and projects will be sanctioned by the Deanery and duly forwarded to the management for approval.
• After getting approval from the Management, Sanction Orders will be issued to the project holders and a detailed guideline and pertinent instructions will be given to the project holders regarding the norms for expenditure.
• Periodic review meetings will be convened by the Deanery to review the progress of the research. The project holders are expected to attend periodic review meetings and submit a report on the progress of their research, output achieved in terms of publications/patents and also provide the budgetary expenses incurred.
• If the project holders are required to spend more (than the budget allotted under a particular head) on buying instruments/software, field visits, etc., they need to get permission from the Deanery of Projects and the management before doing so.
• The final report and accounts statement should be submitted to the Deanery before the stipulated last date. If the project holder is unable to submit the project before the stipulated period, they will have to write a letter to the Deanery stating the reason for not completing the project and seek permission for extension. The Deanery shall consider their request based on the genuineness of the case and shall forward the request to the management for extension of time.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Motivating the faculty members to apply for Major and Minor Projects from funding agencies.
• Organizing Orientation Programme for BHC Minor Project Holders on project guidelines, on preparation of the descriptive and financial report and on the utilization of funds.
• Arranging periodical review meetings with project holders to assess the progress.
• Department-wise monitoring and evaluation of Minor Projects funded by BHC.
• Conducting Workshop on Writing Research Proposal for the faculty of Arts and Science disciplines respectively.
• Organizing programs to orient about the various funding agencies to all the faculty of the college.
• Conducting Department-wise Administrative Audit.
• Publishing the Book of Abstracts of the Minor Projects funded by BHC every year.
• Documentation of Major/Minor Projects undertaken by the faculty and uploading it in the college website.
• Conducting collaborative activities with the Deaneries of Research and Development, Deanery of Academics and Internal Quality Assurance Cell of the college.

Reports