Varanasi : Aiming to reform its research ecosystem to further improve the quality of research and development activities and eventually boosting its rankings, Banaras Hindu University has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Foundation of Advancing Science and Technology, New Delhi. FAST India is a non-profit organization which works on building capacity and advancing policy solutions to foster scientific enquiry and research, and facilitate the creation, dissemination, and translation of new scientific knowledge.

The MoU was signed by FAST India Chief Executive Officer Jayant Krishna and Finance Officer Dr. Abhay Thakur as officiating Registrar, in the presence of Vice-Chancellor Prof. Sudhir Kumar Jain. After signing the MoU, Mr. Jayant Krishna said that FAST India would identify measures for powering BHU’s research process and capabilities which would result in further improvements in research quality by strengthening the existing processes and structural frameworks. He said that assistance will also be provided to BHU in implementing these reforms. These would eventually improve BHU’s research rankings, said Mr. Krishna.

As part of the MoU, FAST India and BHU will identify specific opportunities for improvement of the academic ecosystem at BHU. The MoU has been signed initially for nine months and may be extended after the evaluation of the performance of the project.

Vice-Chancellor Prof. Sudhir Kumar Jain has time and again reiterated that boosting high quality research in BHU and fostering a research friendly atmosphere is among his priorities. He has said that required measures will be taken to ensure that efforts meant for research and development are not wasted away in processes and complexities. The MoU with FAST India is part of efforts in this regard.