Lok Sabha Question No. 94 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-14
Subject: IMPRESS AND SPARC Schemes
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Ranjeetsingh Naik Nimbalkar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. TO BE ANSWERED ON 14.09.2020

## IMPRESS AND SPARC Schemes

## SHRI RANJEETSINGH HINDURAO NAIK NIMBALKAR :

Will the Minister of EDUCATION

## िशक् मं�ी

be pleased to state:

- (a) whether "IMPRESS" and "SPARC" schemes launched by the Government to promote research in Higher Education have been successful ;
- (b) if  so,  the  manner  in  which  the  Indian  students  are  being  trained  under  the said schemes; and
- (c) the  domains  under  which  the  students  are  being  trained  under  the  said schemes along with details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF EDUCATION

## ( SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL 'NISHANK' )

(a) and  (b):  The  Scheme  'Impactful  Policy  Research  in  Social  Science  (IMPRESS)'  was sanctioned  by  the  Government  of  India  on  13.08.2018,  with  a  view  to  support  the  social science research in the higher educational institutions and to enable research to guide policy making.    Under  the  'IMPRESS'  Scheme,  a  total  of  1500  Research  Projects  and  200 Seminars/ Workshops/ Conferences were sanctioned to be awarded in 2 years starting from the year 2018-19 upto 31.03.2021 with a total cost of ₹ 414.00 Crores.

In  the  year  2018-19,  269  Research  Projects  and  70  Seminars/  Workshops/  Conferences amounting ₹ 23.61 Crores and in the year 2019-20, 470 Research Projects and 37 Seminars/ Workshops/ Conferences amounting ₹ 35.7255 Crores were approved.

Under  this  Scheme,  research  scholars  are  provided  financial  support  for  undertaking Research and conducting Seminars/ Workshops/ Conferences under the 11 defined thematic areas.

Scheme  for  Promotion  of  Academic  and  Research  Collaboration  (SPARC)  aims  at improving the research ecosystem of India's Higher Educational Institutions by facilitating academic and research collaborations between Indian Institutions and the best institutions in the world from 28 selected nations by supporting about 600 such joint collaborations with a  total  budget  of ₹418 Crores.  In  the  first  phase  of  SPARC,  394  proposals  have  been approved  totaling  to ₹251.09 Crores.  For  the  second  phase,  1222  proposals  have  been received.

The  scheme  enables  productive  academic  cooperation  by  supporting  the  following  critical components: (i) Visits and long-term stay of top international faculty/ researchers in Indian institutions  to  pursue  teaching  and  research  (ii)  Visits  by  Indian  students  for  training  and experimentation in premier laboratories worldwide, (iii) Joint development of niche courses, world-class  books  and  monographs,  translatable  patents,  demonstrable  technologies  or action  research  outcomes  and  products  (iv)  Consolidation  of  Bilateral  cooperation  through academic  and  research  partnerships  through conducting   Workshops  and  (v)  Publication, Dissemination and Visibility through a high profile annual international Conference in India

Based on the progress reports submitted by the principal investigators (PIs) of the ongoing SPARC  projects  initiated  in  2018-2019,  118  Indian  Students  have  visited  abroad  for attending  training  courses  and/or  performing  research  work.  So  far,  under  SPARC,  124 Workshops, with 10,980 participants, have been organized, around 47 monographs have been  published,  183  journal  publications  and  134  conference  publications  have  been reported and 4 patents have been filed. By involving in those activities, students are getting trained  to  prepare  such  important  documents,  and  many  more  students  are  also  getting benefitted by reading those documents.

(c): The  'IMPRESS'  Scheme has eleven  (11)  broad  thematic  areas viz. (i)  State  and Democracy; (ii) Urban transformation; (iii) Media, Culture and Society; (iv) Employment, Skills and Rural transformation; (v) Governance, Innovation and Public Policy; (vi) Growth, Macrotrade  and  Economic  Policy;  (vii)  Agriculture  and  Rural  Development;  (viii)  Health  and Environment; (ix) Science and Education; (x) Social Media and Technology and (xi) Politics, Law and Economics.

The  thrust  area  domains  for  research  under  SPARC  are:  (i)  Fundamental  Research,  (ii) Emergent Areas of Impact, (iii) Convergence, (iv) Action-Oriented Research, (v) InnovationDriven, and (vi) Humanities, and Social Science.

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