Machine learning to visits by five Nobel Laureates: DU unveils vision for next 25 yrs

The university, according to the document, which was prepared in 2022 and its contents released this year, will focus on six broad domains: Education and students’ experience; research; university community; campuses and local community connect; industry collaborations; and global impact keeping in mind the core parameters of Branding, Resource Generation, Philanthropy and Globalisation.

The document, being cognizant of fund cuts, highlighted the need to “revitalise” funding instead of depending only on government support. “Financial support for higher education, healthcare, and research has been and will continue to be cut. As an educational institution, the University of Delhi faces potential decline unless it can revitalise funding in ways that do not rely only on Government funding.”

As part of its plans, the varsity suggests initiating a postgraduate programme in AI and Machine Learning by 2045, developing herbal products as nutraceuticals and medicines. “ The empirical knowledge of herbal and nanomedicine at DU can be used in identifying active molecules from plant resources for treating various diseases,” said the proposal.

Daman Saluja, Chairperson of Research Council and Joint Director of Delhi School of Public Health, told The Indian Express: “This is the first time that the university has come up with a plan for the next 25 years…”

When pointed out that a presentation on “globalisation” in the proposal had a private university’s logo on it, Saluja said, “That could be an error; we were taking a lot of help from the students in fetching these pictures… It could’ve been an oversight…”