Bhubaneswar: To strengthen the quality of medical education and research, the Odisha Government has decided to provide a ‘Research Fund’ to the medical colleges in the state.
According to a notification issued by the Health & Family Welfare Department, the ‘Research Fund’ will be placed with the respective Dean & Principals / Directors of all Government Medical / Dental College and Hospitals and Post Graduate Institutes of the State, to meet the expenditure towards research-related activities undertaken in their respective institutions.
A total Research fund amounting to Rs.1 crore each per annum will be provided to SCB MCH, Cuttack, MKCG MCH, Berhampur and VIMSAR, Burla; and a total Research fund amounting to Rs.50 lakh each per annum will be provided to the new Government Medical Colleges and SCB Dental College, Cuttack.
The PG Institutes will be provided with a total Research fund amounting to Rs 25 lakh each per annum. In case an institute has utilised the allotted fund and requires more funding, then re-allocation can be carried out, keeping the annual limit of the research fund intact.
Objective:Â Enhancing the quality of medical education by facilitating research amongst faculties & students for encouraging research publications and presentation of research works in conferences within the country.
Scope of the scheme:
- Assistance through ‘Research Fund’ can be availed only for intramural projects.
- Meeting expenses incurred for research, research publications and participation in seminars/conferences within the country.
- Research assistance can be claimed by a faculty only once per year, and only the principal investigator who is in regular government service in the state is eligible for the same. But he is eligible to apply for another project only after completing the first with the approval of the selection committee.
- All travel expenses, including flights, trains, buses, or car rentals as per the eligibility under prevailing Odisha TA Rules will be allowed to the eligible candidates.
- For meeting expenses incurred for participation in conference/seminar to present a research paper related to research, a prior permission for the same from appropriate authority and acceptance letter from the organizer for paper presentation is required.
- Expenses incurred on account of registration, fees for the conference/seminar, three days of accommodation, and meals as per the eligibility or the amount actually spent, whichever is less will be allowed as eligible expenses.
- Costs for consumables like gloves, chemicals, biochemical or pathological tests, imaging technologies utilized for the research, if not available in the institution, are eligible expenses.
- Funds for digitization of data required for research purposes are permissible expenses.
- Charges for publication of research work in any National Medical Commission (NMC) / National Dental Commission (NDC) approved Journal are eligible expenses.
- For all research projects. Ethical clearance certificate from institutional ethics committee and/or any other legally authorised committee must be obtained and be appended with the reimbursement or assistance claim.
- For clinical trials/drug trials the permission letter from appropriate authority must be appended with the reimbursement or assistance claim.
- The research has to be an original work with appropriate research questions and methodology. Plagiarism in any form will lead to disqualification.
Procedure for Application for Research Assistance:Â
The Principal Investigator of projects shall submit proposals to the Member Secretary of the Selection-cum-Monitoring Committee for consideration. The Principal Investigator shall make a presentation before the Committee, which will evaluate the research proposal, ensure approval by the Institutional Ethical Committee and assess tentative project costs. If satisfied, the Committee may recommend financial assistance from the Research fund.
For imparting quality education to medical students, research activities along with the participation of faculties in seminars/conferences are essential. These will help the faculties to remain updated in the field of advanced treatment and teaching methodologies which in turn will help in providing better health care services to the people.
