UoH collaborates with UJ for research

By
Jamsheel C & Sidharth K Varma

Department of Sociology, University of Hyderabad (UoH) and Centre for Sociological Research, University of Johannesburg (UJ) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on January 10. The MoU will facilitate collaboration between the two universities in areas of research, student exchange, faculty exchange and video conferencing.
“The immediate areas that will be in focus are ideas for seminar and workshop and video conferencing,” the delegates decided. Prof. Jairath invited participants from UJ for the annual seminar conducted by the department from March 2 to 4 on Natural Resource Governance.
This tie-up intends to bring together researchers from both departments based on individual research interest or identifying a broad theme such as students, politics, economic survival, identity, sports, family, health, whistle blowers and corruption.
As part of the student exchange programme, two doctoral students per year would benefit both ways. The time period could be flexible up to three months with the best time between September and November.
Faculty exchange could overlap with that of students with one person each year, both ways. The time period could be between ten days and three weeks. Faculty swapping was another area under consideration.The MoU will be seen as a test case with reciprocal arrangement in terms of the finance. The faculty exchange programme is a new venture, it will be an advantage for the teachers to understand and differentiate the academic system of both universities, said Prof. Vinod K. Jairath.
The delegates from UJ were Prof. Rory Ryan, Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Prof. Tina Uys, Head of Department (HoD) Sociology, Centre for Sociological Research.
“The project will be implemented in the next academic year on an experimental basis; further steps will be taken on the basis of the feedback,” says Prof. Rory Ryan. This programme allows the students to conduct their research or plan field work as guest of either university.
UoH was represented by Vinod K. Jairath, HoD Department of Sociology and Prof. Sujata Patel, Department of Sociology. This could also bring about a new phase of academic collaboration among the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) nations, said Prof. Vinod K. Jairath.