Category: Education

Built on the tenets of innovation, science, research and technology the lab will be the source and hub of innovation, research and education, helping researchers create innovative ideas and equipping them with the skills needed to enter the workforce

Springer Nature has launched its first Academic Research Lab in India at Manav Rachna Educational Institutions, Faridabad.

Frank Vrancken Peeters, CEO, Springer Nature Group, is inaugurating the Springer Nature Academic Research Lab at Manav Rachna Educational Institutions at Faridabad, India

The Springer Nature Academic Research Lab will facilitate faculty research into new areas while offering students a unique opportunity to explore interdisciplinary studies that extend beyond the boundaries of traditional programmes or departments. The main focus areas of the lab will include scientific writing and publishing, and effective collaboration in research. It will provide opportunities for students to develop technical skills, build networks, incubate ideas, and showcase innovation. It will also provide the research community, faculty and students a chance to interact with renowned researchers in their domain of expertise, twice every month and discuss and learn about the technical discoveries.

Commenting, Frank Vrancken Peeters, Chief Executive of Springer Nature, said, “Science, technology and research are the backbone of a nation. We are delighted to establish this academic research lab at Manav Rachna Educational Institutions which will not only make content of our various journals accessible for students and faculty members, but will also be the centre for knowledge sharing and incubation of ideas. At Springer Nature, we believe in opening doors to discovery and knowledge, and the Springer Nature Academic Research Lab at Manav Rachna Educational Institutions will play an important role in helping us achieve this in India.”

Also speaking at the event, Venkatesh Sarvasiddhi, Managing Director, Springer Nature India Private Limited said, “India is a unique country with 15,000+ STEM colleges and 900+ Universities. However, only 30% of the total number of students in our country are employment ready when they pass out from these institutions. Our aim is to equip the bright young minds in our country with the latest information, research and technology which can propel their career and give them an edge in today’s fiercely competitive world. The Springer Nature Academic Research Lab at Manav Rachna will not only pave the way for better collaborations between the industry, academia and students, but will also foster a culture of innovation and research. We hope to replicate such labs with many other universities and institutes in the future.”

The leadership at Manav Rachna Educational Institutions feels that the academic research lab in their campus will provide the students and faculty an opportunity to discuss, collaborate and incubate ideas which will lead to enhanced quality of research in the future.

Dr. Amit Bhalla, Vice President, Manav Rachna Educational Institutions said, “Establishment of Springer Nature Academic Research Lab shall create an ecosystem of researchers of different age groups from all walks of life. This way, collaborative research and inter-disciplinary research opportunities will increase not just for Manav Rachna faculty and students but also for the researchers who wish to access the physical research facilities at the Springer Lab. This will also aid in building a community of researchers wherein they will get an opportunity to interact with the researchers from Springer. Access to the Springer Nature research database will also be provided to them.” He added, “Ideating, innovating and creating a new ecosystem is the main agenda of this lab that we aim to achieve with the expert guidance from research experts of Springer and Manav Rachna.”

The Lab was opened by Frank Vrancken Peeters, Chief Executive of Springer Nature in the presence of Martin Mos, Chief Operating Officer, Springer Nature; Daniel Korany, Chief Strategy Officer, Springer Nature, Venkatesh Sarvasiddhi, Managing Director, Springer Nature India, Matthias Wissel, CEO, Springer Nature Technology and Publishing Solutions, Dr. Amit Bhalla, Vice President, Manav Rachna Educational Institutions and other senior leadership of Manav Rachna.

View article…

(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with NewsVoir India and this publication takes no editorial responsibility for the same)

~ Approximately 200 vulnerable children from 10 schools across Chennai, Gurgaon, New Delhi, Kanpur and Agra benefitted and got opportunity to improve their competencies in English and Mathematics ~

As our country braces itself to navigate through the third wave of COVID, World Vision India (WV India), the country’s largest child-focused humanitarian organization, focuses on ensuring that the education of the vulnerable children do not suffer. As one of the way to facilitate this- WV India collaborated with Global Indian International School (GIIS)-Singapore and conducted Community Virtual Class Learning (CVCL) for approximately 200 students of grade 4 to 5 level aged between 8 to 13 years from 10 schools across Chennai, Gurgaon, New Delhi, Kanpur and Agra.

CVCL is a virtual platform where the vulnerable students from lesser-privileged communities, are taught practical concepts that will have a learning impact in their lives. GIIS students from the 11^th grade facilitated CVCL and tutored the students in English and Mathematics. English topics ranged from alphabets, nouns, tenses to poems, letter writing and even story telling. Mathematics topics ranged from simple addition, subtraction to profit & loss, area & perimeter, etc. As many as 2000 students from various school were analyzed during the baseline survey to select the most vulnerable who did not have age/grade appropriate learning outcomes. Then the best way to tutor and help them improve were outlined. Most sessions were in the children’s mother tongues to begin with until they were able to comprehend the study material in English.

“The Pilot of the CVCL project was undertaken in October to December 2020 and owing to its success we decided to scale it up to more schools in 2021. Many of the students from the vulnerable sections did not have access to the internet, digital training or amenities to try to improve their academic skills. We are thrilled to collaborate with an institution such as GIIS Singapore, who share our philosophy of results through sustained efforts rather than resorting to ad hoc measures. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the students from GIIS Singapore who took time off from their schedule and makes CVCL a great success. We are keen to further expand this program to more schools in India this year,” said, Mr. Sanjay Bhattacharya, Strategic Lead- Education, World Vision India.

“With the pandemic not going away, we definitely see the need for programs such as CVCL to provide opportunities for children from vulnerable sections, to equip themselves with skill sets which will hone their learning abilities. The students chosen for the program were those which needed help academically in their respective batches,” said Mr. Ashwin Gite, CAS Coordinator & Department Head, Humanities, Global Indian International School. “As per the baseline assessment, we received great results after CVCL, as about 70% of the students were able to read and comprehend English language, 35% of them were able to read newspapers and 70% also improved their competencies in simple arithmetic. This goes a long way to show how the right platforms and guidance can help these students improve their skills,” Mr Gite added.

Apart from improving their overall competencies in English and Mathematics, students also learned how to study through a virtual medium, which was a first for many. The exposure to the students from GIIS Singapore also acted as a platform for cross-fertilizations of ideas and an opportunity to engage with students from an International school and to pick up some of the best educational practices from them. On the other hand, the students from GIIS Singapore also got an opportunity to improve their preparatory and facilitation skills as well as have a cultural connect with India.

GIIS is a premier international school based in Singapore, whose mission is to nurture young minds into global leaders and innovators of tomorrow through a skills-based approach to education. The school emphasizes on entrepreneurship and character development as part of its holistic learning framework, which allows students to participate in programmes like CVCL.