DBT-PG Programme Advisory Committee Meeting held at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University

An advisory committee meeting of DBT-PG Programme was held on 25^th of September 2023 at SMVDU, Katra. The meeting was conducted by the School of Biotechnology and chaired by honorable Vice Chancellor, Prof. Pragati Kumar. In his opening remarks, Prof. Pragati Kumar shared his delight in learning about the DBT-PG programme being run in the School of Biotechnology and reiterated his support for the programme. He enlightened the audience about the support provided by SMVDU to the programme, both financially in the form of fee reduction and providing of infrastructure. The meeting was attended by DBT, Govt of India nominee, Prof. V. Ravichandiran, Director, NIPER Kolkata and Mr. Yogesh Verma, CEO, Perfect Square, New Delhi. The two-year programme of M.Sc. Biotechnology is being sponsored by DBT-Govt. of India and the students are admitted through GAT-B Test conducted by RCB Gurgaon. The annual advisory committee is held to ascertain the progress made during the previous year and mitigating the issues if any.

The committee visited the School of Biotechnology and interacted with scholars and lab staff. Prof. Ravichandiran critically highlighted the present-day goals of scientists and scholars. The meeting was organized by Dr. Sharada M Potuckuchi and coordinated by Dr. Rakesh Kumar respectively with the administrative support of the Head, School of Biotechnology, Dr. Ratna Chandra. The Vice Chancellor directed the faculty members of the School of Biotechnology to work towards the awareness of such a prestigious program. This is to be retreated that SMVDU charges only one third of regular fee from the candidates who qualify GAT-B exam. In addition, there is a provision of a monthly stipend of Rs 5000. Invitees were presented with a memento of Mata Vaishno Devi by Honorable Vice Chancellor, Prof. Pragati Kumar. The meeting ended with a resolution that more students will be encouraged to appear in the GAT-B exam and the benefit of scholarship and degree will reach far and wide.