Bhubaneswar, Nov. 28: The postgraduate departments of Utkal University have earned recognition and grants from the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Centre for excellence in research work.

The second installment under the Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence (Purse) scheme by the Centre’s department of science and technology amounting to Rs 3 crore has been disbursed to the varsity in appreciation of its research and development contributions.

“A study by Niser and Siksha O Anusandhan University revealed that the researchers affiliated to Utkal University have topped the list of contributors to the journals and periodicals of various disciplines belonging to science and technology between 2008 and 2012 not only in India, but also among 28 other countries, including the United States,” said registrar Banani Mohanty.

“The departments have remained academically active during the last year. The department of economics organised three national seminars this year and the papers presented there have been brought out in the form of a book. Besides, the department received a grant of Rs 10 lakh from the ministry of finance to undertake research projects. It is now working on a project funded by the ministry of communication, information and technology on machine translation of English into Indian languages,” said Mohanty.

The varsity registrar said the department of botany had received financial support from the UGC and the department of chemistry had been upgraded to the “department of special assistance level 2” under the special assistance programme of the UGC.

During the last academic year, the department of botany was granted seven major research projects and has been short listed for the Fund for Improvement of Science and Technology Infrastructure grant provided by the central department of science and technology.

Twenty-seven research papers, written by the faculty and research scholars of the department, have been published in peer reviewed national and international journals.

“The department of anthropology, political science, geography, and agri-management have also performed outstandingly,” she said.

Mohanty said two professors of the botany department had joined as UGC emeritus professor and CSIR emeritus scientist.

A professor from the Odia department of the varsity has been nominated as co-researcher at the Otani University Japan for its ongoing research project titled — “Critical edition of the Tsushima Baiyo” — the palm leaf manuscript of the Sarala Mahabharat discovered in Japan.