I am pleased to report that the Ministry of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India has approved the "DBT-NER Institutional Biotech Hubs at NN Saikia College, Titabor, Jorhat, Assam (Phase II)" project for a duration of 3 years, starting from 1st February 2023. We have successfully completed the first year of Phase II, during which we have attained significant milestones.
In the past year, we organized two hands-on training programs for students at the Higher Secondary, Undergraduate, and Post Graduate levels. These programs benefited over 130 participants. We also conducted a five-day outreach program for marginalized farmers in a neighboring village, as well as a one-week training program for faculty development, with the participation of 97 faculty members and researchers from universities, colleges, and research institutes across the country and abroad. Moreover, 21 national and international experts delivered valuable speeches during this one-week program. In addition, we organized three awareness programs in neighboring institutions to promote scientific curiosity in young minds and conducted two popular lectures at the host institution involving different stakeholders.
During the first year of our project, we were able to publish 12 research papers and 2 book chapters, utilizing the facilities of the Biotech Hub. The hub provided lab facilities to students of various science departments of the institute to conduct their laboratory/practical work, as well as research facilities for faculty members.
We have accomplished all the project objectives within the specified timelines. The interim findings of our ongoing research were published in high-impact international journals. Furthermore, we presented our findings at the 8th Asia Conference on Environment and Sustainable Development (ACESD 2023) held in Sapporo, Japan, from November 3rd to 5th, 2023.