Centre Launches PAIR Programme to Boost Research in Indian Varsities

The Centre launched the Partnerships for Accelerated Innovation and Research (PAIR) programme on Thursday, aimed at enhancing research capabilities in higher education institutions (HEIs) with limited research infrastructure.

The initiative seeks to foster collaborations with top-tier institutions, helping these emerging institutions improve their research standards.

The programme’s launch follows the operationalisation discussed during the inaugural governing board meeting of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September.

Under the PAIR framework, a mentorship-driven hub-and-spoke model will be adopted, where established institutions (hubs) will mentor emerging ones (spokes), facilitating systematic growth in research activities. These hubs will guide the spoke institutions, providing access to essential resources and expertise, thus bridging the research gap and nurturing a strong research ecosystem across the country.

Each PAIR network will consist of one hub institution and up to seven spoke institutions. Only one proposal per hub institution will be permitted, and it will require mandatory involvement from multi-departmental faculty teams from the spoke institutions.

In the first phase, the hub institutions will include those ranked in the top 25 of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) and Institutions of National Importance (INIs) ranked in the top 50. The spoke institutions will include central and state public universities, along with selected National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs). The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has indicated that eligibility conditions will be expanded to include more universities and institutions in future phases.

Prof Abhay Karandikar, Secretary of the DST and CEO of ANRF, commented on the programme’s launch, stating that PAIR will serve as a catalyst for transformative research at universities with potential, with established institutions providing necessary mentorship.

He added that the initial phase will target select universities and institutions, with the programme's scope expanding in subsequent phases to further strengthen the research ecosystem in Indian universities.