Amaravati: Director of IISER Berhampur, Odisha Prof Ashok Kumar Ganguli appreciated Research Day as a pioneering initiative by SRM University-AP to promote a vibrant research culture across all academic levels. He was the chief guest at the ninth edition of Research Day organised by SRM-AP here on Friday.

Prof Ganguly discussed the transformation of teaching and research in the future years, emphasising that in the era of the AI revolution, novel, innovative research and creativity will triumph over robotic intelligence.

Vice-Chancellor Prof Manoj K Arora, Registrar Dr R Premkumar, Dean-Research Prof Ranjit Thapa, Research Day Convenor Dr Sunil Chinnadurai, Deans of other schools, faculty, staff and students were present. Earlier, in his welcome address, Prof Manoj Arora elucidated on the significance of research and innovation in the university’s academic structure and plan to achieve institutional excellence. He also mentioned the future prospects of establishing a Ratan Tata Innovation Hub in Amaravati.

The event revealed the abstract book comprising 263 UG/PG and 131 PhD abstracts in more than 30 thematic areas. As many as 17 students were awarded gold medals, and five were awarded silver medals in the UG/PG category. In the PhD category, 10 scholars won the gold medals, and 5 won the silver medals.

For their outstanding contribution to cutting-edge research, selected faculty members of SRM-AP were recognised with Best Researcher Awards. Dr Pardha Saradhi M was honoured with the Best Experimental Researcher Award, Dr Murali Krishna E with the Best Theoretical Researcher Award, Dr Dinesh Reddy V with the Best Industrial Researcher Award and Dr Harish Puppala with the Best Young Researcher Award. They were felicitated with a memento and a cash prize of Rs 50,000 for their high-quality research.