The Symbiosis International University (SIU) is planning to set up a biomedical research cluster aimed at making research a culture in students lives, said newly-appointed SIU Vice-Chancellor Bhushan Patwardhan. There is a need to make research into a culture and not keep it limited to an activity. And there is a need to do that from the undergraduate level only. The healthcare sector is booming. But we dont really have a place where all the necessary elements co-exist. The aim of the cluster will be to fulfill this requirement. We are also planning to gradually make our campuses more environment-friendly,through measures such as banning polythene bags, said Patwardhan. On the proposed school of liberal arts,he said,The aim is to make education more flexible. The credit system will allow students to go to other colleges in or outside the country for a few semesters. The course will be a four-year degree in liberal arts and will have a weightage of 150 credits. The students will have 40-50 subjects to choose from,apart from the main subject. These will include literature,languages,philosophy,history,mathematics,science and so on. Symbiosis principal director Vidya Yeravdekar said the school would aim at attracting more students from the developed countries. Most of the students coming to India are from the developing countries. They wont be keen on coming here to do degree courses. However,they may find short-term courses attractive. We are planning to get students from the US,the UK and Australia, she said.
