KU faculty, scholar achieve feat

Srinagar, May 12: The University of Kashmir (KU) Sunday announced that its faculty Dr Javaid Ahmad Sheikh from the Department of Electronics and Instrumentation Technology, has been selected as ‘Regional Mentor of Change (RMoC)’ for the year 2024-2025 by the NITI Ayog, GoI, for Jammu and Kashmir.

The Mentor India programme is a national movement being led by Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Ayog, wherein skilled professionals provide pro-bono mentoring to young school student innovators, with a strong sentiment towards nation building. AIM calls the skilled professionals ‘Mentors of Change’.

In her congratulatory message, KU Vice Chancellor, Prof Nilofer Khan termed it a remarkable feat and a special moment for the varsity.

“The whole university community is delighted as it is successfully making a mark at both national and international arena and is resolute towards attaining excellence across domains,” she said.

Meanwhile, the KU Sunday announced that its research scholar from the Department of Botany, Showkat Ahmad Gojery, has secured a prestigious fellowship at one of the world's top-ranking institutes ETH Zurich, Switzerland.

ETH (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule) or Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, has a QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) world ranking of 7 and THE (Times Higher Education) world university ranking of 8.

"His research area largely focuses on understanding how Himalayan plants adapt and respond to the challenges posed by climate change," an official spokesperson said in a statement issued here.

KU Vice Chancellor, Prof Nilofer Khan, congratulated Showkat Ahmad and his supervisor and appreciated their endeavours.

She emphasised the significance of such accomplishments in fortifying the international standing of the University of Kashmir.

"Such achievements play a pivotal role in strengthening the international interface of the university and our ongoing efforts to encourage greater international collaboration will attract more talent to the campus," she said, adding that the varsity through the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) is in the process of having more international students on the campus in due course of time.