The Bangladesh University Grants Commission (UGC) has taken the initiative to increase the number of PhD and postdoctoral fellowships to increase the amount of qualitative and international standard research in the country’s universities and further strengthen the research environment, a press release said.
At the same time, the organization is planning to increase special allocations in the research sector and build an effective and sustainable research ecosystem in universities.
The number of UGC’s own PhD scholarships has been increased from 75 to 100. There is a plan to increase this number to 500 in phases from the next fiscal year. In addition, opportunities to do PhD abroad have been increased from 10 to 35. Initiatives have also been taken to increase the number of postdoctoral fellowships.
A proposal will be made to the government in the next fiscal year for special allocations for PhD and postdoctoral research.
In the 179th full commission meeting of the UGC on Monday (August 31), UGC Chairman Professor Dr. Mamun Ahmed said these things.
At the meeting, the UGC Chairman said that it is necessary to further expand the opportunities for domestic and foreign PhDs to address the quality teacher crisis in the country’s universities. The UGC is already taking various effective initiatives to ensure quality and standard research. For this purpose, research-friendly and up-to-date policies have been formulated and the opportunities for domestic and foreign PhDs are being increased.
He said that the UGC’s goal is to make research one of the main activities of the university to bring about qualitative changes in higher education. Along with increasing the amount of research, ensuring its quality, impact and practical application is also one of the priorities of the commission.
Professor Mamun Ahmed said that the UGC is giving importance to creating skilled and qualified researchers, building modern research infrastructure, ensuring adequate and sustainable funding, increasing domestic and foreign research cooperation and creating opportunities to apply research results in practice. These initiatives will be implemented in a coordinated manner to build an effective research ecosystem in universities.
He said that the success of research cannot be limited to just publishing research papers. Research should be effectively linked to solving real problems of the country and developing industry and economy. To this end, effective communication between universities and industry-business institutions, joint research and commercial and social application of research knowledge and innovation are being encouraged.
The UGC Chairman also emphasized on giving importance to the performance, achievements and research results of universities in allocating funds for research. He mentioned the need to evaluate the activities of universities based on their capacity in research, innovation and practical application of research results.
Professor Mamun Ahmed said that in the future, investment in research will be made more strategic and result-based. Priority will be given to universities that will make an effective contribution to research, innovation and knowledge-based economy to increase their research capacity.
The meeting approved the ‘UGC Promotional and Academic Staff Development Research Project Policy, 2026’.
UGC members Professor Dr. Machuma Habib, Professor Md. Mehedi Hasan Khan, Professor Dr. Md. Aslam Hossain and Professor Dr. Niaz Ahmed Chowdhury were present in the meeting.
In addition, Vice Chancellor of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam University Professor Dr. Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain, Vice Chancellor of Chandpur University of Science and Technology Professor Dr. M Atiqur Rahman, Vice Chancellor of Khulna Agricultural University Professor Dr. Asaduzzaman Sarkar, Vice Chancellor of Begum Rokeya University Professor Dr. Md. Shawkat Ali, Vice Chancellor of Sunamganj University of Science and Technology Professor Dr. Mohammad Zakir Hussain and Vice Chancellor of Sylhet Medical University Professor Dr. Md. Ziaur Rahman Chowdhury were present. UGC Secretary Dr. Md. Fakhrul Islam presented the working paper at the meeting.
