University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Professor Dr.
Mamun Ahmed has called for the use of university research to address crises
such as extremism, intolerance, violence, social division and polarization in
the country, a press release said.
He said that the goal of research is not just to publish
research papers, increase citations or enrich the personal and professional
profile of the researcher. The real significance of research will be achieved
only when the results of research are used to address the real challenges of
human life and society.
He made these remarks as the chief guest at an
international conference organized on ‘Human-centered and evidence-based
policies to counter violent extremism’ at the NawabNawab Ali Chowdhury Senate
Building of Dhaka University on Tuesday .
Professor Mamun Ahmed said that research is increasing in
the country’s universities, and research papers are also being published in
international journals. However, the full benefits of research will not be
realized if the results of research are not used to solve real problems of
human life.
He said that universities are not isolated from society.
Therefore, instead of looking at extremism and intolerance from a religious
perspective alone, we need to explore the social, cultural and other reasons
behind it. For this, researchers from different disciplines need to work
together.
The UGC Chairman also emphasized on creating an
environment of dialogue between students of different religions, beliefs and social
backgrounds on campus and in the classroom. According to him, such practices
will help develop students as humanistic, scientifically minded and rational.
Highlighting the importance of humanities and social
science research along with science and technology, he said that a combination
of all types of knowledge and research is needed to address the complex
problems of society.
Addressing young researchers, Mamun Ahmed said that the
UGC is ready to fund quality research projects that can play an effective role
in society. Whether the university is big or small, old or new will not be
considered. Funding will be provided based on the quality of the project and
the capabilities of the researchers.
The conference was organized by the International Security
Policy Lab of Dhaka University and the Department of World Religions and
Cultures of the university under the sub-project titled ‘Interreligious
Dialogue, Resilience Building, and Countering Violent Extremism’ of the Higher
Education Acceleration and Transformation (HIT) project implemented by the UGC.
The keynote speaker at the conference was Dr. Gordon Club,
Associate Professor of the University of Leeds, UK. The inaugural session was
presided over by Professor Dr. Md. Abu Sayem, Chairman of the Department of
World Religions and Cultures of Dhaka University.
The special guests were Mohammad Muslim, DIG of the
Anti-Terrorism Unit of Bangladesh Police, Md. Kamruzzaman, Director General of
the United Nations Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Professor Dr.
KaziNurul Islam, Founding Chairman of the Department of World Religions and
Cultures of Dhaka University, and Major General (Retd.) Dr. NaeemAshfaq
Chowdhury, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Bangladesh University of Professionals.
In addition, Dr. Md. Didarul Islam, Research Director of the SPM and International Security Policy Lab of the HIT sub-project, spoke about the project’s activities.
