The Central
Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) has taken a unique
initiative to support the research efforts of bright young minds of the Country
by developing the Studentship Program for Ayurveda Research Ken (SPARK) for
Ayurveda (BAMS) students studying in recognized Ayurveda colleges.
Pramod Kumar Pathak, Special
Secretary, Ministry of Ayush, and Vaidya Jayant Yeshwant Deopujari, chairperson,
National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) launched the fellowship
scheme and the application portal in the presence of Prof. Sanjeev Sharma,
Director-cum-Vice Chancellor In-Charge, National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur,
and Prof. R.N. Acharya, Director General, CCRAS, Dr. Sulochana Bhatt, Director,
CARI, Bengaluru, Dr. M.M. Rao, Director, CARI, Bhubaneswar and Research
Officers of the Central Ayurveda Research Institute, Bhubaneswar.
“CCRAS has taken many commendable
initiatives in recent times, especially during the COVID-pandemic. The Council
has not only developed popular formulations such as Ayush-64, it has 18 formulations and technologies to its credit also,” Pramod Kumar said.
“I am
confident that the SPARK Program developed by the Council will support the
innovative ideas of young students and promote the culture of evidence-based
scientific research in Traditional Medicine,” he further said.
“With the guidance and support from
the Ministry of Ayush, CCRAS has developed and implemented a wide range of
schemes and programs to serve the citizens,” Prof Acharya said. By developing
meaningful collaborations with premiere academic research institutions within
and outside of the country, such as IIT, ICMR, ICAR, JNU, BHU, AIIMS, etc., the
Council has sped up quality research activity in the domains of Ayurveda
and allied sciences. The SPARK program is primarily developed to help students
develop an acumen for research and to further support and incentivize their
research ideas,” he added.
The Council is currently working on
research and development projects in collaboration with leading research
institutions in Romania, Germany, Israel, the USA, Canada, and the World Health Organization
(WHO). “With an aim to complement the efforts of the Ministry of Ayush
for promotion and propagation of Ayurveda education across the world, the
Council has collaborated with international premier educational institutions and
set up Ayurveda Chair in 11 countries,” Prof. Acharya said.
‘SPARK’ aims to support the research
ideas of young undergraduate students enrolled in Ayurveda Colleges across
India. The application process for SPARK will be completely online — www.spark.ccras.nic.in.
Interested candidates will be
required to submit their research proposals through the SPARK Portal. Experts
will evaluate the same. The selected fellows will be offered financial
support of Rs. 50,000 under the fellowship. Initially, there will be 100
seats per session and further details may be accessed at the program portal.
ENDS
