A department of Savitribai Phule Pune University has bagged the ‘Centre for Excellence’ status. The Ministry of Ayush has adjudged the Interdisciplinary Department of Health Sciences of the varsity with the CoE or Centre of Excellence status. The department will now play a vital role in strengthening and building human resources in the field of traditional medicine. It has been granted a sum of Rs. 3.5 crore to set up the centre. According to sources, the centre is likely to start functioning within a month.
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Vice-Chancellor of SPPU revealed that the grant is applicable for three and half years. During these three years, the Interdisciplinary Department of Health Sciences will work towards setting up the infrastructure required to roll out training courses for conducting research in traditional medicine. Besides a grant from the Ministry of Ayush, the varsity has also received a sum of Rs. 96 lakh from the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. The additional grant will be used for running fellowship programmes for students and teachers.
Students from various streams are eligible to take up training courses in traditional medicine which will be interdisciplinary in nature and will lay emphasis on developing the cure for serious illnesses including cancer. The department conducts a competitive exam every year and awards 15 fellowships to top performers. These students will receive a grant of Rs. 30 lakh for carrying out further research.
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The Interdisciplinary Department of Health Sciences has been majorly working on developing adjutants for drugs that are used to treat arthritis and cancer. With the CoE status, various renowned institutes including Manipal University, National Cancer Institute (USA) and National Centre for Cell Science (Pune) will be associated with SPPU.