University Research Board Policy

The following policy is dated as on July 2019

Policy for Support for Research and Innovation in Teaching

I. Objectives:

As stated in its vision document, one of the main objectives of Ahmedabad University is to develop into a research university noted for excellence with focus on interdisciplinary research. Realization of this objective requires a coordinated strategy with a number of complementary initiatives designed to create an ecosystem that supports generation and dissemination of high quality academic research. Accordingly, the university has established an apex body, the University Research Board (URB) to develop a university wide research policy and oversee its implementation.

II. University Research Board (URB):

URB is headed by the Dean of Graduate School & Research and includes as its members Dean or Associate Dean of Schools. Periodically, the University may invite experts to be part of the URB. Broadly, the objective of the URB is to support, encourage, promote, and enable the conduct and dissemination of research by faculty, students and other academic staff. In pursuit of this objective, Ahmedabad University has established a number of complementary initiatives and has developed a number of mechanisms to ensure their smooth implementation. The objective of this policy is to provide a broad overview of these initiatives and describe their role in achieving the desired objectives. For ease of exposition, these are broadly classified into four categories: Faculty, Research Centers, Doctoral Programmes and Students.

III. Faculty:

The URB recognizes that faculty research would necessarily be the primary driver of research at the University. Accordingly many of the initiatives are targeted towards this group and intended to motivate, enable and support faculty research. It is expected that all faculty across different Schools will apply for research grants from external agencies both within the country and abroad as well as from industry. Applying and receiving external grants is a necessary element of a vibrant academic environment. As faculty starts to build their career, internal research grants are useful to undertake early work while simultaneously applying for external grants. However, as faculty become senior in the profession, they are expected to raise most resources from external funding sources. Together, these initiatives address a range of issues related to funding support, performance evaluation, impact on work load, personal growth and development, and career progression. A summary of these initiatives is presented below.

• (i) Research grants (internal): In order to foster a research culture, the University ensures that all the Schools are well equipped in terms of the research infrastructure - laboratories, equipment and other ancillary facilities. In addition, it provides support for faculty research through internally generated funds. Faculty can apply for these funds by submitting project specific or thematic proposals. Depending on the purpose and the type of funding request, these may be broadly classified into the following four categories.
  • Start-up Grants: The objective of this initiative is to enable newly recruited faculty to get a quick start on their research. The grant must be applied within the first year of joining the university. Funding under this scheme is available up to INR 10 lakhs which may be used for purchase of equipment, purchase of database, data collection, hiring research staff,etc. In exceptional cases where the faculty member’s area of specialization requires high value equipment grants up to INR 25 lakhs may be considered, with appropriate justification. The funding may be used over a period of three years.
    
    A Startup grant should strive to maximize the amount of funds towards the procurement of high value equipment so that these contribute in a broad manner to building up of research infrastructure at the School. The budget must build adequate funds to pay for maintenance of the equipment for the duration of the project. The faculty must ensure that the requested equipment is not available at the university. The faculty member must present at least one research seminar as part of the School’s Research Seminar Series based on the research undertaken with the Start up grant.
  • (b) Seed Grants: Under this scheme faculty can avail of funds up to INR 2 lakhs for initiating new projects or researching monographs/books. The objective is to use the internal funds for preliminary research on new/emerging themes and develop some basic results to enable preparation of detailed proposals with substantial scope for targeting external funding from both domestic and international agencies. This scheme may also be used by faculty to undertake case based research projects, collection of data, sample surveys, transcription of data and documents, translation, travel costs to field sites and to archives, on the ground data acquisition, hiring of research staff, etc. The grant will have to be utilized within 2 years. Any faculty member who resigns from the University without completing the requirement proposed in the seed grant will have to compensate appropriately.
  • (c) University Challenge Grants: This scheme seeks proposals from faculty towards undertaking interdisciplinary research for addressing a complex challenge facing the society. This will be a team grant (of two or more people from different disciplines). This is a competitive grant of upto INR 25 lakh and a limited number of proposals will be supported each year. Faculty are also encouraged to apply for smaller grants under this scheme. The grant will have to be utilized within three years.
    
    Note:
     
    • 1. Internal research grants may not be used for holding workshops or conferences, hiring staff for administrative work, payment of honoraria, office furniture, air-conditioners, etc.
    • 2. Any faculty member who resigns from the University within three years of receiving the Start-up or Challenge Grant will have to reimburse the grant in full.

• (ii) Research grants (external):
  
  In principle, University will support all applications seeking grants from external agencies – both domestic and international. All applications for external funding need the approval from URB prior to submission. The proposals must include overheads that the University prescribes subject to any limits established by the granting agency.
  
  Such projects should be submitted to URB at least one month before the last date of submission. In case, the full proposal cannot be submitted, then an outline giving the title, objectives, names of investigators, deliverables, budget break-up under different heads and facilities required from Ahmedabad University should be submitted one month before the due date and then the complete proposal can be submitted to the University Research Board one week before the due date.
  
  All faculty in every School and Centre are expected to raise a substantial part of their research funds through external grants from national & international agencies, non-governmental foundations, industry, CSR funding possibilities etc. In addition to individual grant proposals, the faculty are strongly encouraged to apply for thematic, collaborative, and institutional level granting opportunities. It is the responsibility of the faculty to identify and explore such opportunities.

• (iii) Teaching Material Development/Innovation Grant:
  
  This grant is meant to support innovative teaching material development including case writing or development of innovative pedagogy tool. Faculty will have to submit a proposal to URB up to a limit of INR 1 lakh. This grant can be used for hiring case support, travel for case writing, development of teaching software etc. For case writing proposals, prior written permission of the organization would be required. Case writing grants will be closed once a case is released for use by the organization and copies of both the case and the teaching note is submitted to URB.

• (iv) Conference Travel Support:
  
  The Research Policy provides for generous support to faculty through “Conference Travel Grants” for attending and presenting papers at reputed academic and research conferences in their respective areas of specializations. The grant covers all related expenses including travel, registration, boarding and lodging and other incidentals. The total support per conference travel is limited to INR 1,50,000 (INR 35,000) for international (domestic) grants. To be eligible it is necessary to have an accepted oral presentation at the conference.
  
  Faculty are entitled to one domestic and one international conference grant per academic year. The faculty will have to present, upon return, a research seminar at the University on the paper presented. It is expected that the presentation will be submitted for publication in a reputed journal in a year or so, or would have been published within the last two years in advance of the conference. Requests for any other conference/workshop related travel such as delivering keynote or invited lectures, participation as member of national/international organizing committee, etc. will be considered on a case to case basis.

• (v) Faculty Development Allowance (FDA):
  
  The objective of FDA is to provide some discretionary funding for individual faculty that can be used for academic purposes, professional development and skill enhancement. The allowance can be used to meet expenses related to purchase of books, software/hardware, membership dues of professional associations, attending workshops and conferences, purchase of lab ware, consumables etc. The allowance amount is INR 25,000 per year for teaching related support and INR 50,000 per year for teaching & research support. Any unspent amount in any given year may be carried over to the following year and will lapse at the end of the second year. The University provides a laptop or a desktop to all faculty and FDA fund may not be used for purchase of higher version of a laptop or desktop. However, special permission should be sought to use part or whole of the FDA to augment the speed or capacity of the computer provided it is essential for research. No specific grant proposal is to be written for accessing this support. A separate FDA account will be created for each faculty.

• (vi) Research Seminar Series:
  
  The objectives of a research seminar series are two fold; first to provide exposure to high quality research by inviting eminent, accomplished faculty to share their research. Second, interaction with leading researchers in the field will provide faculty opportunities to expand their professional networks and identify potential collaborators. Accordingly, an initial budget of INR 2,00,000 per year has been budgeted towards Research Seminar Series for each School. This can be used for paying for travel and hosting of speakers but no honorarium may be given.

• (vii) Conferences & Workshops:
  
  AU encourages Schools (and areas within each school) to organize conferences and workshops either on a standalone basis or in collaboration with appropriate partner/professional body. Modest funding is provided through URB, if necessary.

• (viii) Visiting Faculty:
  
  Ahmedabad University has initiated a scheme that provides great flexibility in attracting eminent faculty/established researchers for short duration that may vary from a few days week to a few months, term or even up to one two years. The objective is to provide a mechanism that would promote ongoing interaction and collaboration between the University faculty and international experts/faculty and thereby enable high quality collaborative research.

• (ix) Work load, performance evaluation/assessment & incentives:
  
  In order to motivate faculty to pursue high quality research with potential for publications in leading academic journals, the University has developed a comprehensive approach that integrates work load planning, performance evaluation/assessment and career advancement in terms of promotions etc. The approach explicitly recognize the diverse activities in which faculty are normally engaged that include research, teaching, doctoral supervision, administrative service and contributions to the profession and society. Further we also recognize that contributions to scholarship and to the University can be accomplished in many ways and thus it is not necessary that all faculty fit one single model. Rather, it is preferable that individual faculty profiles are consistent with their respective interests and strengths while meeting University requirements on quality and activity mix. Accordingly, the key elements of our approach include the following
  • a. Provide freedom to faculty in designing their work mix comprising teaching in undergraduate and graduate programmes, research, thesis supervision and administrative responsibilities. Based on their contributions in the teaching area faculty are broadly classified as either
    • (i) teaching or
    • (ii) regular.
      
      Regular faculty is expected to devote considerable amount of time towards academic research; on the other hand, contributions of teaching faculty are primarily in teaching and administration. Thus our approach explicitly recognize and provides for time on research and thus teaching load of regular faculty is different from those of teaching faculty. However, all categories of faculty will be involved in innovation of their activities.
  • b. Performance expectations, standards and criteria for promotion/confirmation are determined in accordance with the work profile chosen by the faculty. Thus while regular faculty are assessed primarily based on their research, teaching and service contributions, for teaching faculty excellence in teaching, pedagogical innovations and administrative support and leadership are key considerations. Further details on performance assessment and promotion criteria are described in Faculty Tenure and Promotion Policy.

IV. Research Collaboration/(Interdisciplinary) Centers:

Pursuit of inter-disciplinary research to address complex problems relevant to larger society and making significant impact is one of the major objectives of the University. In order to encourage faculty to come together and collaboratively pursue thematic research on focused topic(s), Ahmedabad University has decided to establish research centers with well-defined
focus and specific themes. Such centers may be initially established with internal funding from the University, but are intended to be self-supporting in the long run, with external funding and support. Research centers are also used as vehicles to attract eminent scholars for short and long duration visits. Two such centers – Center for Heritage Management (CHM) and Venture Studio (VS) have been in operation for the past few years, a third centre-Global Centre for Environment and Energy- has recently been established at Ahmedabad University. While the focus of CHM is on Heritage Management in all its aspects, the theme at Venture Studio are innovation and entrepreneurship, whereas the Centre for Environment and Energy undertakes scientific studies to assess alternative energy sources, new technology, global climate change and its impact.

V. Doctoral programme:

A vibrant doctoral programme is recognized as an important component of healthy research ecosystem in academic institutions. Accordingly, Ahmedabad University is committed to strengthening its doctoral programme in all schools with rigorous training and preparation through strong course work coupled with support for research at dissertation stage. Besides providing research active faculty to teach advance courses at the doctoral level, the programme is also expected to ensure steady supply of students committed to research and academics. The structure of the revamped doctoral programme and other details are described in the Doctoral Programme Guidelines.

VI. Students:

As part of its commitment to fostering research culture at the University, all degree programmes at the University including undergraduate programmes are being designed to include strong exposure to research. Thus, courses on research methodology are part of the core in many degree programmes. In addition several advanced courses at both UG and graduate levels include a project component that may be research oriented. Beyond the curriculum, students are encouraged to participate in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities that are semi-academic in nature and may require research. The University is establishing an Undergraduate Research Programmeme to encourage students to work on projects of faculty or explore their own research interests under the supervision of a faculty. The university may provide limited funding support for organizing such activities.
Note:

1. All grants will be awarded on the merit of the proposal and is not an entitlement.
2. All grant proposals should be submitted to the University Research Board, through the Dean of the School. The Dean will prepare a note evaluating the proposal. (S)he will consult internal and external experts in assessing the proposal and preparing an evaluation report. The evaluation report will become part of the evaluation of the proposal at the URB.
3. A project completion report highlighting the utilization of a grant vis-a-vis its expected objectives, deliverables (e.g., copy of the paper), goals achieved etc. should be submitted to initiate closure of the project. Unspent funds will be returned to University. All research and conference grants also require that the faculty will present a seminar in the Research Seminar Series of the School. The project will not be closed if a certification of the seminar (either completed or scheduled) is not provided by the faculty.
4. All publications, papers, reports etc. that arise from a Ahmedabad University-funded project must explicitly acknowledge the funding under the relevant scheme name and should mention the project title and number in all published material. The acknowledgement may be written, for e as: This research has been partially or fully (as may be the case) supported by the Ahmedabad University Startup Research Grant # ***.

Format for submitting a Research Proposal to the University Research Board
(Additionally, submit complete CV with titles of all research dissertations/projects carried)

Type of Project: Start up/Seed/Challenge Grant

Top Sheet: Executive Summary (1 sheet)

• Name of Investigator:
• School:
• Designation:
• Date of joining (in case of Startup Grant):
• Title of Project:
• Novel/Innovative Element:
• Itemized Deliverables:

Detailed Budget:

• External Clearances Required (eg. Ethics Committee):
• Full Project Proposal (different domains may add their own requirements)

Introduction/Background:

Literature Review:

Problem Statement/Objectives including clear description of novelty/innovation:

Work Description/Typical Protocols/Measurements:

Specific Deliverables:

Other Research Proposals likely as follow ups and possible target funding agencies:

Milestone charts:

• Budget Allocation (the list below is simply indicative):
  • Major Equipment (list with costs)
  • Consumables (list major categories)
  • Services (list with costs)
  • Field Work/Survey Expenses (list major heads)
  • Others (Specify each)
  • Project Staff Salaries
• TOTAL Budget:
  • List of other facilities in AU to be used in the project:
  • Provide background calculations to justify the budget
  • Total not to exceed 10 pages

Admission Policy - MA Economics

Eligibility and Selection Process:

• Eligibility:

1. The candidate must hold a Bachelor’s Degree with at least 50% marks (45% for SC/ST candidates) or equivalent CGPA, of any University incorporated by an act of the central or state legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University under section 3 of UGC Act, 1956.
2. The Bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification obtained by the candidate must entail a minimum of three years of education after completing higher secondary schooling (10+2) or equivalent.
3. In case of the candidates being awarded grades/CGPA instead of marks, the equivalence would be based on the equivalence certified by the university/ institution from where they have obtained bachelor's degree.
4. A candidate who has appeared for the final year examination of bachelor's degree or equivalent can also apply. Such candidate must produce a certificate from the authority of the of the university/ institution certifying that the candidate has obtained 50% marks or equivalent based on latest available grades/marks (i.e. all the years’ grade/marks except the final year grade/marks).
5. Such candidates, if selected, will be allowed to join the programme provisionally only if they submit such certificate latest on the registration date notified by the school. Candidate’s admission will be confirmed provided that final mark sheet and degree certificate are submitted not later than December 1, 2021 and if the candidate has met the prescribed eligibility criteria. Non-fulfilment of the above conditions/dates will automatically result in the cancellation of the provisional admission.

• Application Process:

1. Candidates eligible as per the clause 1.1 have to apply must apply in the prescribed online form with payment of non-refundable application fee of Rs. 1200 (inclusive of GST). Upon online registration, candidates will be issued a unique login id which should be used for subsequent admission process correspondence.
2. Duly filled application form along with the application fee can be submitted April 15, 2021.
3. Candidates are strongly recommended to access the unique login id and their registered email id on a regular basis for admission updates.
4. Shortlisted candidates will be informed via mails and through the application portal about the status of their application.
5. The candidates must bring the following documents in original along with one set of self- attested photocopy of the documents for verification at the time of Personal Interaction:
   1. Mark-sheets of 12th Standard & Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent recognized by the Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India, of any University incorporated by an act of the central or state legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University under section 3 of UGC Act, 1956.
   2. Certificate of equivalence for conversion of GPA/CPI/CGPA etc in to percentage.
   3. Identity Proof
   4. Experience Certificate, if any
   5. Caste Certificate (from competent authority as notified by the Government, if applied for reservation quota).
6. If at any stage, the information provided by a candidate is found to be false, his candidature/admission shall be cancelled.
7. All the candidates who are offered admissions should complete admission formalities by the deadline date. If a candidate fails to adhere to this deadline, the admission offer shall stand cancelled and the seat will be offered to the waitlisted candidate.

• Selection Matrix:

1. Academic Performance+
2. Written Test
3. Personal Interaction/Interview
   • + Academic performance in standard 10th & 12th and at Bachelor’s degree will be considered.
   • + In case candidate is in final year of graduation, his / her previous years’ academic performance will be considered for merit calculation.
4. Candidates with achievement in noteworthy Co-curricular and Extra-curricular activities will have an additional advantage.
5. Work experience, though not mandatory, will have an additional advantage

• Reservations:

As a part of Ahmedabad University’s commitment to equity and justice, the University admissions process attempts to address social inequalities by providing a relaxation of 10% to Scheduled Caste (SC) / Scheduled Tribe (ST) and 7% to Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) and Economic Weaker Section (EWS) category students in cut-off criteria (grad/percentage/percentile) prescribed for general category students. Such relaxation shall be provided on production of requisite certificate as recognized by the Government of Gujarat.

Fee Structure and Payment Schedule:

• Fee Structure:

1. Fees for the academic year 2021-23 will be charged as per follows:

1. In addition to the tuition fees, each student will have to invest approximately Rs. 15,000 per year in study materials such as text books, case studies, supplementary readings, simulations etc.

• Facilities Available:
  The following facilities are available to students at cost:

1. Hostel rooms on a twin sharing basis are provided to students.
2. Campus Placements 
3. Alumni Membership

• Payment for Securing Admission:

Those candidates who are offered admissions are required to pay fees of Rs. 50,000 and confirm the admission. The same would be adjusted in the first semester fees.

• Mode of Payment:

1. All candidates offered admission can pay the fees by logging again to the application portal with the unique user id and password and pay the fees. Modes available for payment Debit Card, Credit Card, Net Banking, Cheque and Demand Draft.
2. In case of Cheque and Demand Draft the candidate/s need to fill the Cheque/Demand Drat details in the system and generate challan. The challan along with Cheque/Demand Draft can be submitted to any nearest ICICI Bank branch.

Financial Aid:

Ahmedabad University, we believe that finances should not stand in the way of an excellent education. We attest to this by providing financial support to students on a merit and need basis. All students receive forms for Financial Aid Scheme on their official email addresses upon admission to the university. Financial aid up to 50% of tuition fee are available to eligible candidates.
To avail this support, students must submit all aid applications with supporting documents to their respective schools in advance of their declared deadlines. The Financial Aid committee will then review all applications and make final recommendations.

Merit Scholarship:
Ahmedabad University has instituted a Merit Scholarship Scheme to encourage bright students. For the MA-ECONOMICS Programme, Merit scholarships are awarded to eligible students in the first year based on their overall performance in the admissions process. For the second year of study, Merit scholarships are based on a candidate’s academic performance in the preceding year. Ahmedabad University has instituted a Merit Scholarship Scheme to encourage bright students. For the MA-ECONOMICS Programme, Merit scholarships are awarded to eligible students in the first year based on their overall performance in the admissions process. For the second year of study, Merit scholarships are based on a candidate’s academic performance in the preceding year.

Teaching Assistantship:
Students are encouraged to take up Teaching Assistantship within the University for 10-20 hours a week to assist members of faculty teaching relevant undergraduate courses and work with them on research projects. This will provide students with exposure to both teaching and research. It will also provide additional financial support.

Cancellation of Admission:
The admission of a candidate will stand cancelled if at any point of time it is established that a candidate has got admission with (alternatively) false/incorrect/irrelevant documents and statements. In such an event no refund shall be made, except deposits.

Withdrawal of Admissions MA-ECONOMICS Programme 2021 and Refund of fees

For withdrawal of admission and seeking fees refund, the candidate is required to submit the original fee receipt, admission offer letter and other documents received at the time of admission and fill the letter of request for withdrawal duly signed by the student/applicant and the Parent/Guardian thereof.

The letter of request for withdrawal is available at the Graduate Admission Office, Central Campus, Ahmedabad University and can be filled and submitted at the time of seeking withdrawal along with required documents.

The refund of the fees will be processed in accordance with the circular No. D.O. No. 1-3/2007 (CPP-II) issued by the Universities Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi dated December 6, 2016.
 

Interpretations and Change of Admission Rules:
In the matter of interpretation of Admission Policy and Procedure, the decision of Dean - Amrut Mody School of Management, Ahmedabad University shall be final and binding on the candidates. In the matter of any issues not covered in the Admission Policy and Procedure mentioned, the Admission Committee is authorized to resolve these special issues on the merit of the case and take the final decision on the same.

Important Dates:

• The above rules and dates are subject to modification(s) if required.

Admission Policy - MBA

Eligibility and Selection Process:

• Eligibility:

1. Candidates who have appeared at CAT 2021 conducted by IIMs / XAT 2022 conducted by XLRI, Jamshedpur/ CMAT 2022 conducted by AICTE/ NMAT 2021 conducted by GMAC / MAT 2021-22 conducted by AIMA / SNAP 2021 conducted by Symbiosis International, Pune / GRE 2021-22 are eligible to apply.
2. The candidate must hold a Bachelor’s Degree with at least 50% marks (45% for SC/ST candidates) or equivalent CGPA, of any University incorporated by an act of the central or state legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University under section 3 of UGC Act, 1956.
3. The Bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification obtained by the candidate must entail a minimum of three years of education after completing higher secondary schooling (10+2) or equivalent.
4. In case of the candidates being awarded grades/CGPA instead of marks, the equivalence would be based on the equivalence certified by the university/ institution from where they have obtained bachelor's degree.
5. A candidate who has appeared for the final year examination of bachelor's degree or equivalent can also apply. Such candidate must produce a certificate from the authority of the of the university/ institution certifying that the candidate has obtained 50% marks or equivalent based on latest available grades/marks (i.e. all the years’ grade/marks except the final year grade/marks).
6. Such candidates, if selected, will be allowed to join the programme provisionally only if they submit such certificate latest on the registration date notified by the school. Candidate’s admission will be confirmed provided that final mark sheet and degree certificate are submitted not later than December 31, 2022 and if the candidate has met the prescribed eligibility criteria. Non-fulfilment of the above conditions/dates will automatically result in the cancellation of the provisional admission.
    

• Admission Process:

1. Candidates eligible as per the clause 1.1 have to apply must apply in the prescribed online form with payment of non-refundable application fee of Rs. 1200 (inclusive of GST). Upon online registration, candidates will be issued a unique login id which should be used for subsequent admission process correspondence.
2. Duly filled application form along with the application fee can be submitted on or before February 28, 2022.
3. Candidates are strongly recommended to access the unique login id and their registered email id on a regular basis for admission updates.
4. Shortlisted candidates will be informed via mails and through the application portal about the status of their application by 1st week of March, 2022. All shortlisted candidates will be called for personal interaction on specified dates. 
5. The Personal Interaction round will take place for MBA programme during 2nd / 3rd week of March 2022. Schedule of the same would be shared with selected candidates by the first week of March, 2022.
6. A candidate appearing for the Personal Interaction round is required to report at least Forty-Five (45) Minutes in advance as per the schedule and verify the documents with MBA Admission Officials. 
7. If a candidate cannot appear for the Personal Interaction round on the scheduled date due to unavoidable circumstances, the candidate may request in prior in writing to the MBA Admission Office at AMSOM along with documentary evidence showing reason for inability to appear on scheduled date and seek an alternate arrangement within the stipulated Personal Interaction schedule. The MBA Admission Office will take an appropriate decision on such request. The decision of Admission Office shall be final and binding.
8. The candidates must bring the following documents in original along with one set of self-attested photocopy of the documents for verification at the time of Personal Interaction:
   • Mark-sheets of 12th Standard & Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent recognised by the Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India, of any University incorporated by an act of the central or state legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University under section 3 of UGC Act, 1956. 
   • Certificate of equivalence for conversion of GPA/CPI/CGPA etc into percentage. 
   • CAT 2021 / XAT 2022 / CMAT 2022 / NMAT 2021 / MAT 2021-22 / SNAP 2021 / GRE 2021-22 Score Card 
   • Identity Proof 
   • Experience Certificate if any 
   • Caste Certificate (from competent authority as notified by the Government, if applied for reservation quota).
9.  If at any stage, the information provided by a candidate is found to be false, his candidature/admission shall be cancelled.
10. Merit list and waiting list will be communicated to candidates on candidate’s unique login id on the mentioned date, which will be communicated in advance.
11. All the candidates who are offered admissions should complete admission formalities by the deadline date. If a candidate fails to adhere to this deadline, the admission offer shall stand cancelled, and the seat will be offered to the waitlisted candidate.

•  Selection Matrix:
  • Shortlisting Criteria
    
    A candidate will be shortlisted for the personal interaction round if he/she meets the following shortlisting criteria:
    
    a) The 1st stage of shortlisting awards 65% weight to the entrance exam score from best of all the scores candidate has mentioned in the application form, 30% weight to Academic Profile and 5% weight to extra and co-curricular activities.
    b) If the candidate does not score minimum prescribed percentile/score in the entrance exam he/she will not be considered for shortlisting for the Personal Interaction round.
     
  • Final Admission Criteria
    
    a)    All the shortlisted candidates are eligible to participate in the Personal Interaction round for admission.
    b)    Selection criteria after final admission round award 50% weight to Personal Interview (PI); and Caselet (Online Test post shortlisting), 30% weight to entrance exam percentile/score and 20% to Academics.

• Reservations:

  As a part of Ahmedabad University’s commitment to equity and justice, the University admissions process attempts to address social inequalities by providing a relaxation of 10% to Scheduled Caste (SC) / Scheduled Tribe (ST) and 7% to Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) and Economic Weaker Section (EWS) category students in cut-off criteria (grad/percentage/percentile) prescribed for general category students. Such relaxation shall be provided on production of requisite certificate as recognized by the Government of Gujarat.

• Fee Structure and Payment Schedule:
  • Fee Structure:
    
    Tuition fees charged for the MBA Programme are as per the Fee Regulatory Committee
        
    In addition to the tuition fees, each student will have to invest approximately Rs. 15,000 per year in study materials such as textbooks, case studies, supplementary readings, simulations etc.
     
  • Facilities Available:
    
    The following facilities are available to students at cost:
    
    i. Hostel rooms on a twin/triple sharing basis are provided to students.
    ii. Campus placements (Summer Internships + Final Placements)
    iii. Alumni membership
     
  • Payment for Securing Admission:
    
    Those candidates who are offered admissions are required to pay full fees of the first semester and confirm the admission.
     
  • Mode of Payment:
    • All candidates with offered admission can pay the fees by logging again to the application portal with the unique user id and password and pay the fees. Modes available for payment Debit Card, Credit Card, Net Banking, Cheque and Demand Draft.
    • In case of Cheque and Demand Draft the candidate/s need to fill the Cheque/Demand Drat details in the system and generate challan. The challan along with Cheque/Demand Draft can be submitted to any nearest ICICI Bank branch.
  • Financial Aid:

    Ahmedabad University, we believe that finances should not stand in the way of an excellent education. We attest to this by providing financial support to students on a merit and need basis.

    All students receive forms for Financial Aid Scheme on their official email addresses upon admission to the university. Financial aid up to 50% of tuition fee are available to eligible candidates.

    To avail this support, students must submit all aid applications with supporting documents to their respective schools in advance of their declared deadlines. The Financial Aid committee will then review all applications and make final recommendations.
     

  • Cancellation of Admission:

    The admission of a candidate will stand cancelled if at any point of time it is established that a candidate has got admission with (alternatively) false/incorrect/irrelevant documents and statements. In such an event no refund shall be made, except deposits.

  • Withdrawal of Admissions MBA Programme 2022 and Refund of fees

    For withdrawal of admission and seeking fees refund, the letter of request for withdrawal is available at the PG Admission Office, Central Campus, Ahmedabad University / can be downloaded from AURIS (Ahmedabad University Resource Information System) student portal (web: www.auris.ahduni.edu.in) and can be filled online or can be submitted at the programme office at the time of seeking withdrawal along with required documents. The application will be processed within 15 working days from the date the application is received.

    For the Academic Year 2022-23, for the admissions cancelled/withdrawn before the formally notified first day of programme commencement 2022 or after that, the refund will be processed as per the below mentioned table as per the timelines and the date of application for the withdrawal etc.

    Sr No.	Percentage of Refund of Tuition Fees	Date when Withdrawal of Admission request is submitted on AURIS
    1	90%	30 days or more before the academic semester/term starts
    2	50%	15 to 29 days before the academic semester/term starts
    3	NIL	Application done on or after the formally notified regular programme commencement day

    Refund of fees, if any, shall be directly credited through NEFT/RTGS to the bank account furnished by the applicant on the application for withdrawal of admission.

  • Important Schedule:

    Particulars	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3
    Availability of Online Applications Forms	November 25, 2021
    Last Date of receiving Online Application Forms	February 28, 2022	April 30, 2022	May 31, 2022
    Notification of Personal Interaction Round to shortlisted candidates	March 07, 2022	May 07, 2022	June 06, 2022
    Personal Interaction Round starts from	March 10, 2022	May 05, 2022	June 09, 2022
    Notification of Admissions to Selected Candidates	March 14, 2022	May 09, 2022	June 13, 2022
    Commencement of Academic Session	July / August 2022

    • Note: The above rules are subject to modification(s) whenever found necessary by the MBA Admission Office.
  • Interpretations and Change of Admission Rules
    
    In the matter of interpretation of Admission Policy and Procedure, the decision of Dean - Amrut Mody School of Management, Ahmedabad University shall be final and binding on the candidates. In the matter of any issues not covered in the Admission Policy and Procedure mentioned, the Admission Committee is authorized to resolve these special issues on the merit of the case and take the final decision on the same.
     

Admission Policy - Centre For Heritage Management

Master of Management Studies in Heritage Management 2021

The Admission Committee for Master of Management Studies in Heritage Management (hereinafter referred to as the Programme) shall be responsible for conducting the admission procedure and making selections of right candidates for the 2021 intake. 

Eligibility Criteria and Key Application Components:

Though it may not be quantified, one of the underlying requirement (for the candidate’s own self-assessment and a major part of assessment of application components, i.e. Statement of Purpose and Survey on Awareness) is a self-motivated interest or existing passion about heritage (in its broader sense). It is very important for a prospective applicant to think whether this programme is the right programme for his/her own career goals, and take a conscious decision to apply for it. Candidates may want to seek counselling through the admissions office to assure that they are choosing the right programme. 

If one has already been into heritage sector either through earlier student projects, research, or through practice and self-experience, it is easy to establish this eligibility. This eligibility will be assessed through the Statement of Purpose and interview as well as portfolio if applicable. 
 

• Relevant Bachelors Degree as a minimum academic experience:
  • Candidates with a Bachelor's Degree with majors in art history, archaeology, architecture, anthropology, civil engineering, culture or cultural studies, design, environmental studies, geography, history, international relations, interdisciplinary major, and any other major or minor with sufficient exposure to heritage related topics (with minimum grade/marks as specified in sub paragraph 2.1.2 below) may apply. Candidates with any other discipline – regardless of their studies related to heritage can also apply if they have a demonstrated interest in Heritage (as specified in sub paragraph 2.2 below) may apply. 
  • The candidate must hold a recognized Bachelor’s Degree with at least 50% marks (45% for SC/ST candidates) or equivalent CGPA, from a valid University in India or abroad. In case of a degree obtained prior to 1990, the admission committee may relax the 50% cut off, in lieu of the personal experience of the applicant since graduation. 
  • The Bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification obtained by the candidate must entail a minimum of three years of education after completing higher secondary schooling (10+2) or equivalent. Again, this may be re-considered by the Admissions committee for applicants who received their Bachelor’s degree prior to 1990. 
  • In case of the candidates being awarded grades/CGPA instead of marks, the equivalence would be based on the equivalence certified by the university/ institution from where they have obtained bachelor's degree.
  • In case a candidate is unable to provide the certificate (as mentioned in 2.1.4 above), the equivalence would be established by the admissions committee by dividing earned CGPA with the maximum possible CGPA and multiplying the quotient with 100.
  • A candidate who has appeared or will have appeared for the final year examination of bachelor's degree by June 2021 can also apply.
    • Such candidate must have obtained 50% marks or equivalent based on latest available grades/marks (i.e. all the years’ grade/marks except the final year grade/marks), and must have completed all the requirements except the final year/final term for obtaining the bachelor's degree/ equivalent qualification.
    • Such candidates, if selected, will be allowed to join the programme provisionally only if they submit such certificate latest on the registration date notified by the admissions office.
    • However, the admission will be confirmed provided that final mark sheet and degree certificate are submitted not later than September 30, 2021 and if the candidate has met the prescribed eligibility criteria.
    • Non-fulfilment of the above conditions/dates will automatically result in the cancellation of the provisional admission.
       
• Interest/passion about heritage

  Though it may not be quantified, one of the underlying requirement (for the candidate’s own self-assessment and a major part of assessment of application components, i.e. Statement of Purpose and Survey on Awareness) is a self-motivated interest or existing passion about heritage (in its broader sense). It is very important for a prospective applicant to think whether this programme is the right programme for his/her own career goals, and take a conscious decision to apply for it. Candidates may want to seek counselling through the admissions office to assure that they are choosing the right programme. 

  If one has already been into heritage sector either through earlier student projects, research, or through practice and self-experience, it is easy to establish this eligibility. This eligibility will be assessed through the Statement of Purpose and interview as well as portfolio if applicable. 

• Statement of Purpose (SOP)

  A dedicated online application portal takes a candidate through the admission process. After creating your account, candidates will fill up a standard application form and upload all required documents. Along with the application form, the candidates need to submit a statement of purpose (SOP) explaining why they would like to join the programme. SOP is an important part of admissions decision process, and candidates are advised to pay serious attention in preparing the statement. Such statement of purpose may be based on the student's prior study or work related to heritage, any exposure to heritage related issues, or their passion, or any other reason. The statement should be approximately 500 to 1000 words written in English.  This is a major component of evaluation, hence applicants are advised to ensure that they SOP is well articulated to convey their relevant reason or thoughts behind choosing this programme.

• Heritage Awareness Survey and Preparedness Test
  All the complete applications are reviewed after the appropriate fees are paid, typically within a week but no later than a month after the submission. On the online portal, candidates need to ensure that their submission is ‘locked’ only after which it goes to the admissions committee. At this stage, the applications are checked for meeting the minimum eligibility requirements, and for having all required components completely filled up with necessary documents. Eligible candidates are then notified to appear for an online ‘Heritage Awareness Survey and Preparedness Test’, which can be taken from anywhere within the specified window of time. There are two components to this test:
  • Answering awareness related questions
    In this part, candidates will answer the questions posed to their best ability. However, in the next section of the test, they may be asked to provide evidence of their answers. 
  • Evidences in support of SOP and the awareness test
    Applicants who have pursued any studies or work related to heritage (in any of its manifestations) may submit samples of such work as evidence to support their answers in the awareness and preparedness test. 
    • For works done, please upload a digital copy of the report/paper/drawings/photographs or other related material
    • For work /internship experience, please upload a letter stating the nature and duration of the work
    • For thesis/reports/articles, please upload such documents
    • For course taken, please provide the course outline/syllabus, or a summary of what the course covered
  • If in case the candidates do not have such evidence/documents to upload, they may check ‘No’ in the response and get in touch with the admissions office to get advice on this step. Admissions committee will use this information to assess the awareness and preparedness of the candidate, which will be taken into account while taking admissions decisions. 

• Personal Interviews
  Candidates who have completed the above two steps will be called in for a personal interviews. Candidates out of country or state may be provided with an online interview option, however, all the candidates are highly encouraged to visit the campus in-person for a better interaction and familiarisation with the university and the programme.
  
  The key area to probe through interview (as well as that of SOP) would be to examine whether the candidate understands the field of heritage management, and have adequate aptitude to justify pursuing the programme.
  
  These personal interviews will work both ways: for the admission committee to ensure that the individual student meets all required criteria to be admitted in the programme, and also for the prospective student to ask any questions s/he may have about the programme before they make their final decision to pursue the programme. 

Selection Process:
The key purpose of the selection process is to ensure that the applicant’s interest and the programme objectives match. High scores in prior academic work may not always guarantee the selection, but an awareness of the broader field of heritage sector and the applicant’s personal inclination towards the sector may make a convincing case. The selection process is based on the Ahmedabad University’s holistic review process. 
  

Application Guidelines

• All the candidates are required to submit application and necessary documents as well as tests and payment online through the admission portal. 
• The last date of application is 15 May 2021. However, serious candidates are advised to apply earlier in order to move through the process before the deadline.  
• The online admissions portal will open on 12 February 2021 and will run on a rolling basis until May 2021. The review of applications will begin from mid-April 2021, and interviews will begin from end of April until end of May 2021. However, with an advance request, interviews may be scheduled on a preferred date, if the candidate has a valid reason like having final examinations etc. 
• Candidates selected for interview will be notified of their interview date/time by email beginning mid-April 2021 on first come first serve basis (for the qualified ones). The interview slots will be given on convenient dates beginning from mid-April until the admissions review process is complete but no later than May 2021. Candidates from other states may be permitted to have tele-interview via skype, but it is highly recommended that the candidates visit the university in-person for the interview. Candidates have to arrange their travel, or tele-conference facility (skype video interview) to appear for the interview and assigned date/time.
• Candidates are advised to report at least 30 minutes before their scheduled time/slot of the interview. 
• Successful candidates will be informed of the admission decision by email around 15 June 2021. After which they must complete admission formalities including the payment of first semester fees by 30 June 2021. 
• Candidates must bring the following documents for verification at the time of admission registration:
  • Original Mark-sheets of all the graduation years including higher secondary years. 
  • Identity Proof
  • Experience Statement or Certificate, if any 
  • Caste Certificate (from competent authority as notified by the Government, if applied for reservation quota).

Fee Structure and Payment Schedule:

Fee 
The tuition fee for the last admitted group was Rs. 75,000 per semester, and there are four regular semesters in the period of two years studies. For 2021 intake, the fee may be increased slightly, the exact figure will be announced in March 2021. 

Library deposit of Rs. 3500 at the time of admission, which is refundable at the time of graduation – subject to clearance from the library that there are no dues on the student. 

Payment for Securing Admission:
The candidates as per the final selected list are required to pay full fee of the first semester and the library deposit to confirm the admission.

Payment for the Remaining Charges:
The balance fees will be paid semester wise. Candidates are required to pay the fees of every semester one week before the commencement of the respective semester. In case of delay, penalty will be charged as per prescribed rules of the School.

Information about expenses for mandatory Field-immersion and Field visit programmes as well as optional exchange programmes
Above mentioned fees do not include the expenses of out of station travels and logistics pertaining to compulsory field immersion and study trips as well as practicum programme. On an average students should be prepared to spend around Rs. 20,000 for field studies. 

Scholarship:
At Ahmedabad University, we admit students on a need-blind basis and firmly believe that lack of financial resources should not be a barrier to higher education. We attest to this by providing financial support to students on a merit and need basis. Fellowship will be available every year to deserving students. 

Withdrawal from the Programme and Refund of fees

The refund of the fees will be processed in accordance with the circular No. D.O. No. 1-3/2007 (CPP-II) issued by the Universities Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi dated December 6, 2016.
 

Interpretations and Change of Admission Rules:
In the matter of interpretation of Admission Policy and Procedure, the decision of Admission Committee shall be final and binding on the candidates. In the matter of such issues as are not covered in the Admission Policy and Procedure mentioned above, the Admission Committee is authorized to resolve these special issues on the merit of the case and implement the same.

Important Dates:

• The above rules and dates are subject to modification(s) if required. Such changes will be published on the website.
• The Admission Policy & Procedures are subject to the jurisdictions of Hon’ble Court of Ahmedabad.

Attendance Policy

The academic programme at Ahmedabad University is based on rigorous academic engagement in the classroom.  Hence if classes are missed then learning gets compromised. It is not possible to capture each and every aspect of this learning through evaluations such as examinations. Therefore if a student has missed a significant portion of classes then grades have to be dropped and adjusted downwards for the learning compromised on account of absence.

It is expected that students will aim to attend 100 percent of the sessions for every course they have registered for in any semester. It is understood that some exigencies may come up for students on account of which they may miss some classes. Factoring in such probable exigencies, there are no adverse consequences in a course if the attendance falls up to 80 percent in the course. However if the attendance of the student in any course falls below 80 percent then the grade in that course may get dropped. There is one grade drop for every shortfall of 15 percent below 80 percent attendance. However if the attendance falls below 50 percent then the student will get an ‘F’ or ‘NP’ grade and will have to repeat the course, if needed. This policy encourages the students to maintain higher attendance and ensures that no learning is missed.

The full Attendance Policy of the University is available on AURIS.  Students are expected to be familiar with it.

IP Policy

PREAMBLE

Ahmedabad University (AU) is a self-financed, non-affiliating State Private University promoted by Ahmedabad Education Society (AES). The vision of the AU is "to be a temple of higher learning engaged in gathering, generating, storing and disseminating knowledge relevant to the societal needs, offering multi-disciplinary programs to students emphasizing their all-round development" and it seek to "encourage research and the open exploration of intellectual enterprise".  

Ahmedabad University (hereinafter referred as “University”) aims for global standards of excellence across the spectrum of research, from fundamental, curiosity-driven work that builds the stock of knowledge and leads to new research questions to applied research and innovation with direct applications to industry and communities. By virtue of supporting a vibrant research environment through its expert faculty for its students to explore and expand the frontiers of knowledge, it is necessary therefore, to have in place, systems and mechanisms to structure and enforce the process of creation, preservation, documentation, transfer and application of IPR linking their commercial exploitation under the legal provisions in the country.

The goal of the Intellectual Property (hereinafter referred as “IP”) policy of the University is to recognize, guard and manage intellectual properties generated from the work carried by the University human resources. 

PURPOSE STATEMENT

The University wishes to underscore the importance of IP and urges all faculty, staff and students to document their innovative and creative outputs with a view to identify and protect their IP. The University is keen to facilitate IP generation, protection and its application for shared benefits to both University and inventors in a transparent manner. For the facilitation of the IP policy, the University shall constitute the Intellectual Property Cell (hereinafter referred as “IPC”). The office of the IPC shall deal with all activities relating to IP of the University.

WHAT CONSTITUTES AN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

IP is an intangible knowledge product resulting from the intellectual and scientific pursuits that qualifies for legal protection under relevant legislations regulating and governing various forms of IP Rights (IPR). IP thus is an outcome of the in-house, sponsored research, industrial consulting or other forms of collaborative research and development (R & D).

Broadly, IP could take the form of any invention related to scientific, technological, social, societal, and business development namely: patent, industrial design, trademark, copyright, mathematical models, business models, confidential information, technical know-how, mask works, process, plans, circuit, diagrams, specifications, guidelines, graphics, training materials, software programs, records, drawings, instruction guides, logo, study materials, new techniques, algorithms, concepts or any other form as per the need and development. 

The several types of IP can be broadly listed as follows: 

• Patents - An exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or a process that provides a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical, mechanical or technological solution to a problem. The criteria for patentability are novelty, non-obviousness to the expert and industrial or commercial application.
• Copyrights - An exclusive right given to the author of the original literary, architectural, dramatic, musical and artistic works; cinematograph films; and sound recordings and the like.
• Trade/Service Marks - An exclusive mark capable of being represented graphically and which is capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one person from those of others and may include shape of goods, their packaging and combination of colors.
• Industrial Designs - An exclusive right to protect the features of shape, configuration, pattern, ornament or composition of lines or colors applied to any article whether in two dimensional or three dimensional or in both forms.
• Integrated Circuit Layout Designs - An exclusive right for a layout of transistors and other circuitry elements and includes lead wires connecting such elements and expressed in any manner in a semiconductor integrated circuit.
• Traditional Knowledge- Knowledge developed by the indigenous or local communities for the use of a natural resource with respect to agriculture, food, water, medicine etc. over a period of time and has been passed from one generation to another traditionally.
• Geographical Indications - An exclusive right to identify goods as agricultural goods, natural goods as originating or manufactured in the territory of a country or a region or locality in that territory where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of such goods is essentially attributable to its geographical origin.
• Know-how and Trade Secret - Any form of confidential information pertaining to technical know-how including lab notes, results of analyses, research notes, research data reports, chemical, pharmacological, toxicological, clinical, analytical and quality control data, trial data, prototypes, information contained in submissions to and information from ethical committees and regulatory authorities, etc. Trade secrets and know‐how fall outside the scope of protection under current IP regime of India. It is important for the owner of such secrets and know‐how to maintain confidentiality through non‐disclosure agreements (NDA) with the other parties.

WHOM THIS IP POLICY IS MEANT FOR

This IP policy covers all human resources of the University (hereinafter referred as “inventors”) including students, staff and the faculty. It also covers outside faculty, individual research scholar, scientist, companies, firm, institutions, research centre, vendor, supplier or any other business partner engaged directly or indirectly in research and development, innovation and intellectual & scientific pursuits being carried at the University in India and abroad either individually or jointly with any inventor of the University. It is also applicable to the employee of the University who is under lien, sabbatical, training, visit or internship to other organizations. 

IP GENERATION AND OWNERSHIP

• In-house Research
  
  Unless specifically agreed in writing, all forms of IP arising from the research carried out at the University shall vest in and be the absolute property of the University. University may grant an exclusive and gratuitous license of the said rights to the company/firm/LLP or any other entity formed by the inventors for the purpose of its commercialization.
   
• Sponsored and Collaborative Research
  • The ownership of IP created, authored, discovered, invented, conceived or reduced to practice during the course of sponsored or collaborative research undertaken jointly by the University with the collaborating institutions shall be owned by the University unless otherwise specified through explicit agreement with the collaborating institutions.
  • In case of jointly owned IP, the collaborating institutions will be requested to bear the proportionate cost of filing and maintaining of the IP;
  • Where the collaborating institutions are not forthcoming for filing IP application, the University at its discretion will meet the entire cost of filing and protection of IP;
  • In case of collaborative activity with foreign institutions involving indigenous biological material, IP ownership has to take into account restrictions as per the prevailing ‘Biological Diversity Act 2002’ of India.
     
• Outside Consulting
  • Consulting by faculty shall be encouraged and may be undertaken with prior intimation to the University and will be subject to the provisions of AU Consulting Policy from time to time.
  • Faculty shall apprise the external organisations of their University position and ensure that the terms of their engagement or contract with them do not conflict in any way with University IP Policy;
     
• Copyright Ownership
  • In case of textbooks, research books, articles, reports, monographs, teaching course material, continuing education program material, learning resource materials and other scholarly publications authored by faculty and staff of the University, copyright including the royalty rights will be owned by the University unless otherwise provided. In continuing education program University owns the course structure, outline and the promotional material. 
  • For work like novels, literary articles, reports, poems, musical compositions and other related works copyright will be owned by the author;
  • In case of term papers, laboratory records and of other documents that are produced by a student of the University during the course of his/her study, copyright will be owned by the student provided the thesis does not include any information that needs IP protection by the University and the student has not received any financial support from the University for this research. University gets a non-exclusive, non-commercial license for the display and use of the thesis for academic and research purposes. Student who wish to publish their thesis as a book or any other publication shall seek prior written permission from the IPC.

Under all circumstances University always reserves right to use the IP generated for its academic and research purpose. It is also mandatory for the inventor / author to obtain all necessary permissions while using the copyright material. University is not liable for any copyright violation by the inventor or the author. 

DISCLOSURE OF IP

• All potentially patentable inventions or other potential IP conceived or first reduced to practice in whole or in part by the inventor shall be disclosed on a timely basis to the IPC.  
• As public disclosure before initiating steps for formal protection of IP could inadvertently kill its novelty and thereby the IP,  there shall not be any such disclosure, until IPC grants written permission to do so, after evaluating the technology and communicating a decision on whether to pursue the protection of the IP or not. 
   
• Evaluation of IP for Protection and Commercial Development 
  • Inventor shall disclose the invention through an invention disclosure form and submit to IPC.
  • Invention shall be evaluated in terms of scientific merit, novelty, its applicability and market potential. All potential IP arising out of the research conducted at the University shall be protected on the basis of the evaluation of IP including its commercial potential. In case, the IP is found to have very little or no commercial potential, no steps shall be taken to protect the same.
  • University may also waive the IP right if the IPC is of the opinion that it is generated without using substantial resources of the University. 
  • IPR waiver may also be given when inventor does not use University provided or administered funds in connection to the IP development which had been made on personal, unpaid time of the inventor. For all such IP waivers inventor shall approach IPC in advance seek such waiver in writing.
     
•   Filing of IP 
  • All applications for IP shall be filed by the University in the name of the competent authority and / or in the name of a Company set up by the University under Section 8 of the Companies Act 2013 . The name of the inventor shall be filled in the application at appropriate places.
  • All applications shall be considered for filing in India. A decision on annual renewal of IP rights will be taken by the IPC.
  • Any patent which needs protection outside India, the procedure shall be to first file a provisional patent in India and within 12 months, file under a Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application along with an application for filing an Indian patent. Based on the merit of the invention, the approval for PCT filing shall be based on the recommendation of the IPC. If there are no takers for the technology within 36 months from the date of filing, the University shall not assume the responsibility of further payments.
  • In case the inventors are interested in pursuing the IP, the University shall re-assign such IP rights back to them to sustain such IP on a condition that the inventor pays back the University the initial expenses incurred by the University for filing the IP.  If an inventor decides to abandon or withdraw the application for a patent at some mid- stage of processing, prior approval of the IPC is required.

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AND IP LICENSING

     University envisages a fine balance between a need to protect the IP and its commercialization. 

• The University IP either held in the name of University or a Company set up specially for the same or jointly with other collaborating institutions shall be marketed for commercial exploitation under agreements involving technology transfer, licensing and revenue sharing models.
• The IPC shall identify potential licensee for its commercialization or may contract the IP to any outside agency for its commercialization.
• In case of joint IP, the collaborating institution/ sponsoring agency will have the first right to commercially utilize and exploit the IP emanating from the collaboration activity, whether or not the same have been formally protected by patent. 
• In case the other collaborating institution/sponsoring agency is not undertaking the commercial exploitation within a reasonable period of two years from the first date of development of the technology, the University reserves the right to transfer the said know-how to a third party for its commercial exploitation and use.
• University reserve the rights to extend, modify or terminate the type of license.
• Irrespective of the license type, University shall always retain the exclusive right of IP for its academic and research usage which includes right to publish, use of the technical data, the method or product

. 
REVENUE SHARING

• The revenue generated by licensing/assigning sale or transfer of IP which could be in the form of license fee, milestone payments, upfront fee, profit sharing, stock option, equity and / or royalty payments, shall be shared as – 
  • 65% (sixty five percent) of the revenue will go to the inventor; the share of each inventor may be decided by the inventors and IPC;
  • 20% (twenty percent) shall go to the University or to the Company holding the IP;
  • 10% (ten percent) to the constituent institute to which inventor is affiliated to be used for research and innovation, faculty development etc;
  • 5% (five percent) to IPC Fund for promotion of IP activities;
• The amount to be distributed will be the net revenue after deduction of applicable tax or any other levies and the amount retained by the University for IPC Fund;
• In case of joint-inventor-ship, IPC shall ensure a fair revenue distribution of the commercialization proceeds. All inventor / creator should submit inventor agreement to AU which include ratio of sharing any revenue. In absence of such agreement, the IPC shall execute a revenue sharing agreement among the inventors by determining the IP rights of each inventor proportionate to the contribution to the invention. 
• If the University is unable  to commercialise the IP in a reasonable time frame, then it may reassign the rights of the IP to the inventor of the IP;
• In case the University reassigns the right of the IP to its inventor, he/she shall reimburse all the costs incurred by the University, which include protection, maintenance, marketing and other associated costs. These costs will be compiled by the by the IPC.

IPC FUND

The University may examine to institute an ‘IPC Fund’ by investing corpus amount every year and accumulating part of the revenue generated from licensing/assigning and other resources to support IP activities of the University. The IPC fund will be managed by the IPC of the University.

CONSTITUTION OF THE IP COMMITTEE (IPC)

The IP Committee (IPC) will be the core administrating body, which will be responsible for evolving detailed procedures to facilitate implementation of the IP policy of the University. The IPC Committee shall essentially work as a policy formulating committee while the executive actions will be carried out by the IPC. The periodic amendments recommended by the IPC shall be adopted by the University after due process of approval from the Board of Governors of the University.

The IPC shall have 7 members and will be headed by the Provost/Vice Chancellor and will have the following structure: 

• Provost / Vice Chancellor as the Chairman
• Chair –University Research Board
• Subject Expert as needed, appointed by the Chairman
• Dean – Graduate School and Research 
• Registrar / Deputy Registrar as the Member secretary
• Two members nominated by the Chairman of IPC

The IPC shall meet whenever necessary. The scope of activities of the IPC shall include the following:

• Advise on formulating awareness programmes for educating faculty, staff and students about IP at the University; 
• Approve procedures, forms, draft agreements and guidelines for implementation of the IP policy at the University;
• Recommend expert groups in different subject domains for assessing and recommending proposals for IP filing. It may appoint expert group with members from within and/or outside the University to seek their opinion in carrying out any of the above responsibilities;
• Interact with the inventors, evaluate invention for patentability and commercial potential, act as advisory to the inventor for all matters including filing applications for protection of IP;
• Assist with drafting, negotiating, advising and monitoring all confidential agreements, vendor contracts, visitor participation agreements, license agreements, non-disclosure agreements, revenue-sharing agreements and material transfer agreements of the University with special reference to IP relating matters;
• Advise on approaching funding agencies, venture capitalists etc. for funds for promotion of IP activities, filing, licensing/assigning of IP on revenue sharing basis;
• Recommend waivers and release of IP to inventor and/or third party within the framework of IP policy of the University;
• Redress any conflict, grievance regarding ownership of IP, processing of IP proposals, infringement and interpretation of various clauses of IP policy;
• Propose amendments from time to time for consideration of the University authorities;
• Pursue the licensing of technology by undertaking market evaluation for the technology concerned, identifying third parties to commercialize it, entering into discussions with potential licensees, negotiating appropriate licenses or other agreements and  post-transfer monitoring of the technology and for tracking performance of the obligations of the licensee;

INFRINGEMENTS, DAMAGES, LIABILITY AND INDEMNITY

• As a matter of policy, the University shall, in any contract between the licensee/potential licensee, collaborating institutions, service provider and other educational institutes, seek indemnity from any legal proceedings  arising from development and commercialization of University IP including, but not limited to, manufacturing defects, production problems, design guarantee, upgradation and debugging obligation;
• The University and IP Cell shall also ensure that an indemnity clause is built into the agreements with licensee(s) while transferring technology or otherwise dealing with technology or copyrighted material or other proprietary material owned by the University;
• The University shall retain the right to engage in or desist from or not in any litigation concerning infringement of any IP or the terms of any licenses or any other arrangements.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

• Inventor(s) are required to disclose any conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest to the IP Cell. In case of any conflict of interest with respect to any provisions in any agreement or any arrangement involving any of the inventor(s) of University with third party, the provisions of the IP policy shall prevail;
• If the inventor(s) and/or their immediate family have a stake in a licensee or potential licensee company, then they are required to disclose the stake they and /or their immediate family have in the company. Under such circumstances, the license or an assignment of rights for a patent to the potential licensee shall be subject to the approval of the IPC.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION

In the event of any dispute, controversy, claim or disagreement of any kind whatsoever between the University and inventor(s) of the University, collaborating institutions or any service provider regarding the implementation of the IP policy, or in connection with or arising out of any agreement or the breach, termination or invalidity thereof between or among the parties thereto, or any person claiming under any of them, the parties concerned shall promptly meet and discuss the dispute in an effort to resolve it.  If no resolution could be reached within 15 (fifteen) days following the date on which one of the parties first notifies in writing to the other(s) of its request that such a meeting is to be held, then, the dispute shall be resolved by arbitration under the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and the Rules there under, as amended from time to time.  The arbitration shall be conducted by a sole arbitrator, who shall be a person appointed by the Provost. The venue of such Arbitration shall be at Ahmedabad, India.  . The arbitration shall be conducted in the English language. 

JURISDICTION

As a policy, all agreements to be signed by the University will have the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in Ahmedabad and shall be governed by appropriate laws in India.

AMENDMENTS

To begin with, this policy will be in operation till 31st March 2020. The same will be then reviewed for further period based on the experience and learnings during the implementation. This policy then may be  reviewed, amended, modified, suspended or withdrawn by  the Management at any time. 


Draft date 29th September 2016
Edited by Mitul Shelat on 8th November 2016
Presented to ACM at the meeting 3rd February 2017 for final approval
Approved for Circulation and implementation at AC Meeting on Friday, 10th March 2017

 
Invention Disclosure Form (An interim version)

Date of submission:_______________

The inventor is requested to fill up the following form while submitting an application for filing a patent by Ahmedabad University.

[General Patent Information: In order to obtain patent protection, your invention must demonstrate the following:

New (or novel):  The invention must be new, that is, it has not been previously used, sold or described publicly.

Useful:  The invention must have an actual use and not be just a subject for additional research.

Non-obvious:  The invention must not be obvious at the time of conception to another person having ordinary skill in the art].

1. Title of the project / invention
2. Name of the inventors including faculty, students and staff:
   
   [Note: Please include the names of all co-inventors.  Co-inventors include any individual who has conceived or contributed to an essential element of the invention, either independently or jointly with others, during the evolution of the technology or reduction to practice]
   
   Inventor:    
   • Name
   • Designation
   • Department
   • Phone/Fax/e-mail
   • Home Address
     (Please add additional names if needed)
      
3. Source of funding for the project:
   
   Institute funding / Industry funded / Govt. aided / consultancy - with or without prior contractual agreement / Any other
    
4. Is the work bound by any agreement / contract / MOU?
   Yes         No
   If yes please give details.
    
5. Is the patent (to be filed) for a process or product?
    
6. General area of the patent application to be filed:
    
7. Description of the invention (not more than 200 words)
   [Note: In describing the technology, please provide when possible, information covering the following points:
   
   a. the general purpose;
   b. a technical description;
   c. the advantages and improvements over the existing methods, devices or materials; and, 
   d. the economic potential or commercial applications for the technology.
   e. The problem for which solution was researched
   f. The invention namely the solution to the problem
    
8. Origin of the idea / invention: who and when?
    
9. Details of Students / staff who participated in the invention but are not inventors:
   Name / degree registered for
   Department / roll no.
   E-mail
   Home Address
   Signature
   (Please add additional names if needed)
    
10. Any help received from others in conception of the idea?
     
11. Date of start of the project
     
12. Other applicants (collaborating partner organisations)
     
13. Background Research and Prior Art [Please describe the information obtained through literature search details on existing public knowledge in the concerned field. Include journals and other publications and relevant patent databases]
     
14. Has the work been displayed anywhere?
     
15. Has the work been reported / published / presented anywhere? 
     
16. Has any related patents been filed by the inventor earlier?
     
17. Unique features about the work done with respect to prior art that satisfy patentability criteria
    a.    Is the work a mere extension of common known knowledge?
    b.    Has the work filled a major gap in prior art? If yes, a brief description of this gap.
    c.    Any environmental issues?
    d.    What aspect of the invention needs protection
     
18. Has the work been systematically and chronologically documented? How? 
     
19. Commercial aspects of the invention/ technology developed 
     
20. Any costing of the product / process / invention been done?
     
21. Any industries / companies interested in licensing the work [List any companies which you believe may be interested in your invention]
     
22. Is the work 
    a.    Completed and results validated?
    b.    At a basic conceptualisation stage?

I/We hereby declare that all statements made herein of my/our own knowledge are true and that all statements are believed to be true [to be signed by all inventors].


Inventor        Signature         Date
(Please add the above line in the same format in case of more inventors)
Countersigned by Dean R&D