Statutes

The RISE Director will provide leadership for the centre and will serve as a liaison between the centre and national and international partners (industry, academia, alumni) for the promotion of research and innovation activities in BUET.

Prof. Dr. Muhammad Anisuzzaman Talukder

Director

Each year, RISE shall allocate a significant portion of its annual budget for funding Internal Research. RISE Internal Research Grant shall be awarded to the faculty members of BUET for carrying out innovative research that will strengthen the teaching, learning and research capacity, as well as help the faculty members earn External Research Funding by demonstrating the workability of the concept. One Associate Director (Research) along with other personnel of RISE will work together to achieve the goals and targets of this wing as outlined in the following.

• • RISE Internal Research Grant applications will be solicited twice during a financial year:
  (1) in the last week of May and
  (2) in the last week of November.
  The decisions on the applications will be made in three weeks, and the grant will be available from the 1st July or from the 1st January of the respective calls.
• • A Call for Proposal for RISE Internal Research Grant shall be published on BUET website and shall be circulated among the faculty members of BUET through emails.

• • RISE Internal Research Grant applicants must be full-time faculty members of BUET and must have a PhD.
• • RISE Director, Associate Directors, Senior Fellows, Fellows and Associate Fellows are not eligible to apply for RISE Internal Research Grant during their tenure.
• • In a particular Call for Proposal for RISE Internal Research Grant, an applicant can submit only one proposal as the Principal Investigator (PI) or as the Co-PI.
• • Funding can be requested for projects that will require a completion period up to 3 years. A maximum of BDT 20 lac per year can be requested as the research grant. This maximum grant amount will be reviewed every 5 years by the BoGs.
• • An applicant cannot apply for a new research grant while he/she is PI in an on-going research project being funded by RISE Internal Research Grant.
• • An applicant can apply for a maximum of one new research grant as a Co-PI while he/she is PI in an on-going research project being funded by RISE Internal Research Grant.
• • Eligible faculty members can apply for funding individually or in a group. For group projects, there will be one PI and one Co-PI.
• • Proposals for RISE Internal Research Grants shall be forwarded by the concerned Head/Director of the Department/Institute/Centre to RISE.
• • RISE will develop an online portal for the management of RISE Internal Research Grant. The submission, review, notification and management of submitted proposals and proposal selected for funding will be made through the online portal.
• • If the PI of a project takes leave from BUET before the completion of project, BoGs will decide about the future of the project.

• • The number of proposals to be funded will be contingent upon availability of funds.
• • The grant applications will be initially screened for eligibility by the Research Committee (defined in Section 1.5).
• • The Research Committee will select appropriate reviewers for each eligible grant application.
• • Each project will be reviewed by 3 independent reviewers as selected by the Research Committee in which at least 1 reviewer must be from outside BUET and from Academia/Industry/Research Organization.
• • The reviewers will receive honorarium for reviewing RISE Internal Research Grant Proposals. The amount of the honorarium will be decided by the BoGs.

• • The proposal must be submitted in the prescribed template provided by RISE.
• • Design and feasibility of the study or project proposal:
  • - The proposal is written so that a person with no prior knowledge of the subject may make an informed judgment as to the scientific or scholarly merit of the proposed study/project
  • - The proposal clearly describes what is intended by the PI, how the PI intends to reach objectives and anticipated implications of the study/project’s findings.
  • - The proposed study/project clearly exhibits the application of sound investigative methodology.
  • - When the research requires statistical analyses, models/procedures are specified and are demonstrably linked to the research questions/hypotheses being investigated.
  • - Work packages, deliverables and milestones are properly specified, which are realistic within the project duration and aligned with the project objectives.
• • Significance of expected results and identification of expected products:
  • - Whether for basic or applied research, the proposal demonstrates evident value. The study/project has the potential for producing a quality scholarly product or publication.
  • - The study/project enhances the PI’s ability to obtain external funding or elevates institutional image.
  • - The proposal indicates the extent to which new ideas may be generated or established concepts may be re-examined.
  • - The proposal is supported by relevant scholarly literature.
• • Approval from the appropriate Review Board (IRB or IACUC), if applicable.
  • - All proposals using human subjects or experimental animals must have appropriate Review Board approval. Approval forms may be submitted concurrently with the grant application.
  • - Grant funding will not be released until RISE receives appropriate Review Board approval.
  • - Proposals that require the use of animals must clearly describe how animals will be handled during and at the conclusion of the study. If animals are purchased with RISE funds and are to be sold at the end of the project, sales proceeds will be returned to RISE. For animals not sold, the department/institute/directorate responsible for the maintenance of the animals must be stated.
• • Principal Investigator and other personnel
  • - Specific attention will be given to the PI’s performance with respect to prior RISE Internal Research Grant awards, if applicable, and to the quality of resulting reports and research products.
  • - The research and publication record of the PI will be considered.
  • - Whenever applicable, the PI is expected to submit results from one RISE project for publication or presentation before requesting funds for a new project.
  • - Special consideration will be given to new faculty who are engaged in their initial research effort and to established faculty who wish to change their research focus or begin new research efforts.
• • External Support
  • - PIs are expected to apply for external funding to support on-going research.
  • - Initial ideas that have an enhanced probability of getting External Research Funding in future will generally be favoured for RISE Internal Research Grant.
• • Fund releasing strategy: The fund of the RISE Internal Research Grant awarded projects will be released in two instalments for projects whose duration are more than one-year contingent upon achieving the milestones and producing the deliverables. The details of the fund releasing strategy will be decided by the BoGs.

• • PI can request a maximum of 6-times his/her basic salary as honorarium per year from the research grant. However, the disbursement of the honorarium for a year will only be made if “at least one article for that year is published in a Clarivate Analytics-indexed journal from the research project.”
• • A maximum of one Co-PI per research project can request a maximum of 3-times his/her basic salary as honorarium per year from the research grant. However, the disbursement of the honorarium for a year will only be made if “at least one article for that year is published in a Clarivate Analytics-indexed journal per year from the research project.”
• • Research projects can request RA salary for the project duration from the RISE Internal Research Grant. The appointment procedure, qualifications, duties and compensation package for RAs are given in Appendix C.
• • All financial transactions will be made by RISE financial personnel at the request of the PI and upon approval of RISE director.
• • Travel expenses will follow RISE guidelines. Travel expenses can only be requested for research data collection and fieldwork, not for attending scholarly meetings or conferences.
• • The PI should first attempt to provide for equipment through the department, institute, or by other means rather than as a budgetary request within the proposal.
• • Any equipment purchased with RISE Internal Research Grant shall become the property of BUET and normally shall become part of the PI’s departmental/institutional inventory. However, RISE shall reserve the right to determine the disposition of equipment. University rules and regulations shall be applicable for purchasing equipment.
• • Project funding commitments from all sources (if the project is partially funded from other sources) must be documented, as appropriate.
• • Tax/VAT deduction will be made as per government rule, if applicable.
• • The PI must submit a project completion report (PCR) within 3 months of project completion in the RISE-prescribed template.
• • Project completion reports will be evaluated with letter grades (A: excellent, B: good, C: average, D: not satisfactory) and will be considered for granting next research grant.
• • Project proposal evaluation template will be formulated by RISE Research Committee, which will be approved by BoGs.

All IPR issues shall be dealt with the BUET IP policy approved by BUET syndicate.

• • All proposals, applications and financial activities for Externally Funded Research Projects by the faculty members of BUET must be through RISE. The guidelines for submission of grant application/proposal for Externally Funded Research Projects are given in Appendix C.
• • 15% overhead shall be imposed by RISE on external funding. Out of the 15% overhead imposed by RISE, 10% will be allocated for RISE expenses, 3% will be allocated for PI’s personal research expenses and 2% will be allocated for the parent department/institute/centre of the PI for research activities. The PI and the parent department/institute will be able to use the respective allocated funds following RISE guidelines. (Note: This 15% overhead imposed by RISE will be the only overhead imposed by BUET authority. The accounts shall be handled by RISE accounts section, and the PI will be able to spend the rest 85% grant money for research activities, including RA salary, purchase of equipment and consumables, PI and Co-PI honorarium as specified in the project proposal and approved by the External Funding source).
• • All financial responsibilities related to the Externally Funded Research Projects shall be borne by the external funding agency.
• • RISE will prepare a detail list of research funding opportunities in Bangladesh, publish the list on the website along with the deadlines for Call for Proposals, regularly update the list and circulate among faculty members.
• • RISE will prepare a list of international research funding agencies where BUET can apply individually or in collaboration with foreign collaborators. The list should include country- wise research funding opportunities.
• • For international research funding opportunities, a list of potential collaborators from different areas, especially based on signed MoUs and/or based on discussion with potential collaborators will be prepared.
• • RISE will develop a strategy on how maximum funding can be attracted from national agencies. In this regard, RISE will do the following:
  • - Circulate widely the call for proposal information among the Departments/ Institutes/Centres well before the deadlines for submissions and encourage faculty members to apply.
  • - Arrange call-specific workshops to help prepare the proposals.
  • - Help formulate investigating team, if necessary, especially for international research grant applications.
  • - Provide logistic support.
  • - Check completeness of the submitted proposals.
  • - Ensure the reception of the proposals by the concerned research funding agencies.

VCE will recognize the research excellence of the faculty members, researchers and students of BUET. In particular, VCE will regularly honour highly accomplished faculty members as Fellows and provide incentives to continue their excellent work. Additionally, VCE will recognize the accomplished faculty members, researchers and students through several awards and prizes. The Associate Director (Research) along with other personnel of RISE will work together to achieve the goals and targets of this wing as outlined in the following.

• • Applicable only to faculty members of BUET.
• • Open call for VCE Fellowship throughout the year.
• • The objective is to recognize and motivate faculty members with the highest achievement in research and innovation.
• • All appointments will be for 2 years.
• • A person can be selected as a Fellow only once in a lifetime, and appointments are non-renewable.
• • A person can be selected as an Associate Fellow only once in a lifetime, and appointments are non-renewable.
• • Any applicant previously selected for Fellowship or Associate Fellowship can only apply for an upper fellowship position (conditions apply).
• • Senior Fellowship can be extended for another consecutive term (conditions apply).
• • Any applicant previously selected for Senior Fellowship for consecutive two terms cannot apply again within 3 years after the fellowship tenure expires.
• • Senior Fellows, Fellows and Associate Fellows will receive attractive incentive packages on the top of other regular income during the Fellowship period.
• • All Fellows will receive a research funding as detailed in Sec. 5.3, which can be spent for supporting RA, carrying out expenses related to attending scholarly meetings, purchasing research equipment, materials, consumables etc.
• • Number of positions are limited by the allocated budget (Please see Appendix C).
• • The number of positions in Senior Fellow, Fellow, and Associate Fellow categories shall maintain the ratio of 5:3:2.

Senior Fellow

• • At least 30 publications in journals indexed by Clarivate Analytics (ISI, SCI, SCIE).
• • At least 10 publications in journals indexed by Clarivate Analytics (ISI, SCI, SCIE) in the last 5 years if the applicant has not been affiliated with VCE in the last 5 years.
• • Successful completion record of at least 03 Externally Funded Research Projects as PI or Co-PI out of which at least 02 as PI. Note: The project will be counted only if it has been completed before the application date/deadline.
• • Having Patent will be considered a plus.
• • Having been involved in international funded research projects as PI and Co-PI will be considered a plus.
• • Publications in high-impact journals will be considered a plus.
• • High values of h-index and i10-index of publication citations will be considered a plus.
• • Published books in respective field at tertiary level by reputed publisher will be considered a plus (if the book is published only in online platform, then this will not be considered).

Fellow

• • At least 20 publications in journals indexed by Clarivate Analytics (ISI, SCI, SCIE).
• • At least 10 publications in journals indexed by Clarivate Analytics (ISI, SCI, SCIE) in the last 5 years if the applicant has not been affiliated with VCE in the last 5 years.
• • Successful completion record of at least 03 Externally Funded research projects as PI or Co-PI out of which at least 02 as PI. Note: The project will be counted only if it has been completed before the application date/deadline.
• • Having Patent will be considered a plus.
• • Having been involved in international funded research projects as PI and Co-PI will be considered a plus.
• • Publications in high-impact journals will be considered a plus.
• • High values of h-index and i10-index of publication citations will be considered a plus.
• • Published books in respective field at tertiary level by reputed publisher will be considered a plus (if the book is published only in online platform, then this will not be considered).

Associate Fellow

• • Applicant cannot be a Professor.
• • At least 15 publications in journals indexed by Clarivate Analytics (ISI, SCI, SCIE).
• • At least 10 publications in journals indexed by Clarivate Analytics (ISI, SCI, SCIE) in the last 5 years if the applicant has not been affiliated with VCE in the last 5 years.
• • Successful completion record of at least 01 Externally Funded research projects as PI. Note: The project will be counted only if it has been completed before the application date/deadline.
• • Having Patent will be considered a plus.
• • Having been involved in international funded research projects as PI and Co-PI will be considered a plus.
• • Publications in high-impact journals will be considered a plus.
• • High values of h-index and i10-index of publication citations will be considered a plus.
• • Published books in respective field at tertiary level by reputed publisher will be considered a plus (if the book is published only in online platform, then this will not be considered).

• • Must have at least 4 publications in journals indexed by Clarivate Analytics (ISI, SCI, SCIE) during the two-year period of affiliation.
• • Must have earned at least 1 Externally Funded research project as PI during the two-year period of affiliation.
• • Eligibility does not guarantee extension (to be decided based on the availability of fund and competitive new applications).

Senior Fellow

• • VCE Senior Fellows will receive an incentive of 18-times of his/her basic salary per year.
• • VCE Senior Fellows will receive an annual research grant of BDT 10 lac.

Fellow

• • VCE Fellows will receive an incentive of 12-times of his/her basic salary per year.
• • VCE Fellows will receive an annual research grant of BDT 6 lac.

Associate Fellow

• • VCE Associate Fellows will receive an incentive of 12-times of his/her basic salary per year.
• • VCE Associate Fellows will receive an annual research grant of BDT 4 lac.

Note: The annual research grant amounts for VCE Senior Fellows, Fellows and Associate Fellows are to be reviewed by the BoGs once in every five years.

Each year, RISE will recognize the research and innovation excellence of the faculty members, researchers and students of BUET by awarding and honouring the highly- accomplished Faculty researchers and promising student researchers. The awards and honours will be highly encouraging and the selection procedure will be highly competitive. In particular, the following awards and honours will be provided.
The number of awards in each category will be decided by BoGs, RISE.

Senior Researcher Award

• • Each year, highly research-accomplished Professors of BUET will be honoured with the Senior Researcher Award.
• • Self-nominations or peer-nominations will be sought from the Professors of BUET.
• • The selection criteria and the award amount will be approved by the BoGs.
• • RISE Director, Associate Directors and VCE Fellows cannot be nominated for the Senior Researcher Award during their tenure.
• • A previous Senior Researcher Award winner cannot be nominated for Senior Researcher Award.

Young Researcher Award

• • Each year, highly research-accomplished Associate Professor/Assistant Professor/Post- doctoral researcher of BUET will be honoured with the Young Researcher award.
• • Self-nominations or peer-nominations will be sought from the Associate Professors/ Assistant Professors/Post-doctoral researchers of BUET.
• • The selection criteria and the award amount will be approved by the BoGs.
• • RISE Director, Associate Directors and VCE Fellows cannot be nominated for the Young Researcher Award.
• • A previous Young Researcher Award winner cannot be nominated for Young Researcher Award.

Student Researcher Award

PhD level:

• • Each year, accomplished PhD student researchers of BUET will be honoured with the Student Researcher Award.
• • Nominations will be sought from Supervisors/Advisors of PhD students.
• • The selection criteria and the award amount will be approved by the BoGs.
• • A previous Student Researcher Award winner at the PhD level cannot be nominated for the Student Researcher Award.



Masters level:

• • Each year, accomplished MSc student researchers of BUET will be honoured with the Student Researcher Award.
• • Nominations will be sought from Supervisors/Advisors of MSc students.
• • The selection criteria and the award amount will be approved by the BoGs.
• • A previous Student Researcher Award winner at the MSc level cannot be nominated for Student Researcher Award at the MSc level.



BSc level:

• • Each year, promising BSc student researchers of BUET (from Level 3 and Level 4 students) will be encouraged with the Student Researcher Award.
• • Nominations will be sought from Supervisors/Advisors of Level 3 and Level 4 students.
• • The selection criteria and the award amount will be approved by the BoGs.
• • A previous Student Researcher Award winner at the BSc level cannot be nominated for the Student Researcher Award at the BSc level.

RISE will actively pursue for making new and strong partnerships and collaborations with academia and industry, and effective linkage with BUET alumni. The Associate Director (Partnership, Collaboration and Linkage) along with other personnel of RISE will work together to achieve the goals and targets of this wing as outlined in the following.

RISE will facilitate BUET faculty members/research groups/departments/institutes/centres to make partnership and collaboration with academia and industry. In particular, Industry- University Collaboration (IUC) has long been established as one of the key factors driving innovation and meaningful research and development. Having the means or a platform for meaningful exchange of views between industry and university, and developing complementary expertise is the model adopted by developed nations to advance their technological superiority and it is time for BUET to adopt a similar strategy. RISE will facilitate interactions between academia and industries both local and international, and BUET to address the following:

• • Establish partnerships and collaboration with academia and industry to identify research and innovation priorities and develop implementation strategies;
• • Develop research infrastructure at BUET with the assistance of industry, both local and international, to promote research and innovation as well as to promote the technological well-being of Bangladesh;
• • Develop partnership agreements allowing BUET researchers to have access to industry R&D facilities;
• • Establish mechanisms for industry personnel to use BUET R&D facilities;
• • Establish a process that will allow industry personnel to spend time at BUET either to carry out research and development or offer graduate courses in specialized topics;
• • Establish partnerships with industry and other academic institutions, both local and international, to respond to ongoing research and development initiatives and create research opportunities;
• • Organize in partnership with industry, certification and short-terms courses, webinars and similar programs to keep industry personnel up to date on technological advancement;
• • Create a mechanism to provide internship opportunities to students enrolled in the MS and PhD programs;
• • Make database and communicate to all potential Academia and Industry collaborators in home and abroad;
• • Act as an information hub for the faculty members, graduates and students for collaborative research and related opportunities;
• • Develop MoU with Academia, Industry, Alumni for collaborative research. Maintain a data base for the MoUs of BUET and monitor their activities and effectiveness;
• • Find opportunities to foster consortium-based partnership research to get funds from international funding agencies;
• • Arrange workshop with the sector wise industry personnel and the related prospective researchers in order to find the research opportunities;
• • Arrange such other activities to achieve the annual target of collaboration and possible fund-rise set by the BoGs.

In order to coordinate the above objective and goal, the following working committee shall be formed by the Director of RISE in consultation with the Associate Directors. The working committee will be comprised of the following members:

• i. Associate Director of Academia-Industry-Alumni Collaboration-Chairperson
• ii. All other Associate Directors-Members
• iii. At least one member from foreign university-Members
• iv. At least one member from foreign industry-Members
• v. At least one member from local industry-Members
• vi. At least one member from BUET Alumni-Members
• vii. At least one member from BUET faculty-Members
• viii. Deputy Registrar/Assistant Register of Academia-Industry-Alumni Collaboration- Secretary

Note: Duration of the external members shall be two years.

One Associate Director along with other personnel of RISE will work together to achieve the goals and targets of this wing as outlined in the following.

RISE will have a wing—Innovation and Start-up Incubator—to work closely with industry, local and international, to collaboratively turn research expertise and business ideas into innovative products, services and processes. This will be the “front door” to launching great ideas and also provide a dedicated incubation and innovation space, making it easier for companies to utilize innovation support, expertise and facilities. The Innovation and Start-up Incubator will be designed to help connect ideas to action and move research from the lab to the marketplace. The Incubator will make it easier and more efficient for business and technology leaders to collaborate with student entrepreneurs and faculty researchers.

The Incubator will bridge the gap between innovations and the marketplace, connecting students, faculty and entrepreneurs to the funding, facilities and talent that are needed to bring an idea to life.

The purpose of the RISE Technology Transfer Office (TTO) is to assist in maintaining, valuing, and transacting the transfer of all marketable intellectual assets/technology from university to real world applications. The TTO shall support the endeavour of innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development activities and initiatives in campus.