Bhubaneswar: A six-day residential Faculty Mentor Development Programme concluded on Saturday at the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
The programme was aimed at strengthening the entrepreneurship and startup ecosystem in Odisha’s higher education institutions.
It was held from September 21 to 26, with 40 selected faculty members from government colleges and universities across Odisha participating in the first phase of the initiative.
The programme was launched by Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj on September 5. Under the initiative, the Higher Education Department selected faculty members from higher education institutions across the state and sent them to EDII for specialised training in entrepreneurship and startup development.
During the intensive six-day programme, participants received training from experts on entrepreneurship pedagogy, business idea generation, the Business Model Canvas, startup mentoring, setting up incubation centres, funding opportunities, innovation and intellectual property rights.
On the concluding day, the participating faculty members presented Individual Action Plans for their respective institutions. The plans included proposals to establish Entrepreneurship Development Cells and Entrepreneurship Clubs on campuses and organise Startup Bootcamps, along with tentative timelines for implementing the activities.
Congratulating the participants, Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj said the programme was an important step towards strengthening the startup ecosystem in Odisha’s higher education institutions.
He said equipping faculty members with the knowledge and skills to mentor students and promote entrepreneurship would create greater opportunities for innovation and new ventures across campuses.
The initiative, he added, would also help foster a culture of entrepreneurship among students and support the vision of a Viksit Odisha.
EDII Director General Dr. Sunil Shukla said the programme would help build an entrepreneurship culture on a large scale in government institutions. Describing it as a visionary initiative of the Odisha government, he said students and the wider academic ecosystem would be the key beneficiaries of the programme and play an important role in realising the vision of a Viksit Odisha.
