Research is one of the pillars of the curriculum at Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts (SSLA), along with Internship and Community Outreach. Research is one of the pillars of the curriculum at Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts (SSLA), along with Internship and Community Outreach.
SSLA encourages all students to undertake research work. For students, these assume the form of two major submissions in their fourth year, the dissertation and the final year seminar paper. Research-oriented writing skills are also essential in their Major and Minors as well their Internship and Community Outreach Project reports. This stems from the pedagogical understanding that research is a crucial tool for both higher education as well as industry.
Student research is thus interdisciplinary in nature, and spans across the major and minor subjects offered at the institution.
The focus on research is to inspire and equip students to deliberate on themes of their interest in an academic manner. This enables the students to think analytically and critically as well as give them a platform to showcase their research-related skills.
Student research is supported in this endeavour by a strong research-based curriculum, workshops on various requisite research skills and methods, and opportunities to communicate their work to a larger audience. Students are also introduced to good academic practices and research ethics through courses as well as dedicated workshops. SSLA’s Academic Review Committee and Institute Research Committee oversee the implementation of good academic practices and research ethics.
The Research Cell primarily coordinates student research projects, final year seminar papers, research methodology courses and workshops.
Students at SSLA engage with research in many forms and methods such as:
All students study three Core courses on Research Methodology (RM) that are designed to equip students with the skills required to undertake independent research. Research Methodology I: Introduction to Research, introduces them to the fundamental concepts of research like literature review, identifying a research problem, formulating hypotheses and identifying types of research designs. In Research Methodology II: Research Methods and Analysis, students study different qualitative and quantitative methods like content analysis, ethnography, textual analysis, discourse analysis, qualitative interviewing, survey research, regression analysis, etc. RM II gives an opportunity to the students to engage with these methods in practice. Research Methodology III is discipline focussed where students write research proposal for their dissertation.
Students pursuing the Honours with Research degree are required to complete a Research Project, under the guidance of a two-member committee followed by defense in the 4th year. The Research Project is interdisciplinary in nature anchored in the student’s major discipline (primary major in the case of double majors).
In their final year, students work on the Final Year Seminar Paper, a 4-credit course conceived to encourage students to write methodologically rigorous research papers on interdisciplinary themes. A group of 6-12 students work with a seminar mentor on different subtopics related to a broad research topic chosen by the mentor. This is facilitated through weekly group discussions, writing sessions, and regular feedback from mentors.
In order to support student research endeavours, workshops on academic writing, research ethics, literature review, indexing techniques, reference management using softwares like Mendeley and Zotero, textual analysis, statistical analysis, content analysis, etc are periodically organised.
Research is considered to be an essential part of academics in the process of understanding a subject thoroughly. It acts as a means of giving life to individual thoughts and beliefs. Therefore, SSLA encourages all students to undertake research work. For students, these assume the form of two major submissions in their fourth year, the dissertation and the final year seminar paper. Research-oriented writing skills are also essential to the completion of their Internship and Community Outreach Project reports.
Students undertake an independent research project and submit a dissertation as an essential part for the fulfillment of their undergraduate degree program. This project reflects a student’s Major and Minor subject of study.
Student research is thus interdisciplinary in nature, and spans across the major and minor subjects offered at the school, ranging from philosophy to business studies, and from economics to biology.
The rationale behind the final year seminar, is to inspire and equip students to deliberate on themes of their interest in an academic fashion, and to write a paper that satisfies standard academic conventions (substantive and formal); and given them a platform to showcase their research-related writing skills.
Student research are supported in this endeavour by a strong research-based curriculum, workshops on various requisite research skills and methods, and opportunities to communicate their work to a larger audience.
Student research is overseen by a faculty-managed body unique to SSLA called the Research Cell that primarily coordinates student research projects, final year seminar papers, and research methodology courses. It organizes workshops related to research for the community and strives to promote an academic atmosphere conducive to research in accordance with the university’s policies.
Students are required to complete a Research Project, typically a research dissertation, under the guidance of a two-member dissertation committee. The dissertation has to be related to the student’s chosen major discipline (primary major in the case of double majors). Each student's dissertation committee comprises two members - First and Second Chairs - one of whom must be an expert in the student's major discipline. In their final semester, students have to defend their dissertation in front of the committee.
In their final year, students work on the Final Year Seminar Paper – a 4-credit course conceived to encourage students to write methodologically rigorous research papers on interdisciplinary themes. A group of 6-12 students work with a seminar mentor on different subtopics related to a broad research topic chosen by the mentor. This is facilitated through weekly group discussions, writing sessions, and regular feedback from mentors. Further, periodic draft submissions are required to help students complete the paper and receive feedback. Seminars are offered on various themes, and the forum encourages interdisciplinary work. Students often choose seminars in areas other than their major discipline of specialization.
In order to support student research endeavours, the Research Cell routinely organizes workshops for the community, including ones on academic writing, research ethics, organizing your writing (including writing a literature review), indexing techniques, and reference management using software like Mendeley and Zotero, textual analysis, statistical analysis using software, content analysis, feminist research methodologies, etc. Specific workshops of particular interest to students in a given year are also organised on request.
Students are introduced to good academic practices and issues related to research ethics, including informed consent, through courses as well as dedicated workshops. All written submissions are checked for plagiarism, and any academic violations of academic integrity are reported to SSLA’s Academic Review Committee. Students whose research projects require ethical clearance from the university's Independent Ethics Committee are supported in their application by SSLA’s Institute Research Committee.