Month: August 2025

The Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC) at the University of Central Punjab organized a comprehensive workshop on “Innovation, Patents, and Research Commercialization” on August 6, 2025. The session was led by Prof. Dr. Muhammad Akhyar Farrukh with the objective of strengthening faculty capacity in intellectual property management and promoting applied research outcomes.

The workshop provided an in-depth overview of intellectual property rights, including the types of IP, national and international patent filing procedures, and commercialization pathways for academic research. Participants were also guided through the standards and guidelines of IPO Pakistan and United States Patent and Trademark Office, gaining practical insights into what constitutes patentable innovation and how to effectively draft and structure patent applications.

A key focus of the session was the patent prosecution process, including strategies for responding to objections and improving the chances of successful patent approval. Faculty members also engaged in interactive discussions on transforming research outputs into market-ready solutions and institutional consultancy opportunities.

To enhance practical understanding, live demonstrations were conducted using online platforms such as the USPTO Patent Center and the IPO Pakistan e-journal, allowing participants to explore patent tracking systems and access published patent applications in real time.

The workshop concluded with a strong emphasis on bridging the gap between academia and industry by converting research into commercial products and services. It reinforced ORIC-UCP’s commitment to fostering innovation, supporting intellectual property development, and promoting a sustainable culture of research commercialization and knowledge transfer within the university.

The University of Central Punjab successfully conducted the sixth session of its ongoing MS/MPhil/PhD Supervision Course – Cohort 3 on August 5, 2025, as part of its continuous commitment to strengthening research supervision in alignment with the Higher Education Commission Graduate Education Policy (GEP) 2023.

The session was led by Prof. Dr. Muhammad Akhyar Farrukh and focused on the “Principles of Course Design.” The training aimed to enhance faculty understanding of developing structured, research-oriented academic courses with strong alignment between learning outcomes, teaching strategies, and assessment methods. Participants were guided on how to design courses that not only improve student engagement but also contribute to academic excellence and research productivity.

A significant component of the session was dedicated to strengthening research capacity among faculty, particularly in developing effective research proposals and understanding competitive grant writing frameworks. The discussion highlighted how well-structured course design can directly support high-quality research output, funding applications, and successful project execution in both national and international contexts.

The session also emphasized the integration of Generative AI tools in academic course design, research planning, and instructional delivery. Faculty members were introduced to practical applications of AI to support literature development, proposal drafting, data structuring, and enhancing research efficiency while maintaining academic integrity.

Overall, the session provided a comprehensive platform for academic capacity building by linking course design with research proposals, grant acquisition strategies, and modern AI-enabled teaching methodologies. It reinforced UCP’s commitment to fostering a strong research culture, improving supervision quality, and enabling faculty to lead impactful research and innovation initiatives across disciplines.