Objectives of the Feature

• Enable problem-led international academic engagement.
• Support Kerala's priorities for quality enhancement through virtual academic engagement.

Key Functional Components

1. Institutional Access and Eligibility

• Only approved and registered faculty members from HEIs in Kerala can post academic needs.

2. Posting Academic Needs

Faculty members from Kerala can post clearly defined academic needs under the "Open Academic Problems" section. Each post requires structured inputs such as:

• Discipline / thematic area
• Nature of the academic needs
• Expected outcomes
• Preferred engagement type and duration

Indicative categories of academic needs include (but are not limited to):

• Syllabus benchmarking against international programmes
• Research design and proposal development support
• Methodological expertise
• Assessment frameworks and evaluation models
• Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary curriculum design
• Development of micro-credentials, certificate courses, and modular programmes
• Academic mentoring for early-career faculty and doctoral researchers
• Grant writing and international funding applications
• University–industry–startup linkages
• Knowledge translation and research impact pathways
• Experiential learning, internships, and field-based course design
• Integration of global case studies and best practices
• Use of digital tools and AI in teaching, learning, and assessment
• Research ethics frameworks and integrity practices
• Internationalisation strategies (including virtual mobility, co-teaching, COIL)
• Setting up laboratories or thematic research clusters
• Community-engaged and socially relevant academic programmes
• Mission-oriented teaching and research (sustainability, public health, climate resilience)

3. Engagement Type Specification

While posting an academic need, institutions can specify the mode and duration of engagement, such as:

• One-time online expert consultation
• One-time email consultation
• Short-term online academic mentoring

This ensures clarity of expectations for both institutions and scholars.

4. Visibility, Discovery, and Matching

• Posted academic needs are visible to all registered diaspora scholars on the platform.
• Diaspora Scholars can:
  • Browse or filter needs by discipline, theme, or engagement mode
  • Express interest in contributing to specific academic problems

5. Engagement Initiation and Coordination

• Engagements can be initiated through:
  • Email communication
  • Virtual meetings
  • Structured short-term collaborations

The platform supports:

• Secure communication
• Scheduling and coordination tools
• Documentation of engagement milestones