15,400 students awarded degrees at GU convocation

Panaji: A total of 15,400 students were awarded degrees at Goa University’s 36th convocation ceremony held on Saturday. Secretary for the department of science and technology, govt of India, Abhay Karandikar, addressing the students, said that real transformation requires translational research that links research and laboratories to the lives of ordinary people.

He said the value of research lies not just in peer-reviewed journals, but in the development of technologies that solve real-world problems faced by society.


“The future envisioned (of Vikasit Bharat 2047) cannot be built on theory alone. Real transformation will emerge from action—from translational research that connects laboratories to the lives of ordinary citizens. The value of research lies not only in peer-reviewed journals, but in prototypes, patents, products, and policies that solve real-world problems. This is where science meets society. When breakthroughs in AI or data analytics enhance public service delivery, when IoT devices transform healthcare, or when digital tools enable the informal economy, then research fulfils its public purpose,” Karandikar said.

Urging students to be socially conscious engineers, scientists, and innovators, he said technology should bridge divides rather than deepen them, and progress must be inclusive and sustainable.

Goa University chancellor and Goa governor P A Gajapathi Raju asked the graduating students to be proud of their Goan roots. He said poet Manohar Rai Sardesai’s life teaches a powerful lesson that “excellence does not require erasing who you are; it requires refining it”.

“He read deeply when recognition was scarce, wrote persistently when audiences were small. He believed that regional literature and local culture were not inferior echoes of distant centres, but living traditions worthy of national and global attention,” the governor said. Vice-chancellor Harilal B Menon said 15,036 students received graduation degrees, 2,176 students post-graduate degrees, 138 students diplomas, and 129 students doctoral degrees.