Annual Research Symposium – 2023

Since its inaugural event in 2008, the Annual Research Symposium (ARS) of the University of Colombo has continued to be a flagship event in the University’s annual calendar. The inauguration ceremony of the year 2023 event was held on 2^nd November 2023 at the Professor V K Samaranayake Auditorium, University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC). It was graced with the presence of Mr Andrew Traveller, Deputy High Commissioner, as the Chief Guest on behalf of His Excellency Michael Appleton, the New Zealand High Commissioner to Sri Lanka.

The symposium for 2023 was held under the theme “Research Excellence and Beyond” with three outstanding personalities delivering their keynote speeches, drawing close connections with this overall theme. The first keynote speaker was Dr P Nandalal Weerasinghe, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. His address was titled “Inflation – Public Enemy Number 1”- a crucial and current topic in the country. He spoke on inflation and how it affects the lives of the public and he capitalised on his extensive experience and expertise in the field of monetary policies and foreign reserve management.

Dr Alaka Singh, the second keynote speaker, and the WHO representative to Sri Lanka addressed the audience on “Research Excellence – Bridging the Evidence to Policy Gap in Health”. She drew on her experience in the health and development sectors over the past two decades in the Southeast Asian, African and Mediterranean regions in her speech on the relationship between research and policy gaps in the health sector. Professor Damminda Alahakoon, Director of the Research Centre for Data Analytics and Cognition, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia, was the third keynote speaker. Being an expert in advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), Professor Alahakoon showed us another dimension to research and new knowledge through the integration of AI technology in his keynote speech, “Role of Artificial Intelligence in Empowering Future Cross-Disciplinary Research”.

This event also became an opportunity to recognize the invaluable contributions of eight researchers of the University of Colombo who have been placed among the World’s Top 2% of Scientists in 2022. This criterion is based on an analysis done by a team of experts led by Professor John P. A. Ioannidis from Stanford University in the United States of America. In addition, ARS 2023 presented the Senate Awards for Research 2022, and Commendation Awards acknowledging the dedication of the academics of the University of Colombo to the arena of research.

ARS 2023 was organized under the leadership and guidance of Senior Professor (Chair) H D Karunaratne (Vice Chancellor, University of Colombo) and a team comprising, Professor Tharusha N Gooneratne (Chairperson), Dr K D Sandaruwan (Chair – Publicity & IT Committee), Professor Dharshani Bandupriya (Chair – Inauguration Committee), and Dr Seuwandhi Ranasinghe (Editor), assisted by a co-editor and sub-committee members representing the different Faculties, Institutes, Campus, School, and Library. Mr S M Shifar (Assistant Registrar – Academic & Publications Branch and his team), Dr Sachini Amarasekara (Faculty of Science – FOS media), Dr Hiran Jayaweera, Mr Layan Chathuranga (Network Operations Centre), Dr Ajantha Atukorale, Director – University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC) and his staff provided administrative, IT and logistical support towards this endeavour.

The symposia of the different Campuses, Faculties, Institutes, School and the Library of the university–totaling nineteen entities – took place under their own theme, sub-themes and disciplinary focus, aligned to the overall symposium theme until the end of the year.