Page 70 - Faculty Handbook 2021-22

considerations. The policy also applies to all DU contractors, suppliers and business partners,
wherever appropriate.

14.11.4. Bio-safety Policy

The research activities carried out by DU staff members may involve the use of bio-hazardous
materials or may result in the generation of bio-hazardous waste. The biosafety policy is to ensure
that all research activities involving bio-hazardous materials are well managed and controlled by
providing comprehensible procedures and guidelines for approval of such research projects and for
safe handling, storage, use and disposal of bio hazardous material. It is also ensured that the staff,
students and researchers involved in these projects are aware of the risks associated with the
handling of bio-hazardous materials and take the necessary precautions.

14.11.5. Research Ethics and Code of Conduct Policy
The purpose of this policy is to establish fundamental principles of research ethics and code of
conduct which will serve as the foundation for research conducted at DU. The University expects all

those conducting research to honor these principles and adopt them as standard practice,
irrespective of whether they are employees, students or visiting researchers and irrespective of the
source of their funding or the field in which they conduct their research or the site where the
research is conducted. However, there are bound to be instances of violations of research ethics
and code of conduct. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a well-defined procedure for ensuring
adherence to research ethics and code of conduct.

14.12. Professional Development for Research

DU provides well-defined and organized professional development opportunities to its academic
staff to ensure that they have the appropriate skills and expertise to achieve DU’s strategic
objectives for research. The University provides both in-house and external professional
development opportunities. Staff development needs are linked to annual appraisal results and

contemporary developments in the field of teaching, learning and research, which help the staff in
maintaining their academic currency and support their scholarly activities.

14.13. Research and Scholarly Activities as a Criterion for Appraisal and Promotion

“Research and Scholarly Achievements” is one of the three criteria used in the “Annual Appraisal”
of academic staff and carries a weight of 50% while teaching & learning holds 40% weightage and
the community service has 10% weight. The staff-members with average performance in this
criterion are identified for research training activities. It is also one of the three criteria used for
“Academic promotion”.

14.14. Research-teaching Nexus

The research Teaching Nexus provides the opportunity for faculty to integrate research in their
teaching and produce the successful scholarly outcomes. DU encourages staff to incorporate their
research activities and the contemporary researches in the field into curricula to foster student
interest in research and for understanding its benefits. This helps in motivating and encouraging
more student’s participation in research projects.

Dhofar University Faculty Handbook (2021-22) Page 66