The ORIC has prepared a database of all the research activities including existing and new research projects, contractual/ commercial research activities, research output in terms of publications, products, patents, etc. and information of research meetings/ conferences organized in each academic department of the University. Since the inception of ORIC, it has carried out following activities at University of Central Punjab:

  1. The ORIC coordinated with the faculty of UCP in getting funds by sending their research proposals to HEC.
  2. The ORIC organized an information session on UNIDO Cleantech competition in liaison with United Nations Industrial Development Office on May 3, 2016.
  3. Bilal Mirza as conference coordinator organized a conference titled as; Innovations in Business: Opportunities and Challenges of Emerging Markets on February 22 – 23, 2016.
  4. For assuring high quality of research and promoting the stature of the university among the world’s best research institutions. The ORIC prepared a booklet named as Guide to Research Grant Programs of National & International Funding Agencies (2016-2017) for the faculty members and students.
  5. The ORIC organized in a five weeks “Certificate in Entrepreneurship” training program from (July 29th – August 27th, 2016) for the first time in UCP to teach effective entrepreneurial and general management practice from the perspectives of the founder and the vital stakeholders.
  6. The ORIC at University of Central Punjab has created a university incubator, named, TECH 2.0, to provide an atmosphere where high potential business ideas can develop into successful entrepreneurial ventures.

2017 Activities

  1. The ORIC has worked on Request for Proposal (RFP) a provision of services to establish and manage “National Incubation Center at Lahore” with Systems Limited, Punjab Group of Colleges (PGC) and Dunya TV Lahore for bidding National Incubation Centre (NIC), Lahore.
  2. Bilal Mirza as conference coordinator organized 4th International Conference on Contemporary Issues in Business Management (ICIBM) having theme of Sustainable Business Practices in South Asia on February 21 – 22, 2017.
  3. The ORIC organized an information session on UNIDO Cleantech Competition in liaison with the United Nations Industrial Development Office (UNIDO), Pakistan office, on 13th April, 2017.
  4. The ORIC published an ad in the Jang Daily Newspaper on 16th April, 2017 for the post of Manager Incubation Centre and Content Designer for TECH 2.0 Business Incubation Centre.
  5. Bilal Mirza designed four weeks Executive MBA (EMBA) classes for the Module: Technology and Innovation Management from 15th April to 7th May, 2017 at UCP.
  6. Director ORIC, Dr. Bilal Mirza gave a detailed interview on FM 92.6 UCP Ki Dunya and explained the detailed process of incubation at TECH 2.0 Business Incubation Centre and its services for graduates from UCP and other universities.
  7. ORIC collaborated with Gen (Rtd.) Khalid Maqbool (ex-Governor, Punjab), and their NGO, Jazba Foundation and organized a successful session on Women Entrepreneurship on 27th April 2017.
  8. The ORIC in collaboration with Tea Talk organized an event on “Startups Possibilities into Textile Trends, Fashion Retail” on 18th May 2017. For this event, Mr. Khalid Pervaiz (Founder/CEO of Clothing Retail Brand ‘Cougar’) was chief guest. This event successfully covered different themes to encourage startups impact areas, technology orientation and the importance of mentoring with networking possibilities.
  9. Director ORIC, Dr. Bilal Mirza has prepared an application for the PUAN Small Grants Program in the first week of May 2017 for conducting one week Certificate in Women Entrepreneurship programme at UCP. The training shall take place in July.
  10. ORIC’s flagship programme “Certificate in Entrepreneurship” designed and executed very successfully in 2016, shall again be offered in August, 2017.
  11. The ORIC in collaboration with Women Entrepreneurship Development Cell (WEDC) of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) is organized a Workshop on “Women Business Need Assessment on 24th May 2017. The Deputy General Manager (DGM), Women Entrepreneurship Development, SMEDA, Tania Butter was chief guest on the occasion. A large number of female faculty, staff and students attended the workshop.

During the workshop, DGM, SMEDA, Tania Butter briefed the participants in detail regarding the outreach activities and facilitation available with them. She also shared the functions of SMEDA, pre-feasibilities and business tips. She also urged the participants of the workshop to come out of the traditional businesses and work in new avenues and offered full cooperation to women entrepreneurs in this regard.

Certificate in Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship education is becoming inevitable. With high level of unemployment among educated and highly skilled youth in Pakistan, the need of an hour is to offer formal entrepreneurship training to young, talented, innovative and skilled individuals. So that they can create jobs and play an active role in the society.
The ORIC at UCP is offering a five week intensive entrepreneurship training programme during weekends, Fridays and Saturdays for graduates who need to develop essential skills, competencies, knowledge and network that can let them realize their business ideas into a corporate reality.
With more than 45 hours of training, the participants shall be exposed to challenging environment to create business acumen where they can be able to identify business opportunities around themselves and have necessary skills, knowledge and know-how to exploit them.
The course has following objectives:

  1. To train graduates, future entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial managers to use the entrepreneurial perspective in order to make better decisions
  2. To create a networking opportunity for to-be entrepreneurs where they can share ideas gain mentoring from academic experts and successful entrepreneurs.
  3. To Identify and determine what entrepreneurs need to know about the critical driving forces in a new venture success that is pertinent to Pakistani market.
  4. To identify the necessary financial and non-financial resources available for new ventures in Pakistan.
  5. To identify the future consequences of decisions made by entrepreneurs at each point in time;
  6. To understand that business leaders need to have interpersonal skills along with analytic skills and be able to successfully interact with each other and conduct successful group projects.

Main Features:

  1. Highly practical oriented learning approach.
  2. UCP Business School faculty and successful entrepreneurs as part of the teaching team.
  3. At the end, Business Plan Competition shall be held, where participants from the course will be to participate and pitch their ideas.
  4. Successful ideas with high potential shall be offered shared office space at University’s Incubation Centre.
  5. Possibility of getting seed funding from the university, as well as business angels and venture capitals.

Course Delivery Method:

The course shall be delivered in a flexible mode (over the weekends) on Friday evenings from 6:30pm – 9:30 pm and on Saturdays from 9:30am – 5:30 pm at UCP premises. The course shall be completed in time span of five weeks with five intensive modules. The course shall be delivered through a diverse mix of methods and activities, including:

  • Analysis and discussion of actual cases;
  • Guest speaker presentations and dialogue;
  • Work in teams to conduct Entrepreneur Interview;
  • Work in teams to prepare a Business Plan;
  • Team assignments and exercises;
  • Outside of class tutorials and meetings with instructors regarding Business Plans;
  • Lectures and presentations;

Target Audience:

The Certificate in Entrepreneurship targets present and future entrepreneurs, business students, junior and middle level corporate executives. At this stage we are targeting only 25 participants with graduation degree or those enrolled in university graduation programs in business, engineering, IT, law and related fields. Female candidates are especially encouraged to apply. The last date to apply for the registration of the programme is 9th Septamber, 2017.

Modules (one week each):

Module I: Idea Generation and Creativity

  • Module II: Intellectual Property Rights
  • Module III: Starting a New Venture
  • Module IV: Entrepreneurial Marketing
  • Module V: Entrepreneurial Finance

Certificate Fee:

Rs. 12,000 per person including the course pack and the training certificate.
For Registration, Visit: www.ucp.edu.pk/oric/ 

Dr. Mahmood Ahmad (HOD, Faculty of Pharmacy)
Director, ORIC

Ms. Ambreen Khursheed
Research Associate, ORIC

Email:
oric@ucp.edu.pk