LUCKNOW, Oct. 1 -- The Academic Council of Lucknow University on Wednesday approved multiple academic reforms focused on multidisciplinary learning and employability. All recommendations of faculties and policy proposals were unanimously approved in a meeting. A key decision was approval of Lucknow University's first in-house e-learning MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) for research scholars. The 8-week, 2-credit course titled 'Ethics First: Excellence in Research and Responsible Publishing' will run as part of pre-PhD course work under SWAYAM. Officials said the national SWAYAM cycles run only in January and July, forcing scholars who register in between the sessions to wait for months. "LU's own MOOC will offer on-demand academic progress, allowing scholars to complete their credits alongside synopsis and fieldwork irrespective of admission month. It will save months in the PhD process and its evaluation and credit transfer will be directly linked to LU's examination system, with results reflected directly in grade cards without administrative hassles," said spokesperson Prof Mukul Srivastava. The council also cleared the introduction of five technical courses in collaboration with National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) from session 2026-27 to enhance employability and digital skills. The courses - Concepts of Artificial Intelligence Technology, Foundations of Machine Learning, Course on Computer Concepts (CCC), O Level (IT) and Fundamentals of Information Security Programmes - will carry credits under NEP-2020 as optional, value-added or skill enhancement papers. Besides, an independent Centre for Case Studies was also approved. Unlike dependence on foreign case study material, the centre will develop original cases based on Indian industries, MSMEs, ODOP, startups, grassroots social challenges and public administration successes. "This will not be limited to management but will cover all faculties including arts and humanities, social sciences, commerce, science, law, etc for interdisciplinary case studies. Teachers will be given intensive training in case writing, field data research and case-based pedagogy by national experts before case development. To recognise intellectual labour, a transparent royalty model will be implemented under which faculty and researchers will be paid royalty/remuneration on use and distribution of their cases," said Srivastava. In the Faculty of Law, the council approved inclusion of Tamil language in value-added courses 'Indian and Foreign Languages' under LLB five-year and BBA-LLB five-year programmes from 2026-27. Until now students had to study Hindi, Sanskrit, German and French; addition of Tamil will help better understand inter-state legal contexts. "The decisions are taken towards multidisciplinary study, practical teaching and self-reliance. Centre for Case Studies will be a unique centre developing cases rooted in Indian context, while royalty model will energise research and practical writing, and Tamil inclusion and in-house MOOC will make LU a leading institution in implementing NEP," Srivastava added....