Alliance University organised the Alliance Student International Conference (ASICON) 2023 on January 19-20, 2023. The objective of the conference was rooted on four Es; Education, Encouragement to students, Ethics and Environment. ASICON imagined rethinking Education, cultivating the culture of research among young minds, encouraging them by offering the right environment to nurture their research aptitude. With the theme of this year, “Transcending Disciplinary Boundaries through Innovation”, ASICON attempted to prompt students to move beyond their disciplinary boundaries to understand social problems in a better manner and offer innovative solutions through systematic research.

ASICON was unveiled by the innovation Evangelist, Dr. Pavan Soni, along with the management Team, including the Pro-Chancellor, Mr. Abhay G. Chebbi; the Registrar, Dr. Nivedita Mishra; and the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Student Administration and Affairs), Dr. Punith Cariappa.

Dr. Cariappa delivered the welcome address urging the students on the importance of openness in learning while maintaining humility and passion for research. Dr. Soni, in his keynote address mentioned that knowledge is never unidimensional and there is always a need to develop the depth and breadth in knowledge. Dr. Pratima Verma, Professor, Alliance School of Business briefed the gathering about the conference, while Dr. Andrea Lorenzo Baldini, Professor, Alliance School of Liberal Arts and Dr. George Easaw, Professor, Alliance School of Business introduced interdisciplinary research through their own research activities.

The Conference was graced with six international speakers, Dr. Franesco Zonta, Laboratory of computational Biology-Co-PI for Advanced Immunochemical Studies; Dr. Bengt Gustavsson, Professor, Stockholm School of Business, Stockholm University, Sweden; Dr. Enrico Bonadio, Reader in Intellectual Property Law at City University of London; Prof. Roberto Dona, Professor of Practice Management at IBSS, the Business School of Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool University in Suzhou; and Gabriele Goretti, Co-leader of the Brand Future Experience Design Lab at Jiangnan University in Wuxi, China. Presenting papers from different areas of research, each of them provided an interdisciplinary and serious flavour to the research presentations.

Papers were received from various parts of India, including Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in various disciplines ranging from business, law, art, biology, education, technology, design, psychology, sociology, social work, literature, theology, culture, criminology and many more. Out of the large number of submissions, around 75 selected abstracts (18 in UG Category, 33 in PG category and 24 in Doctoral category) were published in the Book of Abstracts. The full papers that are submitted is undergoing a series of peer-review, which will soon be published.

The valedictory function was graced by members of Alliance University: Dr. Ajay Kumar Yadav, Registrar (Examination and Evaluations); Dr. Sunil Kumar, Head of Department of Economics; Dr Nivedita Mishra, Registrar; Dr. Punith Cariappa, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Student Administration and Affairs); Dr. Satyendra Pratap Singh, Professor, Alliance School of Business; and Dr. Vineetha Sivakumar, Assistant Professor, Alliance School of Liberal Arts who also presented the Conference Report. As encouragement to the participants, Alliance University awarded cash prizes of Rs. 10,000/ and Rs. 5,000/ respectively for the first two Best Papers in each of the categories. Ms. Meghana Gade and Ms. Palak Gupta of Alliance School of Law shared the first prize for the best paper with Ms. Fazeeha Rashmin and Ms. Isha Kumavat of Alliance School of Liberal Arts in the UG Category, while Mr. Siddharth SB from Kumaraguru College of Liberal Arts bagged the second prize in the same category. While Ms. Brinda Bhattacharya from Tata Institute of Social Sciences was awarded the first prize in the PG Category, Ms. Akansha Jha from Alliance School of Business secured the second prize. The winners in the Doctoral category were Mr. Arjun Ajith and Mr. Kabir Pary as first and second respectively, both the winners are Doctoral Scholars at Alliance School of Business.

Dr. Nivedita Mishra and Dr. Punith Cariappa, along with other distinguished guests gave away the certificates and awards for all the participants during the valedictory event. The event concluded with unveiling of ASICON 2024.