The Grand Finale of the Pitching Research Competition – 2021, organized by the Faculty of Management, Social Sciences & Humanities (FMSH) was successfully concluded on the 10th of May 2021 marking a remarkable day in the KDU history and as well as in the history of Sri Lankan Universities as the debut pitching research competition conducted among undergraduates.
The competition was inaugurated with the participation of the Vice Chancellor Major General Milinda Peiris RWP RSP VSV USP ndc psc MPhil as the Chief Guest and Professor Y.K. Weerakoon Banda of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura as the Guest of Honour. The competition was evaluated by an eminent panel of international judges with Professor Robert Faff from Bond University, Australia as the Chair, Professor Kathy Walsh from University of Technology Sydney, Australia, Professor Charlie Cai from University of Liverpool, UK, Professor Henk Berkman from University of Auckland, New Zealand and Professor Tom Smith from Macquarie University, Australia.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation in the country, this event was fully conducted on a virtual platform giving it a novel outlook. The purpose of this competition was to provide an opportunity for the students of the FMSH to develop a pitch for their research ideas using the pitching research framework developed by Professor Robert Faff of Bond University, Australia, who is the creator of the pitching research concept. Additionally, it was also aimed at creating a quality research culture and increasing an awareness among undergraduates and encouraging them towards generating publishable research outputs focusing on solutions for contemporary problems.
Out of 40 submissions in the first round, 19 groups were selected for Quarter Finals and 10 groups were finalized for the Semi Finals. At the semi-final round, 5 groups were selected for the Grand Finale based on the clarity, degree of effort given, meaningfulness, amount of information presented, contemporary needs, choice of key papers and connectivity. Pitcher 02 who pitched on “A Study of Undergraduates’ Perception on the Transition of Learning from On-campus to Online” emerged as the winners of the Pitching Research Competition-2021. Day Scholars Roshel Perera, Hansi Perera and Officer Cadets J.K.A. Tharaka and I.S. Kudaligama were the group members.
The event was brought to end with motivational and insightful thoughts of presenters, panel of judges, speakers and the undergraduates as it reached another milestone in the history of the FMSH as well as the KDU.
