21^st Annual Academic Sessions of OUSL (2023)

Open University Research Sessions (OURS) is an important annual event of the Open University of Sri Lanka. This year OURS 2023 was held on 09^th and 10^th November 2023 as a hybrid conference with the objective of bringing local and foreign researchers to one forum.

The OUSL, which is the premier ODL institute in Sri Lanka. recognizes the importance of developing the potential of its academic staff by providing them with adequate opportunities to engage in research.

This year, we received 232 abstracts/extended abstracts and of which 140 abstracts were selected for presentation following a rigorous peer review process. The abstracts received cover a wide range of sub themes; ODL, Education, English Language Teaching, Engineering & Technology, Health Sciences, Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Agriculture & Forestry, Humanities & Social Sciences, Management and Law.

The Chief Guest at the inauguration of OURS2923 was Prof. R. M. Gamini Rajapakse, a Senior Professor in Chemistry, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.

The invited speakers for the sessions included Prof. M. Sornarajah, Emeritus Professor of Law, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Mrs. Maria Obraztsova, Director of Institute of Additional Education, Innopolis University, Russia and Prof. Gunther Paul, Adjunct Associate Professor, Faculty of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Australia.

A special feature of the OURS 2023 is the panel discussions organized by the faculties; Education, Engineering & Technology, Health Sciences, Management Studies, and Natural Sciences and the Centre for Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development (CESSD) of OUSL. The Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition is also introduced as a special event of this conference.  

Another highlight of this series of events are the Pre-Conference lectures and workshops conducted on 7^th and 8^th November 2023 by the Research Unit/OUSL in collaboration with the six faculties and PGIE.