Father Lafont Centre for Excellence in Research and Innovation (L-CERI)

Father Lafont Centre for Excellence in Research and Innovation (LCERI) is named in fond remembrance of Father Eugene Lafont (1837-1908), a Jesuit priest from Belgium who worked in India for many years. Fr. Lafont occupies a unique place in the history of modern science in India. He had a passion for scientific research, and he took every measure to instil the same in the minds of his students at St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, ever since he joined the college in December 1865. He was the co-founder of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science which was established in 1876, the first of its kind in India. He is acknowledged with the honour of teaching Jagadis Chandra Bose, regarded as the first scientist in modern India. Father Lafont is rightly considered as one of the architects of modern Indian science.

To honour Fr. Lafont's legacy, St. Xavier's University, Kolkata has envisioned a centre for excellence in research and innovation in the campus with a view to promote a culture of scientific research and to render its service to the humanity at large.

In continuation with the tradition of Jesuits' commitment to research, the Father Lafont Centre for Excellence in Research and Innovation (LCERI) envisions to initiate and sustain an Inter-Disciplinary culture of Research programmes at St. Xavier's University, Kolkata and endeavours to promote research and intellectual dialogue with social concerns for development of the marginalized and vulnerable of the society in India.

• Create a platform for research and research-oriented activities.
• Encourage research activities and to instill a culture of research and academic excellence.
• Organize and conduct research programmes on topics relevant to socially, culturally and economically marginalized and vulnerable classes of the society.
• Facilitate community-oriented research.
• Engage in identification of prospective research areas and offer a platform for forming research centres.

• Maintain and achieve goal-oriented research outputs through research projects, academic engagements
• Consolidate and expand relationships with corporates / think tanks / regulatory bodies / academic institutions / civil societies and organizations to create an active and live industry academia interface
• Engage in different kinds of outreach and research activities on the Sustainable Development and for the welfare of the local communities and marginalized and vulnerable classes.

• International Conference on Innovation and Sustainability: Research and Practice
• Faculty Development Programme on Advanced Trends in Research Techniques: Series-II on Structural Equation Modelling – Mediation and Moderation
• Symposium on Incubation
• Faculty Development Programme on Advanced Trends in Research Techniques: Series-I on Qualitative Analysis using NVivo organised by LCERI
• Training Programme on STATCRAFT-R for Faculty members and Research Scholars
• National Conference organized by LCERI and Faculty of Commerce & Management in Association with Indian Accounting Association, Kolkata Branch
• Extension Lecture Session organised by LCERI
• Workshop on 'Advanced Research Techniques: Structured Equation Modelling' organised by LCERI
• Two-day Workshop on Application of Statistics in Research organised by Faculty of Commerce & Management in Collaboration with LCERI
• One Week Management Development Programme on Marketing Management organised by MSME, DFO, Kolkata in association with SXUK
• Inauguration of Research and Development Lab
• Faculty Development Programme on Scope of 'R' in Data Analysis organised by LCERI
• Business Summit 2022 organised by LCERI & XBS
• Faculty Development Programme organised by SXUK and Press Club (Kolkata) in collaboration with UNICEF
• Two-day workshop on 'Data Analytics using SPSS' organised by LCERI
• Two-day workshop on 'Data Analytics using R' organised by LCERI
• Seminar Lecture session on 'Essentials of Research in Social Sciences'
• Workshop on 'Data Analytics using R' organised by LCERI

Dr. Soma Sur
Professor, Professor, Xavier Business School
Honorary Director
Father Lafont Centre for Excellence in Research and Innovation (LCERI)
St. Xavier's University, Kolkata
Action Area IIIB, New Town, Kolkata – 700160, India
Email: lceri@sxuk.edu.in