By Dr. Radhika Mia

In November 2025, Kashmir Observer ran a sharp piece: The 2025 Nobel Prize Sends a Warning to Kashmir Universities. Its point was hard to miss.

Kashmir produces smart graduates, but its institutions do not encourage creativity, experimentation, or technological thinking.

Students memorize facts, classrooms favour the right answers over original thought, and exams reward recall over reasoning.

In such a system, innovation struggles.

The Nobel winners in Economics that year reminded the world that progress depends on institutions that allow new ideas, trial, and technological change. Without that support, talent stagnates.

Visiting NexGen IEDC at the University of Kashmir, however, painted a different picture. This hub is silently changing the story.

Dr. Irfana Rashid leads NexGen with clarity and focus. She has built a space where students and researchers can experiment, fail, and learn by doing. Her priority is creating systems that allow ideas to grow........

© Kashmir Observer