Prof. Dr. Vilas B. Gaikar has been associated with the HSNC Board's, Smt. CHM. College (Autonomous), Ulhasnagar, University of Mumbai in the capacity of Professor in Economics for more than Seventeen years including having served as Vice-Principal. He has successfully filed and published Indian patents and received grants for international (Australian Govt.) patents on wastewater management, Crop Monitoring and Surveillance etc. Dr. Gaikar is associated with teaching Economics at the Tashkent State University of oriental studies, Tashkent, Uzbekistan. He is the recipient of the UGC-Travel Grant, Govt. of India for presenting research papers at international conferences abroad and has presented papers at the University of Harvard, USA (2014) and University of London, UK (2019). He is a member of various international organizations such as the International Health Economics Association, International Economic Development Council (IEDC), World Economic Association etc. He has successfully completed 02 Minor Research Projects (MRPs) sanctioned by the University of Mumbai. He has also been a university-recognized Ph.D. Research Guide in Economics and Business Economics. One student has submitted his Ph.D. thesis under his able guidance and five are currently registered. He has evaluated the Ph.D. thesis of various Indian and foreign Universities like the University of Pune, Madurai Kamaraj University, and the North-West University, South Africa.
He has also authored a book titled, ‘Poverty Alleviation Programmes in India: A Study, by Lambert Academic Publishing, Germany (2015) as well as more than 7 books in Economics by Himalaya Publishing House, Mumbai. His areas of academic interest are the Indian Economy, Banking, Poverty, Rural Development, microeconomics, Agricultural Economics, Health Economics and so on. Teaching, Learning, Research, Philanthropy, and Organisation are his motto. He has authored study material for Macro Economics and International Economics for the distance education section of the University of Mumbai. Dr. Vilas B. Gaikar has to his credit the standard publications in the Q1 and Q2 Scopus indexed journals, 10 textbooks, and more than 40 scholarly research papers published in peer-reviewed/UGC listed / Scopus Indexed / Web of Science journals of national and international repute. He has reviewed articles in Scopus Indexed International Journal ‘Sage Open’, and many international journals in economics.
He has published two chapters in edited books and 11 in conference proceedings. Besides having attended more than 30 national/international conferences, seminars, symposia, workshops, etc., he has presented research papers and delivered more than 30 talks as a Resource Person at various conferences, seminars, symposia, workshops, etc. at state, national, and international levels. He has also organized two conferences, seminars, symposia, workshops, etc. as Convener/Chief Organiser. Dr. Gaikar has also undertaken various innovative methods in Teaching-Learning and Evaluation for the capacity building of students. He has delivered talks in various programs for the all-around personality development of students. He has served as a member/officer of various college committees for campus enrichment and student welfare such as NCC and NSS. He has also taken the initiative in starting FIP through MoU with the Ramunajan College, New Delhi for the Faculty Development Program. And also served as Co-Convener and Co-ordinator for the International Economics Convention (IEC) for a decade. The student-centric activities under the college initiative like Career guidance lectures and special lectures to the students of economics with a science background. He has also done philanthropic work under which he has carried out various activities.
Dr. Vilas Gaikar has also been a member of various committees constituted by the Bar Council of India (BCI), New Delhi for granting affiliation to Law Colleges and Universities in India. Has also served as Hon. Vice Chancellor’s nominee, the University of Mumbai on the Career Advancement Scheme committee for the promotion of Assistant/ Associate Professors in Economics. He has been associated with the Board of Promotion at the North-West University, South Africa for the promotion of faculties. He has also been a Chairperson of the Board of Studies in Economics at the Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production & Curriculum Research. 'Balbharati', Pune. He has also been the Vice-Chancellor nominated member of the BoS in Economics, at the University of Mumbai. He has also been a Convener/member of the UG and PG Economics Syllabus revision sub-committee constituted by the University of Mumbai. He is serving as a member of the BoS in Economics at various autonomous colleges affiliated with the University of Mumbai, to name a few St. Xaviers College, B.K. Birla College and so on.
His contribution towards higher education has also been noteworthy. Teacher development, Curriculum design, and educational policies are areas of his interest. He writes extensively in print media and has published a number of articles in different leading newspapers in Maharashtra. He has guided/taught many UPSC / Indian Economic Services aspirants through C.D. Deshmukh Institute, Thane. He has delivered multiple speeches on the Union budget in various colleges through national seminars and webinars. Dr. Vilas Gaikar has been honoured for his relentless social and academic work with the ‘Shiksha Ratna Puraskar’ by IIFS, New Delhi, ‘Jeevandeep Gaurav Puraskar’, and ‘Excellent Researcher Award’ by Combined Society for Educational Research and Development, Dehradun, Utter Pradesh, India. Prof. Gaikar has been actively involved in the research and academic collaborations and consultations at the Kazak-Turkish International University, Turkesthan, Kazakhstan, High-Medical College, Turkesthan, Kazakhstan, North-West University, South Africa, Ekove Polytechnic, Nigeria and so on.