THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala government is getting ready to set up a first-of-its-kind university in the country, exclusively for research-oriented studies related to gender.The gender varsity will be located in in Kozhikode district in the campus of Gender Park, an autonomous institution under the state's Social Justice Department.A top official said the proposed varsity is conceptualised on the model of similar institutions abroad and many global agencies have already expressed interest to partner with it.The South Asian Research Centre at the Gender Park will be developed into a full-fledge varsity by next year and it will be the first such university in the country, Gender Park CEO P T M Sunish told PTI on the sidelines of the ongoing International Conference on Gender Equality at nearby Kovalam this morning."Gender studies have begun in our country especially in Kerala at a high time. We had focussed on industrialisation, health and other similar streams but did not show much interest in the area of gender equality earlier," he said."Kerala government's first brave step in this regard was the Gender Park. By setting up the Park, our aim was to bring changes in gender-related matters through effective policy interventions. We planned the South Asian Research Centre at the Gender Park as an extension of the plan and the Gender University plan is the latest in this regard," he said.Sunish, who is also the Managing Director of the Kerala State Women's Development Corporation, said the Gender University is expected to be a reality by the end of next year.Sunish said "the gender university will have international outreach. We are planning to collaborate with a number of global pioneers in gender studies including the London School of Economics. We are also planning exchange programmes with the support of top gender institutes across the world."The curriculum framework and the syllabus of the proposed university will not be according to the traditional academic patterns, he said."The Social Justice Department is aiming to introduce a completely internationally-oriented academic practice at the new university with the goal of gender equality and empowerment in mind," he said.A high-level committee will be formed soon after the ongoing three-day gender summit to discuss and finalise the syllabus and other academic-oriented matters of the gender varsity, he said.A number of global agencies including UN Women, which is the co-partner of the Kerala government in the gender summit, had expressed interest to enter into a long-term tie-up with the Gender Park and to associate with the country's first gender university, he said.The successful all-women taxi cab network 'She Taxi' and 'Food on Wheels' are other major projects of the Gender Park