From the Editor’s Desk
6 January 2014360Careers
While researching for this special issue on world class universities I came across a speech by Prof. Drew Gilpin Faust, the President of Harvard University. It is named “To seize an impatient future”. In a way it summarises what this issue is all about. World class universities are rich, they have abundant resources, great faculty, good and diverse student body, they publish a lot, patent their intellec-
tual output well and have top alumni and scholars to fall back on. Each of these issues has been dealt with in detail in this issue. But what we cannot capture and communicate is the
spirit of a great university. Prof Faust does that.
That speech was delivered at beginning of the campaign set by Harvard to raise a $6.5 billion fund. Prof. Faust begins by speaking about 300 former alumni who came and rowed in the
Charles River in memory of the late and legendary Harry Parker, Harvard crew coach for more than half a century. She then links that to the learnings that the university provides and what
makes such an experience special. An appeal is then woven to make the campaign a reality. An ambitious target is set, with new schools, new bursaries, and news spaces as expected outcomes.
Prof. Faust again links it back to what the university stands for - its students. She cites a host of luminaries from George Washington to Helen Keller to Ban ki Moon, and seeks the alumni’s help
to take the legacy forward. The speech shouted out what is lacking in India. Inspiring academic leadership. I can’t think of a university leader speaking like that in India. I can’t think of
an IIT Director asking his alumni to donate 4000 crores, either.
The issue in your hand tells you how far Indian universities lag behind when it comes to world standards. Building great institutions cost money. But that is not a constraint here. A billion dol-lars is not an impossible sum for a country of the size of India. There are enough corporate and
HNIs who can bring that kind of money on the table. Azim Premji has already done it. But it has a different, equally worthy goal. What is lacking is a dynamic leader who will take up the challenge,
who will give a call for a world class university in India, and work to bring it to fruition. India needs some ten visionaries who will set such lofty targets, and work towards achieving them.
To paraphrase Prof Faust we need ...
A University that is as wise as it is smart, As restless as it is proud,
As bold as it is thoughtful, As new as it is old,
As good as it is great...
And a leader who would make it happen!
Wish you a very happy New Year!
Academic leaders Where are the great ones?
(*Read it at www.harvard.edu/president/the-harvard-campaign)
30 January 2014360Careers
“IndIa needs at least four or fIve world class unIversItIes”
The quest to have an Indian name in the top honours list of any world ranking is innate to any citizen. We examine what it takes to have a university
to figure in the global league…
World class u n i v e r s i t y
INTRODUCTION
Do we neeD a wCU?In this issue, we attempt to examine what constitutes a world class universi-ty and what can Indian universities learn from them. The objective is to identify the material basis for a university to be called as world class. There is no dearth of players who would like to be known as world class. IITs have always been iden-tified in popular press as world class. Prof Venkat Rangan, Vice Chancellor, Amrita University categorically states, “India needs about 20 world class uni-versities to be set up across the country and they can be set up at a cost of say 20,000 crore rupees.” He puts the per university cost at about 2,000 crores.
On the other hand Prof Ved Prakash, Chairman, University Grants Commis-sion (UGC) weighs in with a different perspective. According to him, world class institutions which have compara-ble international counterparts, whether Harvard, Cambridge or Oxford, cannot be created ab initio. There is plenty of literature on what constitutes a WCU. Prof. Philip G Altbach, Director, CIHE, Boston college has written extensively on this. The World Bank has come up with a report on the same (See http://tinyurl.com/3jabhvj). Here is what we found out...
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is the world’s youngest top ranked institution
by B Mahesh Sarma & Nimesh Chandra
“We need four or five such uni-versities. I have been saying for some time that if somebody can
manage to get about 4 billion dollars (roughly Rs. 20,000 crores), one can plan to set up such a university and make sure that it succeeds in a big way.” This was Prof. CNR Rao’s (National Profes-sor, JNCASR, Bangalore)response to a question on whether India needs a world class university (WCU) and what it might take to build one.
where Does inDia stanD ?Each year, when the three global ranking of universities namely, QS, THE and ARWU are released, there is a usual breast beating regarding the absence of Indian universities anywhere near the top. But this year the THE rank was slightly different because Panjab University, a new entrant, pipped usual names like IITs, JNU and DU. The discussions then shifted to what made Panjab a better player than even the IITs. Careers360 too weighed into the debate (Read more at http://tinyurl.com/mvjy5u8).
One needs to develop on a mission mode a system of preparing high quality faculty in large numbers with specializations in diverse areas
Dr. Shyam B MenonVC, Ambedkar University, Delhi
India needs about 20 world class universities to be set up across the country and they can be set up at a
cost of say 20,000 crore rupees
Dr. Venkat RanganVC of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
World class institutions, which have comparable international
counterparts, whether Harvard, Cam-bridge or Oxford, cannot be created ab initio. They have become world class because of the quality of thought they generated over a period of time. By sheer dint of the depth and qual-ity of their work, a larger number of Indian institutions too could become world class institutions.
So, the lesson here is that each uni-versity has to strive towards contrib-uting to the frontier areas of knowl-edge to be among the top universities and research institutions of the world. It is the performance level of the uni-versity in research which would earn for itself the status of recognition for being a world class institution. How-ever, it may not be out of place to make an attempt to create a few cen-tres with world class infrastructure facilities where cutting edge research in different knowledge domains could be their forte for international recog-nition. Creation of facilities in such centres could also act as a resource support to other universities to ben-efit from the facilities created. In this sense, it could be a good idea to set up some top level institutions ab ini-tio to act as catalyst to the best of minds. This can prevent brain drain of people in top ranking institutions very well and nurture such institu-tions with creative talents on the soil of the nation itself.
Prof. Ved Prakash, Chairman of UGC
It Is research output that matters
intervieW | Prof ved Prakash
32 January 2014360Careers
what makes a wCU?1. Investment: Top universities cost
money. The minimum annual expenditure would be about Rs. 3000-4000 crores. .
2. Meritorious students: Top univer-sities invariably have an extraordi-narily large student body.
3. Great faculty: Nobel Prize, Fields
medals, academy fellowships. WCUs have the leading scholars in each discipline working for them.
4. Great Infrastructure: Most of them are in metropolitan towns, have cut-ting edge infrastructure and provide plug and play environment. Can we do that?
5. Governance Structures: About 70% of the top 100 universities are auton-omous in nature and 95% have very little political influence in academic and governance matters.
6. Diversified student body: All top
universities invariably have a large international body of students.
7. Academic productivity: Top univer-sities publish heavily, and their per faculty productivity is about 3.1.
8. Industry-linked research: WCUs value knowledge production. Their labs are cutting edge and they work closely with the industry.
9. Active alumni: Most WCUs have very active alumni and they invest in maintaining the relationship.
10. All round development - sports, lit-erary pursuits, fine arts, WCUs pro-vide tremendous opportunities.
In each domain we attempted to iden-tify global best practices and establish benchmarks that Indian Universities can emulate. We also spoke to a srange of thought leaders to comment on these issues. That India has a long way to go before any of its institution can be called WCU is relatively clear. We hope the issue kindles a vigorous debate This great country deserves at least one truly world class university.
(With inputs from Dr. Swapan Kumar Patra, Aeshwarya Tiwari, Alok Mishra,
Prerna Singh & Shiphony Pavithran Suri)
Brain korea 21 GroUp (Bk 21)The objective of the project is to nurture world class graduate schools with enough capability to produce creative knowl-edge in strategically important sectors for Korea - 1.2 billion dollars in seven years.
China’s 1000 talents planThe aim is to recruit, in 5 to 10 years, and provide financial support for outstanding scientists and leading experts who will work in China and play a leading role in the development of high-tech industries or new fields of study.
honG konG: areas of exCellenCe sChemeAoE (Areas of Excellence) scheme in Hong Kong is directed towards boosting research capacity, specifically in areas which have a chance of gaining international influence. A total of HK$427m was allocated to 10 AoEs.
Japan: worlD premier international researCh Center (wpi) initiativeWorld Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI) was launched in 2007 in a drive to build within Japan “globally visible” research centers that suggest a very high
research standard and are sufficiently attractive to prompt frontline researchers from around the world to work in them. Financial support of about ¥1.3-1.4 billion annually per cen-ter is available for 10- 15 years horizon, with definite achieve-ment milestones.
sinGapore: researCh Centres of exCellenCe (rCes)The Research Centres of Excellence (RCE) scheme was set up in 2007 to spur research excellence in the local universi-ties. The RCE programme aims to attract, retain and support world-class academic investigators, enhance graduate educa-tion in universities and train quality research manpower and also create new knowledge
taiwan’s worlD-Class University initiativeBeginning in 2006, the MOE sponsored the Development Plan for World-class Universities and Research Centers of Excellence, providing 11 top universities and affiliated research centers with funding of NT$50 billion (US$1.70 bil-lion) over a five-year period. This is given to strengthen basic university education, recruit first-rate foreign professors and promote international academic collaboration.
on a MIssIon to be recognIzed aMong the best In the world
strategy | fundIng InItIatIves
India needs at least 10 world class universities in the coming decades and they can be created at 1/3rd
of the global cost
Prof. VV KrishnaSenior Academic at JNU
World class u n i v e r s i t y
INTRODUCTION
34 January 2014360Careers
It Is all about money, very
bIg money at that
Being world class does not come cheap. While universities with 2 lakh crore rupees endowments are few, we found that most global universities have oper-
ating budgets over 20,000 crores per annum…
World class u n i v e r s i t y
Finances
Yale universitY with an annual budget of $2.82 billion justifies big spending for quality education
university’s annual expenditure. That is the kind of financial muscle global universities enjoy.
What are endoWments? University education, especially in non-state funded colleges, is quite expensive. Income from endowment is the most common route that these institutions use to provide financial assistance and attract high quality students Endow-ments are funds that academic institu-tions frequently control, which finance
a portion of the operating or capital needs of the institution. These are nor-mally financial but also can be in the form of land or buildings. World class universities constantly compete for funds to enable themselves to expand and grow. For example Harvard Univer-sity which boasts of the world’s largest endowment has now come up with a
by Team Careers360
Endowments worth rupees 203,373 crores (USD 32.7 bil-lion ) is what Harvard has under its command. Drew Faust, Presi-
dent, Harvard university puts it in per-spective by commending that just about 5% of the whole endowment could be used on an annual basis, since they come with a whole lot of stipulations and covenants. Even then 5% of that is about 10,000 crores, nearly 38 % of the
annual expendItureglobal
University of Pennsylvania
41,052 University of Michigan -
ann arbor
University of Washington
38,070 36,691
35 January 2014360Careers
“Harvard Campaign” (http://campaign.harvard.edu/) with a goal to set up a huge 6.5 billion US dollar fund for pri-ority areas.
Where do universities spend?Most of the income from endowments is spend on bursaries, named scholarships, particular issues or areas of enquiry, chair professorships, initial seed fund-ing for new lines of research etc. For example, the MacArthur Fellowships (a private foundation awards the fellow-ship) target talented individuals who have shown extraordinary original-ity and dedication in their creative pur-suits. The fellowship demands nothing in return other than a commitment to pursue interesting lines of enquiry from a select group of US professors who are awarded. There are almost no similar lines of funding available to an Indian professor. Ananya Vajpaye, an academic with Centre for Studies in Developing Societies, New Delhi laments that most of her work on Indian political thought was made possible by being located in the United States or European universi-ties, a fact many other good academics readily concur.
IndIan
expendItureUniversities with over Rs 300 crores annual spending
Rs.Crores
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
1160.6
Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Aligarh
521.7
Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi
499.68
Postgraduate Inst. of Medical Edu & Res, Chandigarh
449.35
Panjab University, Chandigarh 438.34
IIT Madras 434.31
University of Delhi 371.85
Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, New Delhi
316.82
University of Mumbai 300
All Figures in Rs.Crore
stanford University
Johns hoPkins University
harvard University
colUMbia University
cornell University
University of chicago
University of Wisconsin -
Madison
29,749 27,616 26,818 21,517 19,910 18,973 17,598
So many things determine the qual-ity of an institution. If you compare institutions in India and the US and look at the management institutions,
this year IIM-Ahmedabad and IIM-Calcutta have been ranked 18th & 19th in the Financial Times rank-ing, these institutions do not have the resources of even one-tenth of what universities in US have. So, it is possible for Indian institutions to come up to a level. They might not have all the resources but the resources should be adequate.
Prof Shekhar ChoudhuriDirector, SME, Shiv Nadar University
hoW much does the student fee contribute?It is endowments that help universi-ties defray the cost of education. And it is here that Indian universities drasti-cally differ from global best practices. In India most institutions are totally fund-ed either by government grants (as in the case of public universities) or by student fees (as in the case of private universities in general). World over student fees do not contribute to more than 30- 35 % of a university’s total expenditure, in India it is almost 90% or above, sans govern-ment funding.
does Government help?Our spending on higher education is woefully inadequate. The best Indian universities have budgets in the region of Rs. 300 – 600 crores per annum, which is 1/10th or 1/20th of the global average. Prof C NR Rao was not way off when he contended that we spend peanuts on research. And whatever little govern-ment spends is spread evenly. Barring the University with Potential for Excel-lence Scheme, there are very few com-petitive funding mechanism with well defined output expectations in India. Even that programme offers between
36 January 2014360Careers
World class u n i v e r s i t y
Finances
5- 20 crores rupees to a university which is not large.
Where is the Way forWard? Global universities offer a very clear roadmap regarding their finances. Most Indian universities are exceptionally opaque when it comes to declaring their income and expenditure status. Lack of information on expenditure heads makes it impossible to identify the lacu-nae and gaps in funding. Research and teaching are the two dominant aspect of any academic institution. And research invariably is funded either by govern-ment grants or private corporations’ contributions. Industry- led research is almost an exotic phenomenon in India. Even the fact that venerable Indian Institutes of Technology make not more than 10 percent on an average of their revenue from industry-research speaks a lot about the kind of academia-indus-try interface that India has. It is impera-tive that universities act pro-actively to improve their finances and earn their keep, so as to speak.
Investmentglobal
yale university
stanford university
university of cambridge
northWestern university
massachusetts institute of technology
the university of texas at austin
119,600
115,872
49,571
49,523
university of michigan - ann arbor
52,060
68,165
45,751harvard university203,373
Princeton university110,924
columbia university50,820
Q. Do you agree that India does not even have a single world class university?A. This is a difficult question to answer as a university has to be a good university. A good university has to have an atmosphere where every-one is involved, engaged in doing new things, trying to find out new things. But very few universities in India are fortunate to have passionate pursuit of knowledge and continuous effort to find out new things. India has some good universities that have qualities of a world class university.
Q. Do you think investing money allows a university to do things to become world class?A. Investment of money is an impor-tant criterion to make a university world class, but what matters more is the thrust. Lot of money has been invested in several private universi-ties in India but that doesn’t mean that they are world class.
Q. Do Nobel laureates make a uni-versity world classe? A. If you have a good system, the fac-ulty itself grows and if you just have lots of people with lots of degrees, fel-lowships, medals or even Nobel laure-ates, it does not mean that a university is a great university. If a university has Nobel Prize winners that does not mean that it is trying to find out new things. What matters is that the university trying to do things or find out things which have not been done till now. There is lot of talk going on everywhere that information is grow-ing, increasing but every university needs to find that along with informa-tion, is the knowledge also growing?
Q. What is the role of infrastruc-ture in making of a university?A. Having good infrastructure and labs etc help the students and faculty at any university. So it is an important factor in creating a world class univer-sity as there will be lots of equipment,
intervieW | prof yashpal
It is true that top universities cost money as establishing a university
or a college in India is an expensive affair, particularly if the university
expects research and innovation to be part of its mandate. A CAPEX of Rs. 20 lakhs and beyond per
student for a research-led university with a residential campus in India is
a good estimate to start with.
Prof B N Jain,Vice-Chancellor, BITS Pilani
Figures in Rs.Crore
37 January 2014360Careers
University should be place where people should enjoy working; there should be an atmosphere where
they should work on their own, not under some pressure or control.
All academic work has to be autonomous, people should be
free to ask any questions, should be able to think on anything deeply,
though there are areas where universities need to collaborate
materials etc., which are not available elsewhere.
Q. Do you agree that universities should be autonomous, ?A. They should be, I feel all aca-demic work has to be autonomous, people should be free to ask any question, should be able to think on anything deeply, even though there are areas where universities need to collaborate.
There have been several experiments when steps were taken to bring people from different areas at one place and at the same time ensuring that academic and other autonomy is maintained. It is not possible to do at one particular uni-versity in India, either because of lack of physical resource or due to lack of intellectual resource or due to funding.
The other problem with universities is that they are controlled by different types of people with different agendas. The problem with laboratories in India is that a battery of bureaucracy gets formed; you have a director, a deputy director and so on.
So I mean to say that if people are given autonomy it does not mean that they do not work or will not work, they work, they do things on their own. Nobody should think that if a university has been formed it will do all sorts of work, it will do things itself, let it grow on its own and do new things.
University should be place where peo-ple should enjoy working; there should be an atmosphere where they should work on their own, not under some pres-sure or control.
Q. Top Universities produce heavily, their per faculty output is around
Competence is an enemy of creativity, universities in India are producing competent, not creative people
3.1 per faculty. Very few in India can match that, even if they do, they are miniscule in numbers, you opinion on it?
A. I do not think we should worry about it. It also has to be seen that the best of the places do not publish too much, they have competition among themselves, they have to get money to publish. Many a times they publish enormous amount of work, competent work but not great
work, so one needs to keep an eye that. Unless a great work is not done no need to worry. I feel competence is an enemy of creativity. There are many universi-
ties, colleges and schools in our coun-try which are producing competent people. These schools are focused on getting high percentage to stu-dents, not creativity. These are the schools which are draining away
India’s creativity.
Good things are happening in India also and are in a nascent stage which will take time to grow. There are institutions in India where young people are work-ing and they are achieving more and more. I have seen that where people are given autonomy and freedom they have succeeded and where it has not been done, result has not been good.
People need to do things on their own, if they are not left to learn on their own, they will never be able to believe in themselves. Let them commit mistakes, they will learn from those mistakes but will be able to find out solutions on their own. If they are given support while working on new things they will always think that I will not be able to do it, I need help. So universities need to give full freedom to people working there, to students and need to engage with them not support them. Let them take risks and learn new things. This will only help in the growth of the university.
We see young people coming up from rural and backward areas of the country. They have brilliant minds, very good at math and science, have innovative thinking, we need to nurture them, allow them to grow by giving them the proper atmosphere. We do not need too many of them, even if we get a few it will help in growth of the education system and ultimately the growth of the country.
38 January 2014360Careers
by Team Careers360
Looking at global universities at the top rung of academic achievements does suggest a paradigm shift in majority
of Indian institutions with respect to improving the quality of education. In order to maximize learning, it is beyond any doubt that faculty members play an integral role in knowledge creation, dis-semination and in pro- actively engaging with the students. Bigger is the institute, larger is the community and therefore greater is the diversity.
Faculty’s key roleThe best universities in the world are meticulous in selecting faculty members who can create a learning-centered cam-pus. The challenges, however, vary from university to university in creating such a campus that necessitates knowing how students learn, understanding the bar-riers to learning, developing classroom techniques that promote learning and simultaneously be updated in their sub-ject domain and general awareness, to continuously contribute to the global learning curve.
How do students make a diFFerence? It may sound simple. But from being mere listeners to what is being taught, the universities that lead the way have students who engage in the learning pro-cess to grasp the concepts. The students report higher levels of engagement and
World class u n i v e r s i t y
Human ResouRces
Student & Faculty. the warp and weFt oF a great univerSityBe it internationalization of the academic community or enhancing the learning experience, it is the quality of students and faculty that makes it happen. Here are the traits of the winners…
Science LibrarieS like radicliff camera at Oxford University are hallmarks of a world class university
39 January 2014360Careers
global
indian
univerSity oF britiSh columbia
univerSity oF
toronto
10,186 80,899
no. of Faculty
no. of Students (ug+pg)
university university
University of British ColUmBia
the University of texas at aUstin
University of Washington
University of illinois at UrBana-Champaign
University of miChigan - ann arBor
University of California, los angeles
neW york University
University of WisConsin - madison
the University of manChester
University of miChigan - ann arBor
the University of edinBUrgh
the University of manChester
University College london
neW york University
University of Washington
yale University
University of California-los angeles
the University of tokyo
57,706
52,076
49,577
44,294
43,426
41,812
38,391
38,301
36,342
7,500
6,454
5,695
5,277
4,373
4,300
4,140
4,000
3,919
Student & Faculty. the warp and weFt oF a great univerSity
Mark Twain said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mind-
edness.” So is studying abroad. This wide-angle vision can translate into comparative advantage when pursuing a job, building a career,
and extending a social network. The savoir faire that you acquire will give you confidence and competence in
dealing with global diversity
Prof Robert Brunner,Dean, Darden B-School
learning at institutions where they get ample opportunity to challenge their own academic capability, interact more with faculty, emphasize on high-order cognitive activities in the classroom and value enriching educational experi-ences. They use active and collaborative learning techniques. A larger student body means broader vision for the uni-versity and a larger possibility to bring in substantive change in the system.
student-Faculty ratioThe number of teaching and research personnel in the leading universities are high, but they are in concurrence with
number oF Faculty
University (India) No. of Faculty
Manipal University, Manipal 2,400
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University, Coimbatore 2,000
Annamalai University, Annamalainagar 1,867
Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi 1,744
Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi 1,418
Bharati Vidyapeeth, Pune 1,349
Amity University Noida 1,132
Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Aligarh 1,106
Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 816
University of Delhi 775
42 January 2014360Careers
global
yale univerSity
univerSity oF melbourne
2.87
10,634
Student-Faculty ratio
international StudentS
Johns hopkins University
the imperial College of s&t and mediCine
3.28 4.15
University of soUthern California
9,840
University of toronto
9,832
an equally large number of students so that quality is not compromised. The student-faculty ratio is fairly close to 3 to 5:1 for a very good university depend-ing on the variables attached (such as quantum of intellectual growth, course offerings, cost effectiveness etc) and we found that the top ranked universities fit in the bracket.
wHat do universities oFFer?Faculty members are keen to work in an intense academic and research environ-ment that is open to inquiry. Further it has to be a place where academic freedom is valued and the university community can indulge in free expres-sion of ideas. A place where resources are available for furthering knowledge. The faculty and students can bank upon a strong system of governance and chan-nels that turn their input into decisions that shape the academic entity. Global universities have them all though in dif-ferent proportions and in varied modes.
international studentsInternational students provide a prima-ry source of talent for employers who are branching out globally and are cen-tral to enhancing the ability of global
universities to conduct quality research and offer highly valued academic pro-grammes. Foreign students also provide cultural and foreign policy benefits to the host nation and are an important and inexpensive way to promote their ideas across the world. Leading univer-sities also emphasize on international students as they are a major source for revenue earning, which is usually used for its own academic growth. Just three big universities – Melbourne, South-ern California and Toronto collectively would admit more than the total number of foreign students studying in India.
international students: india There are close to 28,000 international students studying in India with 63% male and 37% female pursuing different programmes. The maximum numbers of students (approximately 5,000) come from Nepal followed by Islamic Repub-lic of Iran and Afghanistan that account for nearly 2,500 students. There are around 1,000 students from countries like Bhutan, Sudan, US and China. Iran has the largest number of PhD students followed by Ethiopia and Yemen. USA, China, Canada, Malaysia, Korea and
UK have the largest representation in UG programmes which is as high as 75 to 85%. Universities in Karnataka, particularly in Bangalore, Mysore and Manipal attract a lot of foreign students. Hyderabad and Pune (dominated by University of Pune and Symbiosis Inter-national University) have a sizeable international student population. Uni-versity of Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi also have a fairly large number of international students and the largest share of foreign students who are pursuing their PhD in India.
india Has Barely BeGunIn terms of faculty and students, India is still very parochial. Let alone interna-tional faculty, Indian Universities, bar-ring the central ones are dominated by regional identities. India does very little to attract and retain global faculty and students. While some private players like Amirta and VIT do attract foreign students, these are one-off institutional interventions. The ICCR scholarship are very few in number and does not make any dent in changing the compo-sition of an average Indian classroom. And that needs to change substantially if India wants to be world class.
Diversity in terms of international faculty and students is an important factor which determines whether a university is world class or not, but not the most important as it can
have very good quality student and faculty without much diversity to
make it world class
Prof R NatarajanFormer Chairman, AICTE
43 January 2014360Careers
northWestern University
dUke University the University of tokyo
the University of edinBUrgh
University College of london
University of British ColUmBia
University of miChigan-ann arBor
4.36 4.48 5.554.37 4.71 5.67 5.79
University of illinois at UrBana-Champaign
the University of manChester
the University of edinBUrgh
University of oxford
ColUmBia University
neW york University
sWiss federal institUte of teChnology ZUriCh
9,407 9,128 8,639 8400 8150 6971 6579
Q. What according to you is a world class university?A. You measure the quality of any university by measuring the research work that the university produces. You measure its quality by the teaching and learning processes it has adopted and the type of good quality students it is producing.
Q. What role does autonomy play in making a university world class?A. Autonomy is very important in mak-ing a university world class, there should be least political interference and auton-omy should be given to education insti-tutions. What’s important is that along with autonomy you need accountability.
autonomy iS very important in making a univerSity world claSS
intervieW | proF Sukhadeo thorat
Q. What ails the higher education sector presently?A. First of all is the issue of gross enroll-ment ratio in higher education, which is very low. It is just around 18 percent while in other countries it is not less than 30.
The second major problem is the dis-parity on caste line, inter-religious dis-parity, rural and urban disparity, gender disparity as girls are lagging behind, the poor are lacking behind. Privatization of education has played a very impor-tant role in creating this disparity in the society.
The third issue is the quality of univer-sities in India, which gives a university its position in any ranking. The university’s quality depends on its infrastructure, availability of academic programmes; examination system, which should pro-vide more opportunity to the students for creativity, and not memorizing.
The universities which are good uni-versities are the ones that have done experiments with the examination system. In India one such university is JNU, which has done so, as written test constitutes only 50% of the marks, rest of it is term paper, essay, review, etc. It gives a student opportunity to be creative and also enriches the academic programme.
The critical problem with the higher education system is the scarcity of teach-ers and having bad quality of teachers. The entire blame goes to policy as we are not providing money to universi-ties to hire faculty. The accountability of the faculty at private universities is also important. Let there be a common method for recruitment of teachers in colleges and to have good quality teach-ers recruitment should be transparent.
(Prof .Thorat is the Chairman of ICSSR, New Delhi. )
44 January 2014360Careers
by Team Careers360
“It is what separates the men from the boys,” says Prof. V.V. Krish-na, of Jawaharlal Nehru Univer-sity, New Delhi. Peer-reviewed
publications play the most crucial role along with their citations in any world ranking worth its salt. And the top class universities are always in the race to produce not only the maximum knowl-edge across disciplines but also get them published in the ‘best in class’ journals. Star faculties who publish seminal works are fought over and fawned at, sometimes with astronomical salaries and benefits. The Research Assessment Exercise in the UK, which is one of the most structured output measuring exer-cises in academia places major thrust on both citations and output.
Does number count?Yes and No. Globally, since faculty productivity is the core criterion for professional advancement, numbers count until one gets tenure, which is what breeds the “Publish or Perish” syn-drome in most universities. What was
Research is a core mission of any good university. Faculty publications
in refereed journals represent the best traditions of knowledge production and dissemination.
Some of these research papers are seminal and result in paradigm shifts in disciplines, at times even
seed new disciplines. But each and every publication adds up to the knowledge pool in its own small
and big ways
Prof Shyam SundarProfessor, Yale University
AnnuAl PublicAtions
HArvArd university
University of toronto
University College london
24075 13622 10881
GlobAl
initially an American phenomenon, this is catching up very fast now in every major national university with global aspirations. India is very slow in this regard. As one can see from the Tables alongside, the gap between global best and India’s best is wide beyond com-parison. Globally the average annual number of publications is exceptionally
World class u n i v e r s i t y
PUBLICATION & CITATION
KnowledGe creAtion is
tHe core mission of A
universityresearch publications in journals is the
core mechanism through which good universities popularize their faculty’s intellectual output. Here
we present the top 10 worldwide…
Harvard university is a global leader with over 24,000 peer-reviewed publications per year
45 January 2014360Careers
indiAn
AnnuAl PublicAtions
AnnuAl PublicAtions
PublicAtions/fAculty
Johns hopkins University
University of oxford
University of oxford
University of California, san diego
MassaChUsetts institUte of teChnology
University of CaMbridge
University of California, berkeley
stanford University
University of toronto
harvard University
California institUte of teChnology
swiss federal institUte of teChnology ZUriCh
University of MiChigan - ann arbor
University of pennsylvania
University of CaMbridge
University of California, los angeles
10629 10404 9302
11.5
6.2
10.6
6.0
4.4
9.5
5.8
3.5
6.5
4.9
10521 9731 9298 9268
University of washington
high. Harvard, the best university, pub-lished over 24,000+ papers every year and the per faculty productivity too is at a scorching pace of 11.5 in a year. The Average per faculty productivity glob-ally is 3 per year.
One can understand the aggregate numbers for India being for below the global average, since we have a smaller faculty size, at times one tenth of the global best (see more on that in the faculty and student section). But what
is alarming is the fact that Indian profes-sors also produce much less than their global peers. The faculty in one of the best universities, JNCASR, produces 6.7 papers per year. What is interesting is the fact that this centre was founded by Prof. CNR Rao, a prolific researcher with over 1,500 publications to his cred-it. Most other players produce less than 3 papers a year and 5 out of the top 10 produce less than 2 papers a year. Our preliminary research informs us that even this average numbers hide more
PublicAtions/fAculty
University WoS-Annual Publication
Count
Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore
1493
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
1115
IIT Kharagpur 1053
University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad
948
IIT Bombay 839
IIT Madras 837
Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi
832
IIT Delhi 793
Jadavpur University, Kolkata 698
IIT Kanpur 690
University WoS - Publications/
Faculty
Jawahar Lal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore
6.68
Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore
3.07
University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad
2.38
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
2.24
National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research (NIPER) Mohali
2.22
University of Madras, Chennai 1.96
IIT Kanpur 1.84
Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh
1.81
IIT Madras 1.55
IIT Bombay 1.49
Source: Web of Science Index (2010-12)
46 January 2014360Careers
journals. According the current UGC guidelines both papers will get the same points. Unless there is a creative mecha-nism to differentiate between good and great research, India would continue to lag behind global standards.
Where is it publisheD?Globally, to be counted as a publication, a research output must be published in any one of the thousands of journals indexed by two famous global indexing & abstracting databases namely Else-vier’s SCOPUS and Thomson Reuters’ Web of Science (WoS). These are pop-ular indexing services maintained by the two leading academic publishers of the world. In terms of limitations, both databases have English language bias and they cover very few Indian journals comparatively and may therefore not capture the true research potential of the country. But most of the modern academia is set to western standards. WoS comprises over 12,000 high impact journals worldwide, including ‘open access’ journals while Scopus has more than 50 million records from more than 21,000 peer-reviewed journals.
GlobAl
citAtion ssci (2010-2012)
citAtion ssci (2010-2012)
cAliforniA institute of tecHnoloGy
7.80iMperial College london6.06
MassaChUsetts institUte of teChnology (Mit)
5.82stanford University5.54
Carnegie Mellon University5.15
University of California, san diego
5.11yale University5.01
dUke University4.90
University of California, los angeles
4.89University College london4.87
than what they reveal. For example, in IIT Madras, two departments account for the bulk of their research produc-tion. Research output, especially pub-lications, is just not taken seriously in this country.
Why Do We lag behinD?“We still have not evolved a culture of publications,” says Prof. Kale, Vice Chancellor, Gujarat Central University. Prof. Rajan Saxena, Vice Chancellor, NMIMS University, concurs. Accord-ing to him, it is a warped concept of workload which is the main culprit. Workload in India is mainly equated with teaching. According to him good research consumes time and energy and that needs to be respected and rewarded. Yet another issue is the blind points sys-tem devised by the mandarins at UGC. A respected journal like Technology & Culture makes a paper go through near-ly 5 iterations of revisions and changes and it normally takes anywhere between 16- 24 months before a paper appears in such a journal. On the other hand, one could easily get a paper published within 2 months in many peer reviewed
World class u n i v e r s i t y
PUBLICATION & CITATION
indiAn
University (India) Citation
Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore
2.74
IIT Kharagpur 2.43
IIT Bombay 1.7
Visva Bharati, Shantiniketan 1.53
University of Delhi 1.23
JNU, New Delhi 1.02
royce Hall at ucla’s Westwood campus is one of the four original buildings that has withstood time
Source: Social Science Citation Index (WoS)
47 January 2014360Careers
GlobAl
stAnford university
2.69
citAtion in A&Hci (2010-2012)
citAtion A&Hci (2010-2012)
the University of texas at aUstin
1.51iMperial College london
1.20University of washington
1.17
new york University1.17
University of pennsylvania
1.16University of tokyo
1.08
University of illinois at Urbana-ChaMpaign
1.01California institUte of
teChnology
1.00ColUMbia University
0.94
open access journals India is home to nearly 2/3rds of all the open access journals published in the world. Many of them are abstracted and indexed by the big two. But one needs to be very careful in publishing in these global journals. They not only charge a hefty sum (upwards of Rs. 5,000 per paper) but could also be of dubi-ous nature, there by jeopardizing one’s academic standing. For more informa-tion see this article published in a lead-ing science journal. (https://www.sci-encemag.org/content/342/6154/60/suppl/DC1).
Does a citation matter?Yes. It does. In the recent Times Higher Education Ranking of Global Univer-sities, Panjab University, Chandigarh trumped even the venerated IITs pri-marily because it had better citation count. We discovered that Punjab Uni-versity’s dynamic physics department researchers were part of the CERN research projects and hence are part of a global network who cite one another’s publications. This proves that networks are the way for other universities.
indiAn
University (India) Citation
Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore
1.57
IIT Kharagpur 1
IIT Bombay 0.2
University of Delhi 0.15
JNU, New Delhi 0.13
TERI School of Advanced Studies, New Delhi
0.5
While no Indian institution makes the top 200, one player new to the rankings, Panjab University, is close in the 226-250 group. Moreover, India now has five representatives in the top 400 - a sign of growing
commitment to the global rankings. It is citations that makes the
university stands above the rest
Phil BatyEditor at large, THE
There is a need to build a critical mass of people in basic sciences, who research and publish actively.
The quantum of knowledge creation from India across the
disciplines must increase manifold. Institutions like IISER must turn their
attention to actively promote high quality research
Prof. Srinivasa SR VaradhanProfessor, New York University
the Way forWarD Publications and citations share a sym-biotic relationship. As in Punjab Uni-versity’s case networks is another factor. So Indian universities must focus on both. They must target an increase in the number of faculties. Most good universi-ties have over 40% of their sanctioned positions vacant. One mechanism is to fill these positions with researchers with proved publication record. They could be designated as research professor-ships with a mandate to publish a cer-tain number of papers in a block of 2 or 3 years. They must also be filled within a stipulated period.
The second factor is improving cita-tions. Barring a few seminal works, most works are cited within a closed aca-demic group. So higher the number of other colleagues a faculty collaborates with, better is the achievable citations. As the Panjab university example shows, increased international collaboration is the order of the day. Unless universities act fast, India’s hopes of ever reaching a position within the Top 100 would remain just a pipe dream. Source: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (WoS)
48 January 2014360Careers
Intellectual property: the pros and cons
From the late eighties onwards global universities have been on a patenting spree. We discuss the pros and cons of the initiative
by Team Careers360
Universities as contributor to innovation, performance and economic growth has long been recognized if one were to look
at the literature from academics like Richard Nelson, Nathan Rosenberg, David Mowery and Edwin Mansfield. Academic research output in the form of novel products and services from uni-versities are increasingly seen to show significant spill-over effects, which stimulate industrial growth. The key to successful innovations (transforming ideas to commercial usage) are linked to intellectual property rights (IPR) of which patents, copyrights, designs et al are the most talked about. A broad pat-ent right is argued to maximize the abil-ity of the patent owner to coordinate further development.
Patents and other forms of IPR associ-ated to universities is definitely a strong indicator of its research potential and academic prowess. New knowledge cre-ation is one aspect which traditionally is known through publications in journals of repute. But transferring this knowl-edge from the academia is another criti-cal area which many world class univer-sities are keen on strengthening. Build-ing an ecosystem within the university is crucial and this comprises an IPR cell, a technology transfer or licensing office and an incubation unit alongside the necessary support system.
According to Association of Univer-sity Technology Managers data (2011),
over 7,000 new start-ups have emerged from US universities with licenses to university patents – especially after the passage of the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980, which confirmed that universities retain title to patents arising from federally-funded research. University of Califor-nia system with ten campuses has the largest pool of granted patents at the US Patent and Trademark Office. Isis Inno-vation Ltd, the University of Oxford’s wholly owned technology transfer company, files on average, one patent
application each week and manages over 400 patent application families.
IndIaOut of the 700+ Indian universities, very few, including the IITs are engaged in knowledge creation and transfer. Some others who are known for their
World class u n i v e r s i t y
Patents
Columbia university has been granted over 1,250 patents, showing its focus on research output
49 January 2014360Careers
Global
IndIan
unIversIty of calIfornIa system
IndIan InstItute of scIence, (IIsc)
banGalore
8436
58
1185
23
patents Granted stock at uspto till 20/12/2013
patents Granted stock at uspto till 20/12/2013
patents Granted 2010-2012
patents Granted 2010-2012
university
university
Massachusetts InstItute of technology
IIt BoMBay
the unIversIty of texas at austIn
IIt Madras
calIfornIa InstItute of technology
unIversIty of delhI
Johns hopkIns unIversIty
IIt kanpur
unIversIty of MIchIgan - ann arBor
IIt delhI
coluMBIa unIversIty
tIfr, MuMBaI
unIversIty of pennsylvanIa
aIIMs, new delhI
unIversIty of IllInoIs at urBana-chaMpaIgn
anna unIversIty
unIversIty of washIngton
IIt kharagpur
4211
21
600
7
2688
11
450
7
2492
10
396
4
1620
7
224
—
1546
6
292
1
1255
5
245
1
1191
4
226
1
1117
4
281
3
1030
3
213
1
I am totally against patents. I have never patented any of my ideas. If you patent something, you are prohibiting people from using it in a free manner. One has to either
pay a large amount or follow certain conditions and then only they can use the ideas. I doubt that any of my ideas would have been used
that much, had they been patented. In fact, my supervisor told me, you
would have been a millionaire, if you had patented NSGA. But then it would not have been so much popular. Most of the universities are asking students to do more
research, handle more projects and gain patents. It gives more fame
and popularity to the institute
Prof Kalyanmoy Deb,Formerly with IIT Kanpur
research output in the form of publica-tions are making an attempt to build an innovation ecosystem that includes protecting their intellectual assets. However, compared to the global stan-dards, the divide is too big. According to Dr R A Mashelkar, President of Global Research Alliance and former DG of CSIR, “One of the tragedies of our coun-try is that the great connection between Saraswati (the goddess of knowledge) and Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth) is not understood.” NIPER, Mohali is one among the emerging players active in patenting activities while IISc Ban-galore and IIT Bombay are the best in India at both USPTO and at the Indian Patent Office.
50 January 2014360Careers
by Team Careers360
Universities have tradition-ally been home to maximum number of academic Nobel awardees and the number of
awardees that a university holds, com-municates its intellectual richness and vibrancy. Indian universities, has been woefully ill represented in the Nobel pantheon, with just one prize awarded
A prize thAt remAins the gold stAndArd of
excellenceawarded each year for excellence in five disciplines and one activity (peace), this prize
is a coveted honour. We explore its near total absence from Indian shores
World class u n i v e r s i t y
Nobel prizes
Cambridge university has 29 nobel laureates on its rolls, indicating its academic richness
to Sir C V Raman from Calcutta Uni-versity for his work on physics. Though intellectuals argue that it is an irrelevant standard of excellence, as Prof. CNR Rao does in the facing page, its allure remains undiminished. Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) uses it as a measure of academic excellence along with Fields medals and publications.
Though quite a few people of Indian origin or Indian citizens did get the Nobel prize like Prof. Amartya Sen, Dr S Chandrasekhar, Prof. Hargobind Kho-rana and recently Prof. V Ramakrishan, they were all products of western uni-versities and their association continues to be there. The Indian academic milieu still is not sufficiently ripe enough to throw up a home-grown Nobel winner.
51 January 2014360Careers
nobel prizesglobAl
35
university of cambridge
stanford university
universit of chicago
columbia university
massachusetts institute of technology (mit)
university of california, berkeley
california institute of technology
Princeton university
university of oxford
29
21
18
18 18
18
17
16
10Harvard University
World class universities produce persons of high recognition with
honours such as Nobel Laureates, Fields medalists, national and
international awardees and fellow-ships of prestigious academies.
Such universities become sought after destinations both to students
and faculty who are willing to innovate, experiment and evolve in an atmosphere of unlimited
autonomy and academic freedom
Prof. JAK SareenFormer Vice Chancellor, Pondicherry University
Quality higher education plays a sig-nificant role in shaping the future
of a nation, and the world. Ranking of universities has become a yardstick for assessing the quality of higher educa-tion. It is distressing to note that Indi-an universities do not figure in the top 200 universities of the world despite the large number of universities in our country. Government should signifi-cantly increase budgetary allocation for higher education. If our universities are to feature in the top universities of the
WhAt should the government do to get World clAss institutions
column | g vishWAnAthAn
world, the government needs to accord highest priority to the following aspects.
Research & Publications: Research is the most important criterion for uni-versities to become world class. Gov-ernment should increase funding for research by a significant proportion. When required funds are available to fuel research activities, our universities will emerge as strongholds for research and development. Subsequently, the quantity and quality of publications will increase. This will ultimately lead us in our march towards attaining top ranks for our universities.
Patents: Universities should evolve as powerhouses of patents. High quality research results in developing patents.
This can happen when there are abun-dant funding opportunities. Hence, government needs to financially help universities in the patent filing process.
Internationalization: This is inevi-table in the wake of liberalization and globalization. Present-day universities prepare students to face a world with-out borders and barriers. If this has to happen, student and faculty mobility should be the driving factors. For this, government policies on visa should be conducive to free mobility. Funds for international travel and research oppor-tunities should be generously available for faculty and student exchange.
(The author is the Chancellor of VIT University, Vellore)
Source: www.nobelprize.org (affiliation at the time of grant)
52 January 2014360Careers
Alongside fAculty they form the bedrock of A greAt institutionGood and diverse alumni are the core strength of world class universities. They provide funds, resources and most importantly connections for future students to tap into…
by Team Careers360
When Yale conceptualized building two new full resi-dential undergraduate colleges, it tapped into its
wide alumni base. In came a 250 mil-lion dollar contribution from Charles Johnson, former chairman of Frank-lin Resources Inc. The large donation almost single-handedly covered 75% of the total cost. That is the kind of push alumni could provide to a university. US universities, especially in the private sector, have traditionally been heavily dependent on contributions by rich and privileged individuals and corporations. They consequently have very structured programmes and departments to con-tinually engage and enrich their alumni sources. The symbiotic and mutually beneficial relationships maintained by these universities go a long way in mak-ing them world class.
Indian universities are very much in a nascent stage when it comes to
globAl
University of toronto
583,458
Alumni dAtA
University of Michigan - ann arbor
the University of texas at
aUstin
University of california,
berkeley
University of illinois at
Urbana- chaMpaign
new york University
University of wisconsin -
Madison
540,000 460,000 458,000 425,000 400,000400,372
University of toronto’s alumni association arranges awards and scholarships valued at $100,000
World class u n i v e r s i t y
Alumni BAse
alumni relationships. Barring the IITs and select IIMs, no other university has any worthwhile initiative to engage and relate with its alumni. With the kind of
resources, financial or otherwise, that is essential to the making of a world class university, it is imperative that universi-ties wake up to this new realty.
53 January 2014360Careers
Alongside fAculty they form the bedrock of A greAt institution
InvestmentAs far as world class universities are concerned, one must realize that institutions get recognized as World Class Universities. One does not create them. One can have an extraordinarily good place which is small and with a smaller budget. We can always have a flexible approach in creating top uni-versities with the budgets depending on the programmes and size of the student body.
FacultyWe need to have faculty of quality. This determines the nature of the institu-tion. Outstanding students come to such institutions mainly because of the high quality of instruction and research, which is directly related to the quality of the faculty.
It is good to have Nobel Prize win-ners and Fields medalists, but these need not be used as the only measure of quality. I have been associated with the faculty of University of Cambridge and University of California. There are some outstanding people in these universities, who have not won Nobel prizes. By and large, the environment as well as the traditions of the institu-tions makes them great.
InFrastructure Good infrastructure is essential. This has nothing to do with the location. The funds provided will generally determine the infrastructure. Modern research, particularly in science and engineering, is expensive. It is useful to choose a few areas for specialization in
each good institution so that they can be funded fully instead of providing sub-critical funding for many areas.
autonomyIt is important that all institutions are autonomous and that there is little bureaucracy or government interfer-ence. As it stands, educational insti-tutions are strongly controlled by government which interferes in every aspect of running the institution.
It will be good to have private uni-versities (managed just like Harvard or Stanford) which can be run inde-pendent of government. For this, we need a bit of money. I have been saying for some time that if somebody can manage to get about 4 billion dollars (roughly Rs. 20,000 crores), one can plan to set up such a university and make sure that it succeeds in a big way. We need four or five such universities.
ProductIvIty oF Faculty As far as the productivity of faculty are concerned, most good institutions in the world seem to have good produc-tivity in research. For e.g., I find that the average number of publications per faculty member in such institutions is around 3 or 4 per year. I do not want to be particular about the numbers. The more important thing is that some of the papers are of high quality. This is where India has to improve and pro-duce higher quality research papers even with the present numbers.
(The author is a National Research Professor at JNCASR, Bangalore)
one does not create World clAss universities
column | Prof. cnr rAo
harvard University
University of british colUMbia
University of washington
323,000 285,00317,522
“Alumni play a crucial role in keeping the flame of a university’s culture.
They are the custodians and carriers of what a university stands for.
A strong alumni network provides an immediate and effective resource base that any student can proudly
tap into and contribute to”
Kurt AhlmAssociate Dean of Student Recruitment & Admissions, University of Chicago, Booth
School of Business
54 January 2014360Careers
by Team Careers360
The size of the university, its cam-pus and student population can greatly influence your learning experience. Moving from a small
high school or a college to a big univer-sity can be unsettling or it could just be the change you need. The size of the university affects the number of courses being offered, research laboratories, size
Stanford univerSity with an 8,180 acres campus is the world’s largest, and is home to 21 nobel laureates
of classes, faculty interaction, extra-curricular activities, sports facilities, social milieu and so on. Large campuses invariably will have more number of courses and faculty members, and as such more space would be available for your academic, personal and social life. A sprawling campus can indeed lead to a stimulating experience.
World class u n i v e r s i t y
AreA
A University needs spAce for reflection
And solitUde Large land parcels have been the hallmark of great universities though
compact but great campuses are also there. We discuss the global norm…
Does size impeDe interaction?The disadvantage quoted in terms of less interaction with faculty and peers does not really hold water since great universities do not compromise on qual-ity standards. For instance, as long as student to faculty ratio is maintained ideally, the students would not suffer. Large universities have become highly vertically integrated implying that they can offer courses at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional level. They can also support medical education and hospitals, centres of excellence; indus-try programmes, continuous education, athletics, libraries, museums, entertain-ment and so on. There has been a rise in interdisciplinary fields, for example, nanotechnology, bioethics or human-kinetics, which mean that within the campus, if the university is big enough one can opt for electives in the desired domain and also be sure of learning resources and expertise.
Where Does WorlD stanD?Yale University, with 835 acres, though not as large as Stanford University and others (See Graph) states that its ability to fulfil its academic mission is enhanced by insistence upon excellence in its physical facilities and surround-ings. The university has 440 buildings,
55 January 2014360Careers
indiAn
lAnd AreA lAnd AreAGlobAl
4,140 faculty members, 12,000 students from all the 50 American states and 108 countries and takes pride in host-ing 35 athletic teams. Cornell Univer-sity’s main Ithaca campus includes 702 buildings on 2,300 acres and is home to four National Research Centers under National Science Foundation and a number of other national-user facili-ties. The ‘Human Ecology Building’ and ‘Milstein Hall’ are prime examples of Cornell’s commitment to sustainability. The latter is a 47,000 sq. ft. building with flexible studio space, which from a peda-gogical point of view, is transformative.
Since the need for advanced education is getting more intense, some institu-tions are moving far beyond their tradi-tional geographical areas and opening new campuses. This in a way is helping them branch out to new destinations and look for new students.
However, today’s ‘digital’ generation spend lot of their time surrounded by robust, visual, electronic media. They approach learning as a ‘plug-and-play’ experience. While this type of learn-ing is far different from the sequential, approach of the traditional curriculum,
Harvard university
university of illinois at urbana-cHampaign
duke university
8180
5076
1783
954
university of micHigan - ann arbor
Size in acresMap not to Scale
university of Wisconsin -
madison
university of california,
san diego
tsingHua university, beijing
1920
936
1200
1463
Stanford UniverSity
cornell university
university of california, berkeley
2300
1232
in a university set-up, some academics argue that virtual learning, that makes use of small enclosed spaces may be far more effective for this generation accustomed to media-rich environment.
hoW Does inDia Fare?The universities in India too have huge campuses, however, the stark difference from the global leaders lie in (i) lack of all-disciplines for most of these univer-sities, particularly the absence of medi-cal schools on the campus, (ii) lesser emphasis on activities such as sports and (iii) absence of innovation ecosystem in almost all the universities.
BHU with a medical school, engi-neering institute, liberal arts, science, humanities and management depart-ments has one of the largest campuses in India. The main campus is spread over 1,300 acres, while the south cam-pus (RGSC) is 2,600 acres. The above Table, however, does not include Agri-culture & Allied Science universities that have huge campuses such as GB Pant University of Agriculture & Tech-nology, Pantnagar; Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana and IARI, Pusa, New Delhi among others.
Universities with large campus area
Area in acres
Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi
3,900
University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad
2,324
IIT Kharagpur 2,200
Osmania University, Hyderabad 1,300
Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Aligarh
1,155
Bangalore University, Bangalore
1,100
IIT Kanpur 1,038
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi
1,019
Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati
1,000
Annamalai University, Annamalainagar
975
This Bill proposes to establish at least one college in every State
upon a sure and perpetual founda-tion, accessible to all, but espe-cially to the sons of toil, where all
of needful science for the practical avocations of life shall be taught, where neither the higher graces
of classical studies nor that military drill our country now so greatly
appreciates will be entirely ignored
Senator Justin Smith Morrill on passing of the Land grant Act,
which enabled setting up of universities all over USA
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