University of Hyderabad – Marching Ahead

Ranked 591-600 in the World, 106 in Asia, 36 among BRICS Nations and among top 100 under the age of 50. Also ranked 7 overall and First among Multi-disciplinary Universities in India.

Established in 1974 on a modest note the University of Hyderabad (UoH) has in its journey of four decades made a name for itself in teaching and research not only in the country but also abroad. Today the institution has close to 400 faculty who are among the top in their related field. As one of the Country’s most innovative and vibrant universities, the UoH is recognised as being at the forefront of the frontier research agenda across a wide range of disciplines. The faculty of the University are among the best in the World and have won several national and international recognitions in addition to having more than 360 ongoing research projects to their credit worth 496 crore rupees. In the last one year alone the university has research projects worth 265 crore rupees.

UoH is among the best performing Universities when it comes to Research. Research is an integral part of academics in any educational institution and it plays a major role in its growth. The research output becomes one of the major parameters on which these institutions are judged and ranked in India and abroad. At UoH it is at the heart of the faculty and students who are actively engaged in research projects funded by national and international funding bodies of government and private agencies. Research feeds into the content of the University’s teaching and learning, thus helping students to know about the latest developments in a subject. Research collaborations with counterparts in other institutions both within India and outside play a major role in the development of the institution, its visibility among peers and its relations around the world. The emphasis on research has grown at University of Hyderabad so much that, in 1977-78 where there were just 16 students enrolled in Ph.D, it rose to 473 in 1990-91 and is at 1490 as on date.

The courses at UoH are inter-disciplinary in nature. Students have the option to take courses from across the faculties. The University was the first in India to start a very well received Study in India Programme (SIP) wherein students from foreign countries spend a semester here and go back with credits to their parent institution. About 40% of the total students on the campus are in MPhil and PhD courses. Most of the PG programmes at UoH also expose the students to research environment. There is greater level of interaction with the academicians on the campus. Special lectures are arranged by eminent academicians and personalities from various walks of life for the benefit of the student community. Many of the faculty are members of prestigious academies both in India and abroad and have been awarded with national and global recognition.

Another marker of its eminence and visibility is the fact that its faculty members have regularly been appointed Vice Chancellors and Directors of leading institutions in the country. Presently nine senior professors of the University have been appointed as Vice-Chancellors or Director of various Universities and Institutions all over the country. This achievement is one of its kinds in the history of the University. Overall about 25 faculty from the University have/are serving as heads of Universities/Institutions.

The campus is fully wi-fi enabled with very high speed internet connectivity. A fully solar powered library operates in the campus that has more than 3 lakh books and a large number of e-resources. It is one of the first automated libraries in the country. Many of the departments of the University have been recognized as Centres for Advance Studies etc. UoH was the first to introduce RFID based water proof degree certificates. The University encourages the students to participate and present research papers in seminars/conferences abroad which will give them a platform to interact with academicians of repute globally. Collaborative research works with industry/global institutions are also pursued for the benefit of the students.

UoH is one of the few centrally funded institutions where the students have a decent graduate level job opportunity. It also makes institutional efforts such as organizing annual Job Fair, Campus placements and Career Guidance talks etc. A good number of students opt for research placement in India and abroad. Efforts are made by the students, faculty and administration to ensure that most of the students eligible for placements get good job opportunities. On an average during the academic year more than 110 companies visit the UoH for campus placements. More than 270 students are placed annually in companies with pay packages ranging from 3.50 lakhs to 12.00 lakhs per annum.

The University has ambitious plans laid out.

• To increase the number of students and the number of faculty as well the number of disciplines. However it would depend a lot on the funding to be received from the government.

• Build upon the tradition of research excellence.

• Need to address the challenges like greater transparency and accountability, the role of colleges and universities in the new millennium, and emerging scientific research on how people learn.

Prof. Appa Rao Podile, Vice-Chancellor of UoH says, “Time has come to create Institutions of excellence in the fields of education, research and capability building. The University of Hyderabad is in the process of hiring highly educated people who are skilled and who can drive the economy forward. When India can provide skilled people to the outside world then we can transfer our country from a developing nation to a developed nation very easily and quickly”.

At a Glance:

1. 360 ongoing research projects worth 496 crore rupees.
2. 45 Indian and International patents applied.
3. State-of-art research infrastructure for the scholars and students.
4. More than 140 crore rupees worth scientific equipment’s in various laboratories bought under the research projects.
5. More than 415 eminent faculty with average citation of 42.9 per faculty (source: QS World Rankings 2018-19).
6. About 90% of the students reside in the 22 hostels on campus.
7. A total of 9404 research documents are recorded in SCOPUS for the period 2009-2018. The total citations for the above period are 83496 with an impressive h-index of 88. (Source: www.scopus.com)