Annual Report 2015-16
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
ANNUAL REPORT 2015-16 TABLE OF CONTENTS VICE CHANCELLOR'S PROGRESS REPORT ...................................................................................................................... 2 UNIVERSITY LEADERSHIP ................................................................................................................................................... 6 ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY ................................................................................................................................................. 11 MISSION AND OBJECTIVES, VISION AND PURPOSE, VALUES AND PRINCIPLES ............................................. 12 ABOUT SCHOOLS, DEPARTMENTS AND RESEARCH CENTERS ............................................................................. 14 UGC EXPERT COMMITTEE REPORT .............................................................................................................................. 22 RESEARCH AT SHIV NADAR UNIVERSITY ................................................................................................................... 23 ACTIVE EXTERNAL RESEARCH GRANTS ..................................................................................................................... 25 APPROVED AND RECOMMENDED FOR FUNDING PROJECTS ............................................................................... 32 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AND OUR CONFERENCE ........................................................................................ 36 GLOBAL COLLABORATIONS ............................................................................................................................................ 39 CAMPUS LIFE AND STUDENT ACTIVITIES ................................................................................................................. 43 AN OVERVIEW : PROGRESS SINCE INCEPTION ......................................................................................................... 49 AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS ............................................................................................................................................ 50 MAJOR EVENTS AND HIGHLIGHTS ............................................................................................................................... 54 SCHOLARLY ACTIVITIES REPORT ................................................................................................................................. 66 CDC REPORT ....................................................................................................................................................................... 147 ADMISSIONS REPORT .................................................................................................................................................... 149 FINANCIALS REPORT ....................................................................................................................................................... 151 Page 1 VICE-CHANCELLOR'S PROGRESS REPORT (2015-16) It is my honor and privilege to present the Progress Report of the Shiv Nadar University during 2015-16. Established by an Act of the State of Uttar Pradesh, the Shiv Nadar University began operations on the 18th of August 2011, with 265 undergraduate students pursuing degrees in five engineering majors and mathematics and a single masters student. Now in our fifth year, the University has grown considerably in scale and scope. Today we have 1,793 students enrolled at the University, coming from 27 States and Union Territories in the country - 1,534 undergraduates, 132 masters, 13 post-graduate diploma and 114 doctoral students, across four schools: School of Humanities & Social Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, School of Engineering, and School of Management & Entrepreneurship. The Schools host 16 academic Departments, ranging from Electrical Engineering to English, from Physics to Marketing and from Economics to Computer Science. We have recently launched a fifth school, the School of Extended Education and Professional Development, which is focused on extending the reach of the University by offering short-duration educational and training programs to individuals, companies, and governmental and non-governmental organizations. The Goal Shiv Nadar University is designed as a comprehensive, multidisciplinary, research-focused and student- centric university, which is unique in the country. The mission of the University is to develop and educate the path-shapers of tomorrow, who can shoulder the challenges of globally responsible, and ethical leadership in the 21st Century. The University is envisaged to be an enduring global center of excellence in higher education, which is anchored in research & innovation, driven by an outstanding faculty, supported by national & international academic partnerships. After a remarkable beginning, and a phenomenal growth in the first few years, the University can now boast of a truly multidisciplinary character, and in this setting, the academic programs have started flourishing on progressive interdisciplinarity and research-led learning. Innovative Curriculum & Research Focus The undergraduate curriculum at the Shiv Nadar University has a broad-based common core with the flexibility to allow students to explore - for enhanced breadth of learning and engagement, and the students then acquire the depth in a major subject of their choice. Not only the curriculum, but the teaching-learning process followed at the University is forward-looking. A major component of the mission of the University is to actively engage faculty and students in the process of creating knowledge, not just disseminating it. Research is an integral part of the pedagogy at the University where the students “ learn by doing”. This was echoed in the speech of the Honorable President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, when he inaugurated the University and dedicated it to the nation on 18 January 2016: “The University has adopted a distinct curriculum to nurture students for the exciting opportunities of tomorrow. Its unique approach has the potential to positively influence the higher education landscape of our country in the next two to three decades.” Page 2 All students are admitted on merit through a rigorous admission process conducted by the University. Over 85% of our undergraduate and post-graduate students receive some form of scholarship or financial aid, and all our doctoral students receive stipends and tuition fee waivers. Research at the University is not limited to faculty and doctoral students. We are now in the second year of our unique ‘Opportunities for Undergraduate Research’ (OUR) program, which has opened the door for our undergraduate students to conduct original research with faculty, outside the regular curriculum. In its second year, more than 70 projects have been funded, and the results will be presented in the second undergraduate conference to be held early next week. The University is now registered with the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR), Government of India - this is a recognition of the fact that the University is indeed a research institution. The University facilitates research, scholarly and creative endeavors that contribute to the creation of new knowledge at the frontiers of specialized areas as well as at the interface of diverse disciplines. Several research Centers at the University are engaged in such interdisciplinary work, at the Center for Public Affairs and Critical Theory, the Big Data Analytics Center, the Center for Emerging Societies, and the Center of Informatics. The latest in the list is the Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering, which will have a strong multidisciplinary thrust on research, education and outreach in environmental sciences, engineering, and sustainability, in keeping with global demand. Infrastructure On its sprawling 256-acre campus, the University has invested heavily on state-of-the-art laboratories, studios, classrooms, the library, student hostels, dining and sports facilities. This University never sleeps, and the research support facilities run 24x7. Our commitment to research is re-affirmed with an internal research investment of about ₹ 200 Crores to date, and an additional ₹ 550 Crores earmarked over the next three years. Faculty Excellence Our faculty members come from the best of Universities of India and the world. On joining the University, the system nurtures them and provides the best of opportunities, which has resulted in our faculty already publishing over 350 journal articles, 88 books and chapters in books, 381 conference papers, holding 85 exhibitions and performances, and having attracted a total external funding of INR 12.2 Crores in 39 research projects. The Department of Mathematics, School of Natural Sciences, has received the FIST funding from the Department of Science & Technology. Some of the research work have become worthy news items already. A team of researchers led by Dr. Gouriprasanna Roy, Department of Chemistry, School of Natural Sciences, has discovered a compound that can reverse the effects of environmental mercury poisoning. Another team led by Dr. Shailja Singh, Department of Life Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, has discovered a novel class of anti-Malarial and anti-Leishmanial compounds inspired by nature. The breakthrough involves elimination of the malaria parasite by first identifying and then targeting a basic toxin-like protein in the parasite, which is essential for its