Response By Graphic Era University in terms of Evaluation Parameters Graphic Era University (GEU), Dehradun was declared as an Institution deemed to be University on August 14, 2008 [Annexure A1]. First review by MHRD formed Committee was done in very short span of around 10 months from the date of formation of the university. The Institute being in nascent state was in formative stage in terms of research, innovation and industry oriented curriculum. The Progress of the University since 2009 after the first review, is summarized below. The details are given in annexure at the end. 1. Consideration of the idea of a university (UGC guidelines Para 4a (ii)) Focus on Research and Innovation in Thrust areas After getting the deemed status, GEU was able to attract well qualified faculty members with Ph.D. degree from IITs, NIT, other reputed Universities and abroad (total number of Ph.D. faculty members in University is 76, [Annexure A2] ) which created better research environment. (a) GEU offers Ph.D. programs in various departments in their specialized area following the guidelines of UGC dated July11, 2009 for minimum standards. More than 150 research scholars conduct research in emerging areas such as Cyber forensics, Nano-biosciences, Big Data analytics, Bio-mechanics, Health care informatics, etc. (b) Deemed University status has helped us to focus on research activities which resulted in getting research grants (22 projects with sanctioned grant of Rs.4.19 crores from DST, BARC, ISRO, DRDO, etc. [Annexure A3]), research publications (more than 110 papers in Scopus indexed Journals [Annexure A4] and more than 125 papers in Scopus indexed conferences,[Annexure A5]). (c) GEU promotes research by offering research based performance incentives to faculty members and students and financial support to participate in conferences, symposia, seminars and workshops etc. (d) Several Centers of Excellence such as Center of excellence in animal biotechnology, IBM Center of excellence, Center of Excellence in RF communication etc. have been established. (e) GEU has entered into formal collaborative arrangements with academic and R&D Institutions such as National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), an Enterprise of DSIR, Ministry of Science & Technology, Defence Electronics & Applications Laboratory (DEAL) and Instruments Research & Developments Establishment (IRDE), Govt. of India. (f) One of our faculty members Mr.Arvind Mishra has created history by surpassing the Guinness book of world record for 121 hours long marathon lecture on Scientific Computation. Focus on Interdisciplinary and Industry oriented Curriculum Curriculum of our UG & PG Programs are closely designed in association with industry leaders like Infosys, Wipro, EMC2, IBM, ORACLE, ONGC and they have also conducted faculty and student development programs. GEU offers several interdisciplinary Master programs such as M. Tech. (Health Care informatics), M. Tech. (Nano-Biotechnology), etc. Many B. Tech. programs have specialization resulting in students getting special training in highly industry relevant areas. For example, B. Tech. (Computer Science and Engg.) has specialization in Cloud computing, Mobile Applications Development etc 1 Viability and Management (UGC guidelines Para 4a (ii), 4a (iv)) GEU has excellent faculty members, with 76 Ph.D.s from reputed institutions, including NUS (Singapore), Purdue University (USA), IIT Roorkee, IIT Delhi, etc. A number of faculty members have good research background and International exposure. GEU also focuses on skill development and knowledge enhancement of its faculty by organizing FDPs (around 45) and 63 faculty members are pursuing Ph.D.s from IITs, NIT and other institutions. Members of the Graphic Era Educational Society (GEES) and other governing bodies of GEU are eminent professors from the institutions of National repute. Secretary of GEES, Dr. Kamal Ghanshala is an acclaimed qualified teacher with more than 20 years of teaching experience. He is B.E., M. Tech and Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering. He has received Best Paper Presentation Award in 3rd International Conference on Computer Communication and Management (2013) in Copenhagen, Denmark and also Received Excellent Paper Presentation Award on IT - Initiatives for Empowering Difficult Geographies in 35th International Conference on Information Technology Interfaces in Cavtat, Croatia – June 24-27, 2013. Chancellor, Prof. R. C. Joshi is an acclaimed educationist and an avid researcher (guided 28 Ph.Ds) who has previously handled various responsibilities in IIT Roorkee. Vice-chancellor, Prof. V. K. Tewari, is an established administrator with past experience of decades of service at IIT-Roorkee and founding VC of Uttarakhand Technical University. Excellent Library facilities with e-journal access. Well developed labs and many state of art equipments for teaching and research. Adequate Resources: (UGC Guidelines para 4(b)) Good quality human resources for academic and administrative assignments. Good infrastructure for state of art laboratories, library, very high speed internet bandwidth (1 Gbps). Adequate binding space for Academic purposes (laboratories, library, reading rooms, class rooms, lecture theatres, Conference rooms, seminar halls, etc), hostels and for staff quarters in the form of constructed area, and the efforts are continually made for developing more infrastructure. Adequate space for outdoor activities and for future developments. Sound financial backing. 2. Whether all their present academic activities and program could have been carried out without being a deemed to be university; how the status of deemed to be university became a stimulus for better performance (UGC Guidelines para 2) (a) Status of deemed university has helped GEU to focus on emerging areas of research and cutting edge technologies. This has led to collaboration at national and international level for research activities. We have signed MoUs with Foreign Universities on research platform. (b) Offering Ph.D. program in emerging areas has resulted in percolating research environment at Post graduate and undergraduate level also. As an illustration, undergraduate students of GEU have published 36 research papers mostly in IEEE Explore in last 3 years and 30 students of GEU have done internship with IBM Research Labs. (c) In order to move with technological advancements and industry requirements, it is essential to have innovative programs with well trained manpower. This can be easily offered in the university environment where curriculum can be suitably modified and implemented for imparting education 2 in thrust areas related to industry and geographical region. For example, the following are sample of some programs that were initiated at GEU: M. Tech. (Structural Engineering with specialization in Disaster Management) – Considering need for manpower development in earthquake prone Uttarakhand M. Tech. (Biotechnology) with three specializations: (1) Nano-Biotechnology, (2) Biosensors and (3) Agriculture Biotechnology. These specializations are offered as electives and provide our students a distinct edge in latest upcoming technology and our first batch of M. Tech. students has already recorded 100% placement in industry and academic institutions. M. Tech. (Computer Network Engineering with Specialization in Security and Cyber Forensic) – addressing the shortage of manpower in this domain. B .Tech (Mechanical Engineering with specialization in Energy Engineering) B. Tech (Mechanical Engineering with specialization in Automation Engineering) B. Tech. in Electronics & Communication Engineering with specialization in Electronic System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM)-Thrust area of Ministry of Communication & IT. B. Tech. Computer Science and Engg. With three specializations (a) Cloud Computing (b) Advanced Software Engineering and Quality (c) Bioinformatics. B. Tech. in Electronics & Communication Engineering with specialization in Human Computer Interface Systems (d) We have been able to offer inter-disciplinary research and offer multi-disciplinary UG/PG programs such as M. Tech. (Health Care Informatics) – a multi-disciplinary programme run by Computer Science and Engg., Biotechnology, and Electronics &Communication Engg. departments M.Tech. (CAD/CAM/Robotics with Specialization in Computer Integrated Manufacturing) – a joint program between Mechanical Engg. and Computer Science Engg departments M. Tech. program (Nano-Biotechnology) – a joint program between Biotechnology department and Electronics & Communication Engg. Department Integrated B.Tech. and MBA – a joint program run by Bio-technology and management department. B. Tech. (Computer Science and Engg. With specialization in Bioinformatics) – a joint program run by CSE and Biotechnology Department. B. Tech. (Petroleum Engineering) – this industry oriented, innovative program entails the synergy of many disciplines of sciences, engineering, economics and management. Realizing the cardinal needs of well trained human resources for petroleum industry, GEU has initiated this program. Very few universities have such program in the country. The academic curriculum of this program has been designed with inputs from experienced experts from Petroleum industry, KDM Institute of Petroleum Exploration, Indian Institute of Petroleum, eminent professors from IITs, etc. The course structure covers the entire gamut of petroleum industry – both upstream and downstream. Industrial visits and