PU shortlisted for ‘eminence’ tag

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 8

Panjab University (PU) Vice-Chancellor Prof Raj Kumar on Saturday told the Syndicate that the university has been shortlisted for the Institute of Eminence (IoE) tag.

If the PU gets the IoE status, it will receive a grant of Rs 1,000 crore in five years. The criteria say that the institutes should have figured in the top 50 of the National Institution Ranking Framework (NIRF) and in the top 500 of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings or QS or Shanghai’s Jiao Tong University.

As per its IoE proposal, the university wants to go in for a complete academic overhaul and restructure its existing departments.

Specific innovative inter-disciplinary academic programmes such as integrated five-year MS (PhD) in engineering physics with specialisation either in nuclear sciences and technology or space sciences and technology or material science and technology, integrated MS (PhD) programme in cognitive science, integrated MBBS (PhD) programme, integrated MPharm (PhD) in clinical research, integrated masters (PhD) programme in India studies with specialisation in cultural studies and governance and professional course in dispute resolution mechanism are planned.

Earlier, the MHRD had announced six institutes for the IoE tag, three in public sector and three in private. The list will be expanded and a meeting will take place the next week.

Meanwhile, the VC said an amount of Rs 50 crore would be released shortly to PU under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) and the MHRD.