1969
University Grants Commission (UGC)
NAAC A ++
Co-Ed
Jawaharlal
Nehru University is the foremost university in India, and a world-renowned
centre for teaching and research. Ranked number one in India by the National
Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with a Grade Point of 3.91 (on a
scale of 4), JNU was ranked no 3 among all universities in India by the
National Institutional Ranking Framework, Government of India, in 2016 and no 2
in 2017. JNU also received the Best University Award from the President of
India in 2017.
Still
a young university, established by an act of Parliament in 1966, the strength,
energy, and reputation of Jawaharlal Nehru University result from the vision
that ideas are a field for adventure, experimentation and unceasing quest, and
that diversity of opinions are the basis for intellectual exploration. JNU is
the place for the intellectually restless, the insatiably curious, and the
mentally rigorous, giving them the space to grow amidst the calmness of an
oasis, a green lung within the hustle and bustle and the crowds of the capital
city of India.
Coming
into being in 1969, three years after its establishment by Parliament, JNU
brought frontier disciplines and newer perspectives for old disciplines to the
Indian university system. The excellent teacher-student ratio at 1:10, the mode of instruction which
encourages students to explore their own creativity instead of reproducing
received knowledge, and of exclusively internal evaluation, were also new to
the Indian academic landscape and have stood the test of time. The very Nehruvian
objectives embedded in the founding of the University – ‘national integration,
social justice, secularism, the democratic way of life, international
understanding and a scientific approach to the problems of society’, had built
into them constant and energetic endeavour to renew knowledge through self-
questioning.
The
educational philosophy of the university gets translated into its somewhat
unorthodox academic structure. Grounded in a faith in the unity of knowledge,
JNU has sought to avoid the narrowly conceived Department structure of
conventional universities, preferring instead to bring allied disciplines
within a few broad and inclusive entities called Schools, under whose
interactive ambit are placed the more specialized units, called Centres, There
are also Special Centres that are outside even the broad structures of School
but may grow further. Then there are Research Clusters that cut across Schools
and Centres as well as some programmes, which are placed within specific
schools but are built on the interests of faculty across the university. At
present there are ten Schools and four Special Centres in the University.
JNU
was the first to offer courses in foreign languges in an integrated five year
MA programme. At the Master’s level, where most of the Schools begin their
academic programme, training is largely oriented towards single disciplines
(although all M.A. students are encouraged to do a few courses outside their
subject) but at the research level the disciplinary boundaries become more
permeable. Work in overlapping or borderline areas – e.g., between environment
and literary studies, economics and science, sociology and aesthetics, or
linguistics and biology – is not uncommon among the Ph. D. students of JNU. Not
only are the research scholars encouraged to cross the invisible walls around
disciplines, the relationship between the academia and the world outside also
remains negotiable, often resulting in mutually beneficial collaboration in
areas that form crossroads for developing an understanding of society, culture
and science.
As
in the academic structure, so in its teaching process and evaluation pattern,
JNU was one of the first in India to depart from the well- trodden path by
emphasizing the continuity of the learning process rather than isolatiing the
final exam as the only tool of measuring achievement. Grading is done
throughout the semester, ensuring students’ participation and involvement in
curricular work, and re-animating the collaborative process of generating knowledge
in the class room. Even at the M.A. level, students are encouraged to carry out
independent research projects in limited areas which result in short term
paper.
ApArt from its regular faculty, JNU
has over the years established specially designated ‘Chairs’ – Rajiv Gandhi
Chair, Appadorai Chair, Nelson Mandela Chair, Dr. Ambedkar Chair, RBI Chair,
SBI Chair, Sukhomay Chakravarty Chair, Environmental Law Chair, Greek Chair,
Tamil Chair, and Kannada Chair.
Many
members of faculty and research scholars have won prestigious national and
international awards for their academic work. A number of academic associations
are headed by our faculty. Our expertise is highly sought after by the
Government and many members of our faculty have served the Government of India
in various capacities including as Ambassadors/ High Commissioners, and members
of the important bodies like the Planning Commission. Many of our faculty
members have also served and serve as Vice Chancellors of other universities.
The
University brings out four research journals which have high academic
visibility in India and abroad. These are Studies in History, International
Studies, JSL (the Journal of the School of Language, Literature & Culture
Studies) and Hispanic Horizons. Several members of the JNU faculty also edit
national and international journals besides the above four.
Jawaharlal
Nehru University has collaborated with universities across the world in
research projects, conferences, and publications. It has many active MoUs with
international and national universities and exvhanges faculty and students with
them regularly. We also host the Indian segment of some international degree
programmes.
Several
academic Centres of the university have been declared by the University Grants
Commission (UGC) to be ‘Centres of Excellence’. These are the Centre for
Historical Studies, the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, the Centre for
Political Studies, the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, the Centre for
the Study of Regional Development, and Zakir Husain Centre for Educational
Studies, all in the School of Social Sciences. In addition, three Science
Schools – School of Physical Sciences, School of Life Sciences and School of
Environmental Sciences – have also received UGC’s recognition as Centres for
Excellence. The Centre for English Studies, School of Language, Literatuer
& Culture Studies, has also been identified for Departmental Research
Support under the Special Assistance Programme of the UGC. JNU itself has been given
the status of the ‘University of Excellence’ by the UGC.