Panaji (Goa): Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has congratulated Goa University on its foundation day today.
“Greetings to teachers, students and staff of Goa University on their 33rd foundation day. I wish continued success to the university,” Parrikar has tweeted.
Goa University was established under the Goa University Act of 1984 (Act No. 7 of 1984). The university provides higher education in the Indian state of Goa. It is located on Taleigao Plateau overlooking Zuari estuary on a picturesque campus spread over 427.49 acres with state-of-the art infrastructure such as faculty blocks, administrative building, library, sports facilities, student hostels, bank, post-office, staff quarters, etc. A campus-wide Internet connectivity with strong bandwidth is available for all 24 hours a day.
The University took over the enhanced role of Centre of Post-Graduate Instruction and Research (CPIR) which was set after the annexation of Goa by India in December 1961, by the University of Bombay (now Mumbai), in June 1962. Since 1985 Goa University offers graduate and post-graduate studies and research programmes. It is currently (2014-19) accredited to the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) in India with A Grade. The National Institutional Ranking Facility (NIRF) (an organ of Ministry of Human Resources and Development, Govt. of India) in its first cycle of ranking Indian Universities in the year 2016, ranked Goa University at 20th rank.
Over the past 30 years, the University has steadily expanded its reach, both in terms of the number of professional and non-professional affiliated colleges (56), as well as the diversity of courses offered. These colleges offer various courses leading to a degree at graduate, post-graduate level. 12 of them are also recognized as research centres to offer Ph.D. programmes. The University has 26 Departments and 2 Centres offering 33 programmes leading to Masters degree, 21 programmes leading to M.Phil. Degree and 25 programmes leading to Ph.D. degree in various disciplines. In addition, 9 research institutions in various disciplines situated in the state of Goa are also recognised for research programmes leading to Ph.D. degree by the University.
Over 30000 youth from all talukas of Goa are studying in affiliated colleges and over 1900 are enrolled for post-graduate programmes at the University campus. The percentage of women (over 60%) outnumber men (about 40%).
The University has made a significant impact at the national level in various areas of specialization and draws students in select disciplines from across the country. Geographically, Goa is located in an ecologically sensitive region along the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea. Goa University has appropriately emerged as an important resource centre for research in the field of flora and fauna endemic to this region, as well as the marine environment. The Ministry of Earth Sciences has recognized Goa University’s significant contribution in this domain, as a consequence of which a Centre of Excellence was established in Marine Microbiology.
The Departments at the University have developed excellent research facilities. Large funding for research is received from Central Government agencies such as University Grants Commission, Department of Science & Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Ministry of Environmental Sciences and Climate Change, Department of Biotechnology, etc. For a relatively small university, Goa University attracts a generous funding of research projects from national funding agencies which reflects upon the high quality of research undertaken at the University. The research outcomes (over 4500) in the form of papers, theses, etc., have been made available to the public over the university website in its repository (http://irgu.unigoa.ac.in). The citation datbase such as Web of Science reports over 1200 items on their database accuring over 10000 citations. The University publications has an h-index of 42.
In addition to the conventional graduate and post graduate programmes, Goa University has also taken initiatives to provide innovative programmes. Some noteworthy initiatives are online programme in Geographic Information Science (GIS) in collaboration with the University of Salzburg, the Study India Programme with Nihon University of Japan, etc. Goa University launched the Visiting Research Professors Programme (VRPP) from the year 2013-14 to bring luminaries in the field of liberal arts & Literature, social and natural sciences, and other fields. The visiting professors interact with students, deliver lectures, offer courses, and work on collaborative research projects, or stimulate the creation of art installations and music performances with faculty and students. These visiting professors are found to generate a creative environment in learning and contemporary knowledge production practices with their intellectual and aesthetic endeavors.
Team TNV
