Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi

Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi announces Admission to Ph.D Programs

The sprawling campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University (जवाहरलाल नेहरू विश्वविद्यालय ) is located in New Delhi, the capital of India. Named after Jawaharlal Nehru (the first Prime Minister of India), JNU is among the premier universities in India. Professor G.Parthasarathi was appointed as the First Vice-Chancellor of the university. Situated in a bush forest of about 1000 acres (4 km²) in South Delhi, JNU is mainly a research oriented postgraduate University with about 5500 students. The faculty strength is around 500, and the University is organized in nine Schools (each of which can have several Centers) as well as four independent Special Centers. JNU is not only one of the most prestigious universities in India but also in Asia. International league tables produced in 2006 by the London-based The Times Higher Education Supplement(THES)[1] confirmed JNU's place among the world's top 200 universities. For life and biological sciences, JNU is ranked among the top 100 universities in the world. In 2005, JNU was ranked 192nd; but it climbed up a few notches to reach the 183rd rank in the THES league table of 2006[2] . JNU's School of Social Sciences received special notice when THES 2006[3] placed it at the 57th position among the world's top 100 institutes for social sciences. JNU was established in 1969, by an act of parliament, with the objective of promoting the study of principles of national integration, social justice, secularism, democratic way of life, international understanding and scientific approach in solving the problems of society. Over the years, it has been a model university in terms of academic excellence. Being unique of its kind in India, JNU is truly multicultural and a miniature India can be seen and felt in the residential university. Within South Asia, JNU-ites have already made their impact in policy-making and academic programs across the region. The true Global Character of JNU can be seen from the MOUs signed with major Universities through out the globe. As of now, JNU has exchange programmes and academic collaboration with 71 foreign universities around the world.[4]. Among others, the list includes Yale University (USA), George Washington University (USA), University of Illinois (USA), University of North Carolina (USA), SOAS (London University), Lancaster University (UK), Australia National University (Canberra), GNU (Korea), Ankara University (Turkey), MVL Moscow State University (Russia), University of Philippines (Quezon City), University of Heldelberg (Germany), University of Syndey (Australia), Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (France), etc. [5] Several prominent political leaders of today has served as guest lecturers in JNU. Prominent among them, are the current Prime Minister of India, Dr.Manmohan Singh, who is a visiting professor at the School of Social Sciences. Former Sri Lanka President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga was a visiting lecturer at the School of International Studies early in her career. There is a long tradition of holding serious post-dinner meetings in the hostels to which the students often invite well known public figures, writers and intellectuals. The JNUSU is democratically elected student body, primarily responsible for building and preserving a health political culture and an atmosphere of open debate on the campus. Students are kept informed about the various public meetings, discussions and other issues through pamphlets and notices. The Student Union election is another democratic convention of JNU is conducted annually entirely by the students in a lively yet peaceful manner, without any intervention of the administration. The campus buildings are architecturally distinct and are dominated by a seven storied red-brick library and buildings housing lecture halls around it. JNU is located in the southern part of New Delhi, Capital of India. The campus is well connected by road from the three main railway stations, New Delhi, Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin, as well as the Interstate Bus Terminus. It is a short distance from the Indira Gandhi International Airport. Spread over an area of about 1000 acres (4 km²), the JNU occupies some of the northernmost reaches of the Aravalli Hills. The campus still maintains large patches of scrub and forest- this is the JNU ridge, home to over 200 species of birds and other wildlife such as nilgai, jackal, mongoose,peacock as well as a large number of snakes. The JNU Students' Union The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union has traditionally been a prominent leading voice of the left students' movements in India[citation needed]. The JNUSU is the only students' union in the country which has produced two politburo members of the largest communist party in India - the CPI(M) - its present General Secretary Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury. The JNUSU has a unique constitution, entirely drafted by the students. The elections to the JNUSU are administered by students as well. During the Emergency, the JNUSU protested Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's visit to the campus.Presently the union is shared between the leftist alliance SFI-AISF and the far-left All India Students Association (AISA). The SFI-AISF alliance has dominated the Central Panel in JNUSU over the years, nevertheless, in 2007, it has lost all the key posts of the students union by its rival, AISA. A large majority of JNUSU Presidents have come from SFI.On cultural front BAHROOP is very active there. BAHROOP is basically a theatre group and rising people's and students voice with this medium. Schools * 1. BioTechnology [1] SBT is the youngest School of JNU, being formed in 2006 out of the earlier Centre for Biotechnology, CBT. * 2. Social Sciences In many ways the JNU has been best known for its strong programme in the Social Sciences. SSS is the largest School (in terms of the number of faculty members) in JNU with 9 centres: o Centre for Economic Studies and Planning (CESP) o Center for Historical Studies (CHS): This Centre regularly brings out a reputed peer-reviewed journal, "Studies in History" in collaboration with Sage Publications. o Center for Philosophy (CP) o Centre for Political Studies (CPS) o Centre for Studies in Science Policy (CSSP) o Centre for the Study of Regional Development (CSRD) o Centre for the Study of Social Systems (CSSS) o Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health (CSMCH) o Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies (ZHCES)[6] * 3. International Studies The School of International Studies existed, prior to the formation of the JNU, as the Indian School of International Studies. * 4. Language, Literature and Culture Studies: SLLCS is the largest School of the JNU in terms of number of students, with the following twelve centres: o Centre of Arabic and African studies. o Centre of Chinese and South East Asian Studies o Centre for French and Francophone Studies o Centre of German Studies o Centre of Indian Languages o Centre of Japanese Korean and North East Asian Studies o Centre for English Studies o Centre for Linguistics o Centre of Persian and Central Asian Studies o Centre of Russian Studies o Centre of Spanish, Portuguese, Italian & Latin American Studies o Group of Philosophy * 5. Computer and Systems Sciences has been attracting the largest number of applications as compared to other centres, since its inception in 1974. Apart from leading in the research in wide variety of areas, SCSS also produced excellent professional software developers, IT-managers, and computer engineers for the IT-industry. * 6. Life Sciences * 7. Physical Sciences: SPS, formed in 1986, has faculty in the areas of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. At present the degree programs that are offered are the M.Sc. (Physics) and Ph.D. (in Physics, Chemistry or Mathematics). The School has experimental facilities in a number of different areas that include soft-matter physics, low temperature physics, materials science, supramolecular chemistry, as well as extensive computational facilities and the NLD Lab, a laboratory [2] dedicated to nonlinear science. SPS is the best place for MSc.[3] * 8. Environmental Sciences * 9. Arts and Aesthetics * 10. School Of Information Technology carved out of the erstwhile BIC the place is in a class of its own. catering to the ever growing need for the confluence of biological sciences with the technological know-how, it offers M.Tech in computational and systems biology and Ph.D courses.