Jadavpur University

Jadavpur University (abbr. JU) is a public state funded technical and research university with its main campus located at Jadavpur, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It was established on 25 July in 1906 as Bengal Technical Institute and was converted into Jadavpur University on 24 December in 1955. As of the 2025 NIRF rankings, Jadavpur University has been ranked 9th among universities, 1st among state public universities, 18th among engineering institutes, and 18th overall in India. Also Nature Index ranked Jadavpur University in 1st among universities in India and 22nd overall in India in terms of research output (2023–2024). The university has been recognized by the UGC as an institute with "Potential for Excellence" and accredited an "A+" grade by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).

History

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Stamp featuring Jadavpur University

On 25 July 1906, Bengal Technical Institute was founded by Society for the Promotion of Technical Education by at 92, Upper Circular Road. On 7 July 1910, the Society for the Promotion of Technical Education in Bengal was merged with the National Council of Education (NCE). The institute became College of Engineering and Technology, Bengal looked after by NCE. After Independence, on 24 December 1955, Jadavpur University was officially established by the Government of West Bengal with the concurrence of the Government of India.

Campuses

Main campus

Template:CSS image crop Jadavpur University's main campus is at Jadavpur, spread over 60 acres. The campus contains major engineering, arts and science departments.

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Inside JU Main Campus

The main campus have 7 auditoriums: H.L. Roy Auditorium, Triguna Sen Auditorium, K.P. Basu Memorial Hall, Vivekananda Hall, Anita Banerjee Memorial Hall and Gandhi Bhavan. The campus also has an Open Air Theatre with a seating capacity of around 3000.

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The playground along with Aurobindo Bhavan in the back

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Aurobindo Bhavan

The 6 Acres sports complex have Badminton court, Tennis court, Kabaddi court and playground for other organising sports like cricket and football.

Additionally the university has a six canteens, amenities center, and guest house, cafeteria, health centre, gymnasium, Pwd centre and other facilities like banks, post office, book shops etc.

Salt Lake campus

Jadavpur University has its second campus on 26 Acres area in Bidhannagar (Salt Lake) Sector-III. There are 5 departments in the campus namely Construction Engineering, Instrumentation Engineering, Printing Engineering, Information Technology and Power Engineering. The Eastern Regional Offices of the UGC and the Inter-University Consortium for Atomic Energy are also located on this campus. Jadavpur University Campus Ground is located in this campus.

West Annexe campus at Jadavpur

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Erstwhile NIL campus, Jadavpur University

On 1 January 2009, Jadavpur University took over National Instruments Limited, a former PSU under Department of Heavy industries, GOI on a 297-year lease. From 2014, the campus is used as a research hub of the university and known as West Annexe campus. Research institutes like DRDO and CSIR also operate from the campus. A portion of land and building of the campus is leased out to DRDO for long term, which is the 40 percent of the space. At that, the "Jagadish Chandra Bose Centre for Advanced Technology" (JCBCAT) is established by collaboration of JU and DRDO.

The regional centre of "National Afforestaion & Eco-Development Board" is also located in the campus.

New Town campus

In 2018, state Government announced to provide 5 acre land parcel in New Town, Kolkata for creating another campus. In January 2021, the land was handed over to Jadavpur University. In July 2024, a committee was formed and DPR preparation started. Funds were requested for its implementation. State-of-the-art facilities along with research laboratories, a convention centre, international hostel and AI laboratory are planned on the campus.

Administration

The administrative framework operates under a combination of statutory bodies, executive leadership, faculty councils, and various specialized cells. The university's top-level decision-making body is the Executive Council, which, along with the Court and the Faculty Councils, forms the legislative backbone of the university's governance. Governor of West Bengal is the Chancellor of the university. Rest administration includes Vice-Chancellor, Pro-Vice-Chancellors, registrar, Controller of Examinations, Chief University Engineer etc. Each academic department also maintains internal committees such as the Academic Audit Cell, Departmental Purchase Committees, and Program Quality Improvement Cells (PAQIC). Other administrative positions include dean of students, Director of Youth Welfare. Specialized offices and units include Placement and Training Office, Medical Superintendent and Health Unit, RTI Cell and Documentation Office, Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), Equal Opportunity Cell and SC/ST/OBC Cells, Entrepreneurship Development Cell.

Affiliated institutes

In addition to being a unitary university, other institutes like the J. D. Birla Institute, and the Institute of Business Management are affiliated to it, which operate out of independent campuses. While these institutes have their own independent curriculum as well as examination systems, the final degree is awarded by Jadavpur University. Jadavpur University also offers Ph.D. degree to the following institutes: Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics; School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata; VECC (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre), Kolkata; Indian Institute of Chemical Biology; Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute; Bose Institute; Kolkata; Jute Technological Research Laboratory; Chittaranjan National Cancer Research Centre; S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences.

Academics

Departments and schools

As of 2023, Jadavpur University has 37 Departments and 21 Schools of interdisciplinary studies.

Faculty	Departments
Faculty of Engineering & Technology	Template:Bulleted list Template:Bulleted list Template:Bulleted list
Faculty of Science	Template:Bulleted list Template:Bulleted list Template:Bulleted list
Faculty of Arts	Bengali Comparative Literature Economics Education Sanskrit English Film Studies History International Relations Sociology Library & Information Science Philosophy Physical Education

To facilitate interdisciplinary learning and research in diverse fields, there are a number of schools.

Faculty	Schools
Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies, Law & Management	Template:Bulleted list

Centre for Studies

To facilitate interdisciplinary learning and higher research in diverse fields, there are nearly fifty Centre for Studies.

Centre for Studies

Template:Bulleted list

Library

The Central Library at Jadavpur campus occupies Template:Convert and houses 6,46,296 books, 80,700 bound volumes of journals, and 13000 theses and dissertations, 37,000 items of non-book materials such as reports pamphlets, maps and micro-forms and 1159 print and 1448 online journals. The library also has access to around 3000 online journals more through INFLIBNET and INDEST Consortia. In total, the University Library has access to around 11000 Journals. The library subscribes to 30 databases which include Scopus, Econlit etc. and also about 10000+ E-books (as of 2018). The Salt Lake campus has a library with 65,00 sq. ft. of space.

They also feature a scholarly journal in collaboration with Sage Publications known as the Jadavpur Journal of International Relations.

Recognition and notable works

File:The President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam addressing the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Jadavpur University, Kolkata on July 14, 2005.jpg

Former President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam acknowledged Jadavpur University to be the future Nalanda of India while addressing the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the University on 14 July 2005.

Science and technology

In the 2025 edition of the "List of top 2% global scientists" published by the Stanford University, Jadavpur University has 51 scientists in the list, which is third highest number of faculties selected from any university in India.

Two professors from Jadavpur University were involved in a soft-landing project named "RESPOND" for a planetary mission sponsored by Indian Space Research Organisation. Jadavpur University also contributes to the satellite launch vehicle programme of ISRO and LCA programme of DRDO.

Nature Index ranked Jadavpur University in 1st among universities in India and 22th overall in India (2023–2024). Additionally, it is ranked 19th among all Indian institutes in the field of Physical Science taking into account publications in 82-select high-quality science journals (2020–2021).

Jadavpur University's High Energy Physics Group, Nuclear & Particle Physics Research Centre which comes under Department of Physics has been awarded the status of "Associate Membership" of ALICE – INDIA Collaboration and CERN (European Council for Nuclear Research) – ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) Collaboration and received a grant of Rs. 1.115 crores. In 2025, the group won "2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics" along with $3 million.

The Global Change Programme at Jadavpur University (GCP-JU) is active at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It has also worked with Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change towards the preparation of NATCOM (National Communication) for United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). A joint open energy modelling project was initiated by GCP-JU in collaboration with Indian Institute of Science (Bengaluru), and the Environmental Defense Fund (US). Since 2020, they are also collectively developing a comprehensive energy model and evaluate alternative decarbonization strategies and pathways for future India.

Some major research ventures undertaken by School of Environmental Studies are highlighting the presence of arsenic in groundwater in countries like India and Bangladesh and the development of the first alcohol based car by the School of Automobile Engineering.

In March 2011, Indian American scientist Manick Sorcar assisted in the opening of a laser animation lab under the School of Illumination Science, Engineering and Design. The DTC Laboratory at Jadavpur University has been involved in Cheminformatics/QSAR research since 2002, and the laboratory has developed techniques like q-RASAR, ARKA descriptors in QSAR, ETA (a topological index) and many QSAR tools which are hosted in DTC Lab Tools site and DTC Lab Supplementary Tools site.

Industry

Jadavpur University's Innovation Council (IIC) was established in 2018 to promote innovations and startups in the campus. IIC arranges awareness programmes, seminars and workshops on innovation and entrepreneurship and organises visits to industries and start-ups for the first year students. The university hosted a HULT event. IIC participated in Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) 2022, Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2022. Three alumni members from JU has successfully established their startups by enlisting in startup MSME venture. Four Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) have been signed with companies like Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Haldia Petrochemicals Limited, MCPI Private Limited and Nexgen Plasma Private Limited for student internships. Jadavpur University organised SERB-INAE Hackathon 2022, in which nearly 100 students from all over India participated.

The university also has an Industry-Institute Partnership Cell (IIPC) in which consultancy and testing services are provided to industry, service sectors and other public or private organizations. During 2022–2023, the IIPC generated a revenue of Rs 13.5 crores. Up to 2023, the IIPC has worked with around 161 leading industries or organisations. They include organisations like Tata Steel, RITES, Airport Authority of India, Kolkata Port Trust, Bajaj Electricals, L&T, KMC and KMDA, Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd., CPCB, CESC etc.

National and international rankings

The rankings of Jadavpur University by various National and International organisations are as follows:

• Indian:
  • NIRF:

NIRF Ranking comparison and improvements
Ranking	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021
NIRF (Overall)	18	17	13	12	14
NIRF (University)	9	9	4	4	8
NIRF (Engineering)	18	12	10	11	17
NIRF (Research)	23	21	19	13
NIRF (Pharmacy)	24	18	18	18	-

• • NISTADS: National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (NISTADS) of CSIR ranked Jadavpur University 4th among the top 50 Universities of the country based on h-index of publication.
• International:
  • QS World University Rankings: In 2023 QS World ranking, JU was placed in the 4th position among India's state universities. Within the broad discipline of "Arts and Humanities" JU is the only state university to find a place in this ranking with being 3rd in the "English Language and Literature" domain among all Indian institutes. In the first published list of QS Sustainability Ranking 2023, Jadavpur University has been featured as the only state university and one of the 15 Indian institutes.
  • Nature Index: In 2021–2022, The Nature Index ranked Jadavpur University in 19th in Physical Science, 23rd in Chemistry, 11th in Earth and Environmental Science and 24th overall among India's Higher Education Institutions.
  • Times (THE): Jadavpur University was ranked 47th in the Times Higher Education-Thomson Reuters list of the 100 best universities in the BRICS and Emerging Economies, 2013.
  • URAP: University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP) Research Laboratory ranked Jadavpur University 10th in India in its 2012–13 report considering academic indicators.

Controversies and Criticism

2014 Jadavpur University Protests

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Students rally against the vice-chancellor during the 2014 Jadavpur University protests

In 2014 a series of protests broke out in response to the alleged molestation of a female student and beating of a male student by 10 other students on 28 August 2014. Her family and ultimately the student body were unsatisfied by the response of the Vice Chancellor to the allegations. Protests began on 10 September. On 16 September students gheraoed several officials in their offices, demanding that the Vice Chancellor make a statement on the status of a fair probe. Police were summoned, and later that night the police allegedly attacked and beat the student demonstrators. 30 to 40 students were injured; some had to be hospitalized. Reaction was nationwide, with supportive protests at multiple other cities including New Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore. On 20 September, Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi, who is also the chancellor of the university, met with student representatives and promised to conduct an impartial inquiry. However, students said they will continue to boycott classes until the Vice Chancellor resigns.

On 26 September, a State Government inquiry panel submitted its report, confirming that the female student had indeed been sexually abused on 28 August 2014. On 26 September, police summoned two Jadavpur University students to come to the Lalbazar Police HQ for questioning at 4 pm on Friday. They were arrested at 6 pm. "The arrests were made after evidence was found, prima facie, against the duo. Further investigation is on," said joint CP-crime Pallab Kanti Ghosh. Mr Ghosh also stated, "(Two names) were arrested because we had enough evidence to prove that they were present at the spot and had carried out the crime as alleged in the victim's complaint." The duo were booked under Sections of 354 (assault or use of criminal force on a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty), 342 (wrongful confinement), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 114 (abettor present when offence is committed) of the IPC.

2018 Scrapping Entrance Tests

JU got embroiled in controversy on 4 July 2018, when the executive council announced its decision to scrap entrance tests for six humanities subjects which was met with protests from the Jadavpur University Teacher's Association and the student unions along with other academics and university students due speculations that state education ministry had influenced this decision.

2023 ragging allegations

In August 2023, Swapnadeep Kundu, a 17 year old freshman student studying an Honours course in Bengali fell from the balcony of the second floor of the Jadavpur University Hostel – either by suicide or by murder – after intense ragging. The Kolkata Police arrested several students and alumni who were suspected to have been involved. The incident left a deep impact on the general public, leading to an outcry. Media attention was also given to the need for strengthening security measures within the university, a suggestion that was vehemently opposed by certain sections of Jadavpur University's political circles. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, directed the Higher Education Committee of West Bengal to form a team to investigate the incident. As the student happened to be a minor, the incident was also taken up by the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR). Amidst the investigation, Jadavpur University students protested against ragging.

See also

• List of Jadavpur University people
• List of universities in India
• Universities and colleges in India

External links

• Template:Official website