Azim Premji University
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Azim Premji University is a private university, located in
Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
, Karnataka, India. It was founded in 2010 and is named after Azim Premji, an Indian businessman and philanthropist who was chairman of
Wipro Limited Wipro Limited () is an Indian multinational corporation, multinational technology company based in Bengaluru. It provides information technology, consulting and business process services. It is one of India's Big Tech (India), Big Six IT service ...
. The university offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and several short-term diplomas and certificate courses. It claims that its curriculum is designed to contribute to the social sector in India. A second Azim Premji University campus opened in
Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...
Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...
in July 2023. The third campus will come up in
Ranchi, Jharkhand Ranchi (; ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital city and also the largest district by population of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate s ...
, while another is being planned in
Northeast India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of the country. It comprises eight States and ...
.


History

The university was established by th
Azim Premji Foundation
a non-profit organization founded in 2001. The university was set up under the Azim Premji University Act (2010) and recognised by the University Grants Commission under section 2F. Anurag Behar was the founding Vice-Chancellor of the university.Indu Prasad is the current Vice-Chancellor of the university. Gautam Pandey is the Vice-Chancellor of the university in Bhopal. Initially, the university offered just two programmes in
Education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...
and Development, along with courses for working professionals. Now it offers
postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...
degrees in Education, Development,
Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
and
Public Health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...
, undergraduate degrees in Economics,
Social Science Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...
,
Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...
,
Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...
, Environmental Science and Sustainability, Information Sciences,
Mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
,
Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
, English,
History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
and
Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
. It also offers dual degree in science and teacher education. It has nearly 150 short courses for professionals, in education, development, policy and governance.


Campus

The university functioned out of a campus in Bengaluru's Electronic City from inception to 2020. It then moved to its own campus of 90 acres in Bengaluru's Sarjapur-Attibele Road. This campus has classrooms and residential facilities for students and guests. It includes a library, seminar halls, amphitheatre, outdoor playfields and indoor sports complex. One of the nin
Azim Premji Schools
in India is located within this campus. The
library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...
at the campus is spread over 43,837 sq ft and is open to the public.


Library

The library is spread over 43,837 square feet and is a part of a network of Azim Premji Foundation libraries around the country which serves students and members of the Foundation. All Foundation and University libraries are open to the public. Registered external membership is provided for individuals, organisations, and University partners who are scholars, researchers, and activists working on focus areas of the University's work.


Bhopal Campus

The Bhopal campus is spread over 50 acres and became functional in 2023. The campus is a sustainable campus whose design was inspired from various local architectural styles of Madhya Pradesh. Said to be one of the few in India, it has an extensive water conservation system facilitating conservation of rainwater and a 50 kilo litre water treatment facility. The University campus is designed for barrier-free access to all the facilities by persons with disabilities. Hostel blocks have rooms designed to ease wheelchair movement. The academic blocks have restrooms on each floor that are designed in such a way that persons with disabilities can use them with ease.


Azim Premji Schools

One among the nine Azim Premji Schools set up by the Foundation is housed on the campus. Like the other Azim Premji Schools, it is free of cost and welcomes children from disadvantaged backgrounds while being open to all. Currently, it has classes up to primary but will eventually, serve K-12 children between 3 and 18 years of age. The medium of instruction is English and there is a significant focus on health and nutrition.


Academics


Academic Programs

The university offers 4-year undergraduate degrees in BA and BSc for humanities and sciences respectively. It also offers postgraduate degrees in Education, Development, Economics and Public Health. The university has a number of diploma programmes and certificate courses on subject areas such as Research for Social Action, Exploring Sustainability in the Indian context, Mapping and Geographical Information Systems using Quantum GIS, Perspectives on Public Education System, etc.


Research

Research in Azim Premji University is primarily focused on social sciences. The emphasis of the research is on contributing to practice on the ground in India's vast social sector and on high-quality academic scholarship in the areas of development, education, public policy, governance, sustainability, and equity. The university has a Research Funding Programme supported by the Foundation to strengthen and supplement existing efforts in these areas.


Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability

The centre seeks to strengthen India's response to the climate crisis. Set up in 2019, the centre uses research, education, and sustainability actions to address the challenges of climate change. This includes research on climate change and urban sustainability, publication of books, research papers, and popular articles as well as the fostering of research-based climate action through an annual call for external research proposals on climate change and sustainability. Recent publications include ''Cities and Canopies: Trees in Indian Cities'', ''Where have all our Gunda thopes gone''. The centre recently released the report title
‘Navigating India's Climate Future: Climate Projections for India (2021-2040)’
The report published on 17 November 2024, uses two Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios—“moderate emissions and adaptation” (SSP2-4.5) and “high emissions with heavy fossil fuel reliance” (SSP5-8.5)
to extrapolate “how extreme weather events, like heat waves, droughts, and intense rainfall, could affect communities, agriculture, and natural resources”.


Centre for Sustainable Employment

Established in 2017, the centre aims at generating and supporting research in the areas of job creation, employment, and sustainable livelihoods. The centre conducts primary surveys exploring a range of labour market issues including measurement of work, discrimination in the labour market, the impact of COVID-19 on workers, NREGA and the Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme
SWI 2018
the first State of Working India (SWI) report, provided a comprehensive overview of India's labour market
SWI 2019
put together four policy papers to examine the possibilities for employment creation through an urban job guarantee programme and universal basic services provisioning while demonstrating the scope for fiscal expansion and the imperative need for a well-articulated industrial policy
SWI 2021
looked at the devastating impact of the pandemic on India's labour market including the disproportionate impact on women and young workers and the implications for poverty and inequality in the country.


Centre for Local Democracy

The centre, set up in 2020, engages in multiple areas of action, including research grants; a local democracy pilot project in Jharkhand initiated to create and disseminate inspiring stories of local democracy in practice and offering a Continuing Education Programme, ‘Local Democracy: Theory Policy and Practice’.


Student life

The University has many clubs and events for students to explore their interests.
Unmukt
is the University's main annual three-day cultural festival. Apart from this there are many other exhibitions, festivals and celebrations. * Students pursue their interests through variou
clubs
like music, sports, photography, cinema, theatre, poetry as well as clubs for subjects like maths, biology, physics etc. * The university also offers academic and language support for students in need during the summer program(which is usually the start of the academic year).  * Throug
Community Engagement Initiative
students engage with social causes ranging from the education of disadvantaged children, working with the community surrounding the campus, environmental concerns, blood donation camps etc. * The “Kaapi Aur Charcha” series invites practitioners from various fields to engage in informal talks with the students. * Publications: Student publications “Karvan” and “Student Journal of Education and Development”.


Alumni

Over 4382 students have graduated from the university. They work at 500 locations across the country, and many work at the grassroots. Many alumni have gone on to start their own social enterprises.   Many undergraduate programme alumni have gone on to study at universities like
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
,
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
, TISS, NCBS, IISER etc. Notable alumni include
Alina Alam

Dharamjeet Kumar

Ram Prakash Krishnan


Faculty

Many of the faculty at the university are graduates of top universities from across the world like JNU, Delhi University,
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
,
University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the Public university, public university system of the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes six campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, University of Massachusetts Lowell ...
etc.   A few notable faculty names: * Harini Nagendra
Amit Basole

Amman Madan

Arjun Jaydev

Varuni Bhatia


Publications

Azim Premji University publications, magazines for school education are available online and in print. They are all focussed on promoting dialogue among school teachers, practitioners and educationists on current discourses and perspectives on education, classroom pedagogy, research and on-ground experiences. iWonder...is a triannual science magazine for primary and middle school teachers. It is published in three languages, English, Kannada and Hindi. At Right Angles is a triannual magazine for primary and middle school teachers. It is a resource for school mathematics, published in three languages, English, Kannada and Hindi. Pathshala Bheetar aur Baahar is a quarterly publication in Hindi and translated into Ebglish and Kannada.It is on school education in general, school and classroom experiences, and explores issues within the confluence of education and society.


Translations

Among the largest of such initiatives in the country, the Translations Initiative, Anuvada Sampada, facilitates the reach of high-quality learning material in higher education to graduate and PG students in Indian languages (currently, Hindi and Kannada). The initiative has a network of 450 translators in 20 leading academic institutions. The belief that led to this initiative is that the availability of quality resources in Indian languages will support students to engage more deeply and thoroughly with concepts and ideas in higher education.


The Schoolbooks Archive

The Schoolbooks Archive, launched November 2021, is a free, open-access, digital collection of 5,724 items, schoolbooks and related documents, dating as far back as 1819, from various regions of South Asia. The archive covers books in all languages and all school subjects that have been written and/or published in the Indian Subcontinent – India and neighbouring South Asian countries. As part of this initiative, a physical exhibition is being held in different parts of the country.


References


External links


https://azimpremjifoundation.
{{Authority control Universities in Bengaluru Educational institutions established in 2010 2010 establishments in Karnataka