Pondicherry University, also known as PU, is a collegiate public central university located in Kalapet, Pondicherry in

Union Territory of Puducherry Puducherry (), also known as Pondicherry () or Pondichéry, is a union territory of India, consisting of four small geographically unconnected districts. It was formed out of four territories of former French India, namely Pondichéry (Pondi ...

, India. It was established by an Act of Parliament in 1985 by the Department of Higher Education,

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

. The

Vice President of India The vice president of India (IAST: ) is the deputy to the head of state of the Republic of India, i.e. the president of India. The office of vice president is the second-highest constitutional office after the president and ranks second in the ...

is the Chancellor along with the

Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Puducherry (formerly known as "Pondicherry") is a Union Territory of India. Governance and administration of the territory fall directly under federal authority. Chief Commissioner (1954 1963) After the ''de facto'' transfer of French settl ...

acting as the

Chief Rector A rector (Latin for 'ruler') is a senior official in an educational institution, and can refer to an official in either a university or a secondary school. Outside the English-speaking world the rector is often the most senior official in a ...

and the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...

is the Visitor of the university. The university is a

collegiate university A collegiate university is a university in which functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges. Historically, the first collegiate university was the University of Paris and its first college was the C ...

with its

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...

spread over the

located in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

(

Pondicherry Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...

and

Karaikal Karaikal (Help:IPA/English, /kʌdɛkʌl/, french: Karikal Help:IPA/French, /kaʁikal/) is a town of the Indian States and territories of India, Union Territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. Karaikal was sold to the French by t ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

( Mahé) and

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

(

Yanam Yanam (Telugu: ''యానాం'') is a town located in the Yanam district in Puducherry. It has a population of 35,000 and is entirely surrounded by Andhra Pradesh. It was formerly a French colony for nearly 200 years, and, though united ...

), and Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The vast jurisdiction over three Union Territories namely gives the university a national character. The residents speak diverse languages such as English,

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

, French, Telugu,

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

, Oriya and

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

. Local skill sets are advanced through several vocational programs such as paramedical courses using the on-site hospital facilities.

Campus

Pondicherry University is located in a campus spread over , facing the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line betwee ...

on the East Coast Road. It is accessible from Chennai () and Bengaluru (). Hostel facilities are available on the campus for both males and females. Students from distant places will be given preference on a first-come, first-served basis. The university has a hostel for foreign students that can accommodate more than 30 students. Girls are given rent free accommodation. All physically challenged students get free education including free board and lodge in hostels. The university provides free transport off the campus and within the campus. The university which was B grade for 20 years , took a big leap forward during the period 2007 -2012 the 11 plan when prof J A K Tareen was vice chancellor. It grew by 300% all round including infrastructure, facilities and departments. Over 300 new faculty and 22 new departments were started and new campuses at Karaikal and Andaman. It became A grade and In the first NIRF ranking came to top 11 of Indian universities.Prof Tareen was an acclaimed institution builder.

Organisation and administration

Schools, departments and centres

The entire academic structure was reorganized during the tenure of Prof J. A. K. Tareen, who not only established over 20 new departments but also established new schools with over 80 new programs. The university has 14 schools and 52 departments distributed across

and

campus. Each school is headed by a dean, and each department has its own faculty and supporting staff working under the head of the department. They are also provided with separate buildings which house their laboratories and libraries. The following is the list of the schools, departments and centres:

Subramania Bharathi School of Tamil Language and Literature

* Tamil Language & Literature

School of Management

* Department of Management Studies * Department of Commerce * Department of Economics * Department of Tourism Studies * Department of Banking Technology * Department of International Business Karaikal Campus * Department of Management * Department of Commerce * Department of Computer Science

Ramanujan School of Mathematical Sciences

* Department of Mathematics * Department of Statistics

School of Engineering & Technology

Computer Science & Engineering Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) is an academic program at many universities which comprises scientific and engineering aspects of computing. CSE is also a term often used in Europe to translate the name of engineering informatics academic ...

* Electronics Engineering * Centre for Pollution Control & Environmental Engineering * Coastal Engineering * Geological Technology

School of Physical, Chemical and Applied Sciences

* Department of Physics * Department of Chemistry * Department of Earth Sciences * Department of Applied Psychology

School of Life Sciences

* Department of Bioinformatics * Department of

Biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used ...

* Department of Ecology & Environmental Sciences * Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology (Port Blair) * Department of Food Science & Technology * Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology * Department of Microbiology

School of Humanities

* English and

comparative literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

* French *

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

* Philosophy * Physical Education & Sports

School of Social Sciences and International Studies

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

Archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

* Politics and International Studies * Social Work *

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

* Centre for Women's Studies * Madanjeet Singh Institute of South Asia Regional Cooperation - Centre for South Asian Studies* * Centre for Study of Social Exclusion & Inclusive Policy* These centres were established during XII plan when Prof J A K Tareen was vice chancellor.

School of Education

* School of Education * Centre for Adult and Continuing Education

School of Medical Sciences

School of Media & Communication

* Library & Information Science * Department of Electronic Media and Mass Communication

Madanjeet School of Green Energy Technologies

* Centre for Nano Science & Technology * Department of Green Energy Technology

List of affiliated colleges

* Achariya Arts and Science College *Dr B R Ambedkar Institute of Technology *Arignar Anna Government Arts College *Avvaiyar Government College for Women *Bharathidasan Government College for Women *Bharathiar Palkalaikoodam *Dr S R K Government Arts College *Idhaya College of Arts and Science for Women *Indira Gandhi College of Arts and Science *Jawaharlal Nehru Rajkeeya Mahavidyalaya *Kanchi Mamunivar Centre for Post Graduate Studies *

Mahatma Gandhi Government Arts College Mahatma Gandhi Government Arts College, Mahe, (MGGAC Mahe, French: Collège des arts du gouvernement Mahatma Gandhi) is a general degree college located in Chalakkara, Mahé, Puducherry. It was established in the year 1970. The college is affili ...

, Mahe *Mahatma Gandhi Government College *Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Government Arts College *Rathnavel Subramaniam College of Arts and Science *Saradha Gangadharan College *Tagore Arts College *Tagore Arts College (Annexe) *Villianur College for Women *Dr Ambedkar Government Law College *R V S College of Engineering and Technology *Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Institute of Engineering and Technology *Bharathiar College of Engineering and Technology *

Pondicherry Engineering College Puducherry Technological University (PTU), is the first state Public technical and research university of the Union Territory of Puducherry which has been constituted by upgrading Pondicherry Engineering College (PEC) with the approval of Uni ...

Rajiv Gandhi College of Engineering and Technology , motto = L'innovation par l'information (French) , mottoeng = Innovation Through Information , type = Private , affiliation = Pondicherry University , chairman = Shri M.K. Rajagopalan , principal = ...

*Regency Institute of Technology *

Sri Venkateshwaraa Medical College Hospital and Research Centre Sri Venkateswaraa Medical College Hospital and Research Centre (SVMCH&RC; French: ''Hôpital et centre de recherche du Sri Venkateshwaraa Medical College'') is a private medical college and hospital located in Puducherry, India. The campus is ...

*College of Nursing *Kasturba Gandhi College of Nursing *Mahatma Gandhi Dental College and Hospital * Mahatma Gandhi Medical College & Research Institute *Mother Teresa Institute of Health Sciences *

Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) is a tertiary care hospital and teaching institute at Kalapet in the Union Territory of Puducherry, India. The college has been approved for full recognition by MCI for 150 seats for MBBS degree ...

* Rajiv Gandhi College of Veterinary Animal Sciences *Regional Medical Research Institute *Vector Control Research Centre (ICMR) *Achariya College of Education *Alpha College of Education *Arutperunchothi Ramalingasamy College of Education *Co-operative College of Education *Don Bosco College of Education and Research Institute *Immaculate College of Education *Krishnasamy College of Education for Women *Mahe Co-operative College of Education *Mother Teresa BEd College *Nehru College of Education *Perunthalaivar Kamarajar College of Education *

Pope John Paul II College of Education Pope John Paul II College of Education is a private educational institution owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore. The college is governed by the board of directors of Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore (Le ...

*Regency College of Education *Senthil College of Education *Sree Narayana College of Education *Tagore Government College of Education *Vasavi College of Education *Venkateswara College of Education *Vivekanandha College of Education *Shri Krishnaa College Of Engineering and Technology, Mannadipet, Puducherry * Sri Manakula Vinayagar Engineering Collegepudhuvaicover.com *Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College and Hospital *Manakula Vinayagar Institute of Technology *Sri Manakula Vinayagar Nursing College *Usha Latchumanan College of Education *Venkateswara Teacher Training Institute *Acharya College of Engineering & Technology *Alpha College of Engineering *Sri Ganesh College of Engineering and Technology *Dr S J S Paul Memorial College of Engineering & Technology *Indira Gandhi Medical College *Sree Lakshmi Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences *Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru College of Agriculture and Research Institute

Central Instrumentation Facility

The Central Instrumentation Facility (CIF) was established in the university as the University Science Instrumentation Centre (USIC) in 1992 under the UGC Plan Scheme. It housed three facilities – Mechanical Shop, Glass blowing Shop and Electrical Shop, to provide support in the repair and servicing of scientific equipment. Fabrication of components for experimental setups is undertaken. The USIC has executed design, development and fabrication works ranging from custom designed sample holders/cells to electronic instrumentation and control modules. In 2005, the centre was reorganised into Central Instrumentation Facility under the School of Physical, Chemical and Applied Sciences and analytical instruments are added to provide analytical service, in addition to the workshop facilities.

Academics

Function and role

Teaching and research are its primary functions as in other Central Universities. It has 200 affiliated colleges located in

(

in Tamil Nadu, Mahé in

and

), Union Territory of Lakshadweep, Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Rankings

Pondicherry University was ranked 801–1000 in the world by the ''

Times Higher Education World University Rankings The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' (often referred to as the THE Rankings) is an annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' (THE) magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli ...

'' of 2020 and 251–300 in Asia. The

QS World University Rankings ''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for the ...

of 2020 ranked it 301–350 in Asia. It was ranked 81st in India overall by the

National Institutional Ranking Framework The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) is a methodology adopted by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, to rank institutions of higher education in India. The Framework was approved by the MHRD and launched by Minister ...

(NIRF) in 2020 and 58th among universities. The

of 2022 ranked it 800–1000 in worldwide.

Library

The university library, named after

Ananda Ranga Pillai M. R. Ry. Ananda Ranga Pillai ( ta, ஆனந்தரங்கம் பிள்ளை; 30 March 1709 – 16 January 1761) (often pronounced as ''Ānañtarañkam Pillai'') was a '' dubash'' in the service of the French East India Company. He ...

, was established in September 1986 with one deputy librarian and two assistant librarians. It was moved to the present locale as an independent building in July 1990. The Library is renowned for its disabled friendly modern infrastructure (80,000 sq. ft), fully air-conditioned, WIFI enabled, services for the Visually Challenged among the proactive services with RFID technology and 24/7 remote access to a collection of 4.97 lakhs, of which print is 2.22 and 2.7 lakhs of e-resources (e-books, e-journals, e-databases, e-theses, Academic Online Videos, Video Talks etc.)

Student life, clubs & extracurricular activities

PU SHARE- PU SHARE is a community initiated by a group of students from Pondicherry University to share goodness through charity, in and around the university campus. This organization have been active into volunteering for social causes since 2016. Their major aim is upbringing the children at "Snehalayam" (a standalone orphanage near to the Pondicherry University campus) by helping them in academics as well as their necessities. A few other programmes organised by them include the monthly food donation drive in every month of the academic year, blood donation at nearby hospitals and free tuition classes for kids at the orphanage. "INSPIRE" is the annual event that aims at promotion as well as fundraiser for the activities of PU SHARE throughout the year.

SPECTRA- Pondicherry University (LGBTQIA+ support organization)

SPECTRA has been working to increase queer visibility and awareness in the university campus and beyond. It also provides a safe space for LGBTQIA students to share their experiences and discuss issues faced by the community. SPECTRA was founded on 15 August 2014 and has been conducting events ever since. One of the first Campus Pride events in India was organized successfully in 2018 at Pondicherry University by SPECTRA.

Earth Sciences Club of Pondicherry University

The Earth sciences Club was founded in September 2013. It conducts field trips, screen documentaries, organize debates, quizzes, treasure hunts and so on so forth. It is also involved with organising the annual event "Mrittika" in Department of Earth Sciences.

PUQS (Pondicherry University Quiz Society)

The students have started the Pondicherry University Quiz Society (PUQS) in June 2012. The inauguration of PUQS was held on 1 August 2011 in Pondicherry University/Lecture Hall Seminar-I. The event was inaugurated by Director of Education of the Pondicherry University, Prof M Ramadass. The first quizmaster of the show was Nikhil Kurien Jacob. The tagline of the Quiz Society is "It's all about Quizzing."

Community radio station

Puduvai Vaani, the community radio station (CRS) established by Pondicherry University with the support of UGC located in

National Capital Territory of Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

, India. It works under FM 107.8 MHz a frequency which is currently extended to a catchments area of radius from the university campus. The test transmission of Puduvai Vaani – Community Radio Station was started on 23 August 2008. This was yet another initiative by Prof J. A. K. Tareen. It was inaugurated by Shri V. Narayanasamy, Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Planning & Parliamentary Affairs on 27 December 2008 in the presence of Shri

P.Chidambaram Palaniappan Chidambaram (born 16 September 1945), better known as P. Chidambaram, is an Indian politician and lawyer who currently serves as Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. He served as the Chairman of the List of Indian parliamentary commit ...

, Hon’ble Union Home Minister. The full-time transmission started on 1 January 2009.

Silver Jubilee celebrations

The valedictory of the silver jubilee celebrations of Pondicherry University was held on 18 October 2010. Dr

C Rangarajan Chakravarthi Rangarajan (born 1932) is an Indian economist, a former Member of Parliament and 19th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. He is the former Chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, he resigned the day the UPA ...

, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India, delivered the keynote address. Lieutenant governor of

Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to: * Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India ** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry t ...

, Iqbal Singh, who was the Chief Rector of the university, was present at the function. Professor J. A. K. Tareen, Vice Chancellor presided over the function.

Notable alumni

* Kodiyeri Balakrishnan * Jayanthasri Balakrishnan *

Elango Kumaravel Elango Kumaravel (born 27 August 1965) is an Indian theatre actor and writer. He is also a co-founder of the Chennai based theatre group "Magic Lantern". He is an alumnus of Pondicherry University's Sankaradas Swamigal School of Performing Art ...

* Babu Gogineni *

Kesava Reddy Kesava Reddy (10 March 1946 – 13 February 2015) was a renowned Telugu novelist. Hailing from Andhra Pradesh state in India. In his writings he addresses many of the important social problems in India like poverty, prejudices, and superstition ...

* Durai Sundar *

Lijomol Jose Lijomol Jose is an Indian actress, who primarily appears in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam and Tamil cinema, Tamil films. She is famous for portraying Senggeni in the Tamil film ''Jai Bhim (film), Jai Bhim'' along with Suriya, which won her Fil ...

Jijoy Rajagopal Jijoy P R ( ml, ജിജോയ് P R) is an Indian film and theatre actor. He is an associate professor at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune and is currently serving as the Dean of the Films Division too. He is an inter ...

* Ma Ka Pa Anand * Anu Antony *

Arulnithi Arulnithi Tamilarasu (born 21 July 1987) is an Indian actor best known for playing the lead roles in '' Vamsam'', directed by Pandiraj, Mouna Guru, and Demonte Colony. Personal life Arulnithi's grandfather is M. Karunanidhi, former Chief Minist ...

Fathima Babu Fathima Babu is a South Indian actress, former newsreader and socialite based out of Chennai who hails from Puducherry. Born in a Muslim family, Fathima began her public career as a newsreader for more than 25 years with DD Podhigai, the Tamil ...

N. Rangaswamy Natesan Krishnasamy Rangasamy (born 4 August 1950) is an Indian politician who is the Chief Minister of the Union Territory of Puducherry. He previously served as last Chief Minister of Pondicherry from 2001 to 2006 and first Chief Minister ...

Rona Wilson Rona Wilson is an activist, researcher and the public relations secretary of the Committee for Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP). He has worked with people accused in terrorism cases, including those booked under the Unlawful Activities (Pr ...

* Ragy Thomas * Majiziya Bhanu *

Pondy Ravi Pondy Ravi is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil-language films. He has acted in over sixty films. Career Pondy Ravi worked as an assistant cameraman for ''Minsara Kanavu'' (1997). He has acted as a police officer in several fi ...

* Sushrut Badhe * Pramod Payyannur * Ramesh Parambath * Murugabhoopathy * J. Prakash Kumar *

Vaseem Iqbal Vaseem Iqbal is the first tribal person from the Andaman and Nicobar islands to receive a PhD. He is currently employed by the Central Agriculture Research Institute in Port Blair as a researcher. Doctorate In 2015, he submitted his PhD th ...

R. B. Ashok Babu R. B. Ashok Babu is an Indian politician and member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Ashok Babu is a member of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly from May 11, 2021, as he was nominated by the Central Government of India The Government of I ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Central universities in India Universities in Puducherry Educational institutions established in 1985 1985 establishments in Pondicherry