University of Burdwan

The University of Burdwan (also known as Burdwan University or B. U.) is a public collegiate state university located in Purba Bardhaman, West Bengal, India. It was established by the West Bengal Government as a teaching and affiliating university on 15 June 1960 with six graduate departments and 30 undergraduate colleges spread over three districts that come under the jurisdiction of the university. The university currently offers more than 30 undergraduate and 66 postgraduate courses.

History
The last maharaja of Burdwan, Udaychand Mahtab, left the entire property of Burdwan to the government of West Bengal after the zamindari system ended in the 1950s. The then chief minister of West Bengal, Bidhan Chandra Roy took the initiative of establishing a university at the premises of the palace of the maharaja. Thus the university was established in 1960. Sukumar Sen (ICS) was the first vice-chancellor. The university began with the humanities division, with the science and engineering courses included afterwards.

The university had jurisdiction over Purulia district, Birbhum district, Paschim Bardhaman district, Bankura district, Purba Bardhaman district and Hooghly district except the Srirampore subdivision. Over the years, the university lost the jurisdiction over the districts of Purulia, Bankura, Birbhum and Asansol, Durgapur to local universities, namely Sidho Kanho Birsha University in Purulia, Bankura University in Bankura, Biswa Bangla Biswabidyalay in Birbhum, Kazi Nazrul University in Asansol & Durgapur and Rani Rashmoni Green University in Hoogly.

Governance
Burdwan University is an autonomous state university. The governor of the state of West Bengal is its chancellor. Daily administration is handled under the leadership of the vice chancellor, who is appointed by the governor on the recommendations of the government of West Bengal. The vice chancellor is assisted by the pro vice chancellor who is de facto a senior faculty member of faculty of engineering and technology.

Faculties and departments
The University of Burdwan has 39 departments organized into two faculty councils.


 * Faculty Council of Science

Biotechnology, Botany, Chemistry, Computer Science, Electronics and Communication, Environmental Science,  Geography, Geospatial Science, Mathematics, Microbiology, Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Nutrition and  Public Health, Physics, Physiology, Psychology, Statistics, Zoology


 * Faculty of Arts, Law, etc

Arabic, Bengali, Business Administration, Business Administration (Human Resource), Commerce, Economics, Education, English and Culture Studies, Foreign Language, Hindi, History, Law, Library and Information Science, Mass Communication, Philosophy, Physical Education, Political Science, Sanskrit, Santali, Sociology, Tourism Management, Women's Studies


 * Other Academic Departments

Malaviya Mission Teacher Training Centre, Sports Board, Swami Vivekananda Advance Research Centre, National Service Scheme, Lifelong Learning


 * Professional Courses

Certificate in Yoga Education, Post-graduate Diploma in Guidance and Counselling, Post-graduation Diploma in Yoga, Certificate Course in Communicative English, Diploma in Cyber Law
 * Others


 * Institutions and Extensions

Centre for Distance and Online Learning University Institute of Technology (UIT)


 * B.ed, M.ed, Special B.Ed.

University Institute of Technology (UIT)
University Institute of Technology (UIT) is a Government autonomous old professional Engineering Campus.Now Department/Faculty of Engineering & Technology Campus in The University of Burdwan. It represents the faculty of Engineering that was at National Institute of Technology, Durgapur since its inception. This college was inaugurated in 2001 by the then chief minister of West Bengal Shri Buddhadeb Bhattacharya.

Affiliations
The University of Burdwan is an affiliating institution and has jurisdiction over the colleges of the Birbhum district, Purba Bardhaman district and Hooghly district except Srirampore subdivision. There are currently 189 affiliated colleges (including degree colleges, BEd colleges and private professional institutes) under the University of Burdwan.

Admission
For admissions to the Engineering faculty at the undergraduate level, students are admitted through the WBJEE, an entrance examination open to students from all over India. Unlike in a large number of states, there is no domicile quota in BU (or for other engineering colleges admitting students through the WBJEE). Postgraduate students in engineering are admitted through GATE.

Distance education
The University of Burdwan has a Directorate of Distance Education (DDE, BU) for conducting post-graduate studies in distance mode. This is for people (mainly workers) who cannot undergo post-graduate studies in regular (full-time) mode. The DDE was established in 1994. Courses of distance education in the university are approved by University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Distance Education Council.

Meghnad Saha Planetarium
The Meghnad Saha Planetarium, established in 1944, is the only planetarium in India operating under any university. This planetarium is the pride of the university. This planetarium organizes different shows on the mysteries of the universe, birth of stars, the motion of planets, aspects of lunar exploration, and other astrophysical phenomena using modern technologies.

University museum and art gallery
Burdwan University Museum and Art Gallery have collections of different antiquities and art objects dating from 1500 BC to the 19th century AD. Museum also has collections of stone sculptures bronze figures, ancient coins, brass and alloy, painting of the Indo-European school, terracotta plaques, etc. One can visit the university museum any day (except holidays) during office hours (11 AM to 4 PM).

Accreditation and rankings
Burdwan University ranked 85th among universities by National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in 2023.

Notable alumni and faculties

 * Akhil Ranjan Chakravarty, an Indian organic chemist
 * Amalendu Chandra, an Indian theoretical physical chemist
 * Balaram Mukhopadhyay, an Indian Bengali carbohydrate chemist
 * Kamanio Chattopadhyay, an Indian materials engineer
 * Minakshi Mukherjee, Indian politician
 * Manoj Majee, an Indian plant molecular biologist, biochemist, inventor and a senior scientist
 * Riksundar Banerjee, a fiction writer
 * Partha Sarathi Mukherjee, an Indian inorganic chemist
 * Priyabatra Mukherjee, an American, academic researcher and professor
 * Saleh Ali Al-Kharabsheh, the Jordanian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources
 * Sudip Chattopadhyay, an Indian developmental biologist, biotechnologist
 * Suman Kumar Dhar, an Indian molecular biologist
 * Tapas Paul, an Indian actor