Pondicherry University

About Pondicherry University

Pondicherry University was founded in 1985 by the Government of India. It is an affiliating University with a jurisdiction spread over the Union Territories of Puducherry, Lakshadweep  and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The main campus of the University has an area of 780 acres spread on either side of the East Coast Road with the large chunk on the landward side of the road. The land is an invaluable gift from the people and the Government of Puducherry for the establishment of the University. The land gently rolls down to the beaches and is interspersed with lovely woods. The University is fully supported by the University Grants Commission. The University is a member of the Association of Indian Universities and the Association of Commonwealth Universities. It was the first University in India to provide the students with choice of the elective courses they want to study in addition to the major subject area under the so called Choice Based Credit System (CBCS). The teaching faculty consists of more than 180 active and erudite members in different Schools, Departments and Centres. Currently, there are around 1,600 students pursuing their post-graduate and doctoral programmes on the campus. Affiliated colleges located in Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe, Yanam and the Union Territory of Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The Union Territory of Lakshadweep is also expected to have a college affiliated to Pondicherry University in the near future.

Schools, Departments & Centres

1.  Subramania Bharathi School of Tamil Language and Literature

• Tamil Language & Literature.

2.  School of Management

• Management Studies Faculty.
• Commerce  Faculty.
• Commerce (Karaikal Centre).
• Economics.
• Tourism Studies.
• Banking Technology.
• International Business.

3.  Ramanujan School of Mathematics and Science

• Mathematics.
• Statistics.

4.  School of Engineering

• Computer Science.  
• Computer Science (Karaikal Centre).
• Electronics Engineering.
• Centre for Pollution Control & Environmental Engineering.

5.  School of Physical, Chemical and Applied Sciences

• Physics.
• Chemistry.
• Earth Sciences.
• Applied Psychology.

6.  School of Life Sciences

• Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.
• Biotechnology.
• Ecology & Environmental Sciences.
• Ocean Studies and Marine Biology (Port Blair).
• Food Science & Technology.
• Centre for Bioinformatics.   

7.  School of Humanities

• English.
• French.
• Hindi.
• Sanskrit.
• Philosophy.
• Escande Chair in Asian Christian Studies.
• Physical Education & Sports.

8.  School of Performing Arts

• Performing Arts.

9.  School of Social Sciences and International Studies

• Anthropology.
• History.
• Politics and International Studies.
• Social Work.
• Sociology.
• Centre for Women's Studies.
• Madanjeet Singh Institute of South Asia Regional Cooperation - Centre for South Asian Studies Faculty.
• Centre for Study of Social Exclusion & Inclusive Policy.

10.  School of Education

11.  School of Media & Communication

• Library & Information Science.
• Mass Communication.  
• Centre for Electronic Media.

12.  Madanjeet School Of Green Energy Technologies

• Centre for Green Energy Technology.
• Centre for Nano Science & Technology.

Location  - The Pondicherry University is located on the Chennai -Puducherry ECR road. The participants coming from Chennai may get down at the Pondicherry University itself without going to Puducherry Bus Stand. The Pondicherry University is located at about 15 Kms from the Puducherry Bus Stand / Railway Station. Puducherry is situated on the Coromandal coast, 160 k.m. south of Chennai. Click here for Google Map Location

Facilities

Hostel - Pondicherry University has fourteen hostels on the campus at present. Of which nine are for boys, four are for girls and one for foreign students. Of the nine boys hostels, seven are for PG courses and two for Research Scholars (with a total capacity of 1000 students). Of the four girls hostels, three are for PG students and one is for Research Scholars (with a total capacity of 400 students). The University has a well furnished hostel for foreign students which can accommodate 32 students in 16 rooms whose fees structure will be different from the general hostel fees. All the 16 rooms are air conditioned with attached bathrooms. Apart from these, five more hostels and one Mega mess for girls will start functioning from the this academic year (2010-11). Of which, three hostels are for boys and two hostels for girls (including one research scholars hostel each for boys and girls, with a total capacity of 1000 students). Students from distant places will be given preference on first come first serve basis.

Computer Centre - The staff of the Computer Centre offer regular theory, laboratory and project courses to students of the University, in particular, M.Tech.(Computer Science & Engg.) / M.C.A./ M.Sc. (Computer Science) students of Computer Science Department. In addition computer laboratory courses are offered to the PG students of Economics, Statistics, Tourism Studies etc. The Computer Centre conducts one year long Apprenticeship Training to candidates who passed the ITI PASSA Trade.

Intranet - The campus-wide computer network, Intranet, links all buildings and therein the Schools/ Departments/ Centres/ Sections on the main campus of the university through Optic Fibre Cable (OFC) backbone, high-speed CISCO switches and router. The Cultural-cum-Convention Centre, Guest House, School of Performing Arts, Department of Physical Education and Academic Staff College are connected to the intranet by wireless mode. About 1000 workstations across the University are connected to this network. Every faculty member, offices of the Deans, Department Heads, Administrative Officers, Library, Seminar Halls and at least one class room in each department are connected to the intranet. Wifi connectivity is also provided to all hostels to enable the students to have 24 hours internet access.

This intranet serves as the Information Highway of the University offering a variety of services to the campus community. It is also proposed to connect, in near future, the off-campus centres/ units of the University to the intranet. Currently, the services, offered over this platform, are: internet, general computing , access to online data bases like CMIE ‘s Prowess , automation services and through Library - online journals both from University resources and UGC-Infonet Consortia, CD database subscription, cataloguing, etc.

Internet - 32 Mbps internet access is being provided by M/s. BSNL, Puducherry to all users on the campus through the intranet on 24 x 7 basis. The internet access is well utilized by both the teaching/learning, research and administrative community of the University.

Health Centre - The University Health Centre offers medical facilities round the clock to the students residing in the hostels. An Ambulance is also available for emergency medical care.

DDE - The Directorate of Distance Education insists a Degree with 15 years [10+2+3] [11+1+3] [11+2+2] pattern for enrolling in its Post Graduate/PG Diploma Programmes and +2 or equivalent for Graduate Programmes. The Personal Contact Programmes are conducted regularly and systematically for all the courses. Experienced Faculty from various Universities are drawn to deliver lectures so that the target audience receives the maximum benefit and derive academic inputs from these Personal Contact Programmes. At the end of every Personal Contact Programme the students are asked to evaluate and give a feed back on the programme conducted so that an objective assessment of the programmes are made. Course materials are prepared assiduously by experienced Faculty who have made a mark in their area of specialisations. The Directorate has opened Personal Contact Programme centres in about 35 important cities spread throughout the length and breadth of this country starting from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Some of the remote centres are Jammu, Srinagar, Port Blair and Guwahati. For more info -  http://www.pondiuni.edu.in/dde/

SIP - Study India Programme is meant for undergraduate students from USA and other countries like France, Germany, Finland & Norway for one semester each under the Study in India Program. The students are counselled through e-mails prior to their arrival here and contents of the courses are made available to the students and their respective advisers for determination of suitability' and credit equivalence. Credits earned by them are transferred to their respective institutions within a month of the close of the semester. The SIP offers a wide range of courses. In some cases, need-based courses have been devised. For more info - http://www.pondiuni.edu.in/dept_pages/studyindia.html

Community College - The College offers a number of courses, which aim to impart knowledge and skills through suitable curriculum to train the School and College leavers in different areas, in consonance with the choice of the students and the availability of jobs in the market. The curriculum and syllabi of the courses offered in the Community College are approved and recognized by Pondicherry (Central) University. The primary function of the Community College is to conduct a wide range of training programmes to supply suitable manpower to the society, and has therefore provided training facilities wherever possible. For more info - http://www.pondiuni.edu.in/comm_college/

Central Instrumentation Facility - It provides various equipments, workshops and support facilities to carry out globally competitive R & D in basic and applied sciences. The facility consists of a Mechanical Shop, Electronic shop and Analytical Instruments section.

Web Services - The web server and e-mail server of the University are maintained on the campus by the Centre.

EDUSAT - Academic Staff College has EDUSAT facility which is maintained by the Computer Centre. Participants of refresher/orientation courses conducted by Academic Staff College and the University academic community avail this facility.

UGC- Infonet - 2 Mbps UGC-Infonet link makes available to the campus users, through intranet, access to about 5000 e-journals and internet services. This has given a boost to research activities on the campus.

E-Governance - An e-Governance system is being ushered into the University for management of its functions. Various functions of falling under the categories of Administration, Academic, Finance and Examinations. With the grant from UGC, the following system consists of SUN Solaris Database Server Cluster, Oracle 10g Database Server Suite, SUN Upteron Application server, External Storage and Autoloader. A 3-tier, web-based, secure and integrated automation software system was developed and installed. The implementation is under different stages of completion.

In-House Training - In house training to Faculty/ Administrative staff of the university is regularly provided to update them on essential ICT skills.

Other Services - The Centre also extends consultancy for identifying proper configuration of computer systems, network systems, web and email services to the University community as well to other government and non-government organizations. It also assists in and renders service co-ordination for the proper maintenance of Computer systems on the campus.

Peripherals - A variety of peripherals like Colour Laser Printer/ Network Laser Printer/ Dot Matrix Printers/ Inkjet Printers/ Scanner/ DVD Writers/Web camera are available.

Auditorium - An Auditorium with sitting capacity of 500 is next to the administrative building.

Canteen - Two canteens are functioning in the campus.

Post Office - A Post Office functions on the campus where all postal services including savings bank facilities are available.

Bank - Indian Bank operates a branch with all services in the University Campus. The ATM facility is also available on the campus.

Transport - The University offers limited transport facilities as it is far from the main city. It is preferred if students make their own arrangements for reaching the campus and attending classes. For the mobility of the students from Hostels to Departments, Library, Computer Centre, etc., bus facility is provided within the campus for every half-an-hour during working days. In addition to University buses and vans, battery operated vehicles and bicycles are also plying in the campus free of cost throughout the day covering all hostels to enable the students to visit departments, library, lab etc.

Placement Cell - Placement Cell is motivates, trains and prepares the students of the University and its affiliated Colleges for Campus Interviews.

Some of the major activities of the Placement Cell are:

1. Organising On and Off Campus Interviews
2. Organising training programmes like Personality Development Programmes, Mock Aptitude tests, Group Discussion training, mock interviews etc.,
3. Enabling Industry Institute Interaction.
4. Coordinating Industrial Visits.
5. Organising Student workshops with major corporate.

Alumni - Alumni Association maintains the database of all the pass-out students but also keeps regular interaction with them. The Institute arranges An Alumni Meet every year which acts as a platform where all PUMites meet.

Achievements

• The Directorate of Distance Education has launched its programmes in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait with centres at Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Kuwait. This step has been taken in order to provide a platform for those Indians, who have settled in the Gulf, where regular programmes are not available, to pursue their studies.