Ashoka University

About Ashoka University

Ashoka University is a Private University and an initiative of the International Foundation for Research and Education (IFRE), a sector 25 non-profit organisation. Ashoka University was notified as a university on 2^nd May 2014, with full powers to award Bachelor's, Master's and PhD degrees and diplomas, as per the Haryana Private Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2014. The university has been established with a collective philanthropic effort of over 40 industry leaders, some of which are Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Anita Manwani, Havells India Ltd, Genpact Ltd etc. The Founders of Ashoka University come from diverse backgrounds as successful entrepreneurs and professionals. Having been educated in some of the best educational institutions in India and abroad they have a sound understanding of the challenges and needs of the higher education sector in India. The University is named for Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled from around 269 BCE until his death in 232 BCE. He proposed a series of edicts to reform Indian society across the subcontinent which called for a well-rounded education in order to create a just and human society that was also exceptionally tolerant. The University’s founders and academic leaders are guided by these edicts and have established an academic curriculum that provides intellectually curious students with a well-rounded liberal education comparable to the celebrated Ivy League institutions, at a mere fraction of the cost.

The University campus is located on 25-acres in the Rajiv Gandhi Education City (RGEC), Kundli, in the National Capital Region. Its proximity to the capital, suburban character and rapid growth provides a great platform for Ashoka students to engage in local community development activities. The RGEC, an initiative by the government of Haryana, in total is a 1200-acre hub of several educational institutions, including the satellite campus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and the National Law University. The campus of the university has been designed by renowned New York-based architect Perkins-Eastman. They have worked on several educational campuses around the world, including the recent Indian School of Business (ISB) campus in Mohali and Cornell University. The designers have been mindful of weather and sunlight patterns and have developed Ashoka’s campus to minimize the use of energy for both heating and cooling. Environmental Design Solutions (EDS) has contributed extensively to developing a sustainable campus that has an eco-friendly Sewage Treatment Plant, rainwater harvesting pits, and Building Management Systems (BMS) which, for example, enables remote monitoring of electrical appliances to manage energy consumption.

Location

The University Campus is located in Rai Mandal, Sonepat district, an hour’s drive north of central Delhi. It can be conveniently accessed by the Delhi Metro or by car.

Transportation

The Ashoka University Campus is located on the NH 1 in District Sonepat, Haryana. This Highway connects Delhi to Karnal, Ambala, Chandigarh and J&K. The Campus is a ten-minute drive from the Delhi-Kundli (Haryana) border.

Schools and Centres

• School of Arts and Humanities
• School of Economics
• School of Social Sciences
• School of Natural and Applied Sciences

Facilities at Ashoka University

Hostels – University residence halls have a total of 175 rooms, and can house 350 students in shared bedrooms as of 2015. All rooms are air-conditioned and furnished with beds, desks and closets. There are common bathrooms on each floor. Common areas are available so that students may socialize and relax when they are not in class. Both hostels have a laundromat.  At the mess hall, students have access to a multi-cuisine menu. Students can also purchase food items at the tuck shop.

Library - The library is open twenty-four hours a day so that students can work according to their own schedules. It has a centralized database that allows students to locate books easily.

Classrooms - Classrooms at Ashoka have been designed to give the students practical spaces to learn from and engage with their classmates and professors. Classrooms have been designed by acoustic experts T2 consulting, who has also provided plans for India’s first opera house. All classrooms are Wi-Fi enabled, air-conditioned and have appropriate audio-visual equipment, including projectors, PA systems, smart boards and recording facilities.

Student Exchange - Students in exchange programs take courses at partner institutions that will count towards the credit requirements for graduation. Student exchanges will occur either for a semester or for the summer. This student exchange also permits foreign students to spend a semester on Ashoka's campus. Exchange programs with partner institutions also provide a chance to travel abroad and experience new cultural and academic environments.

Summer Abroad – Ashoka’s study abroad programme offers students a chance to participate in a range of academic opportunities. Students may choose to extend their semester learning experience by registering for courses taught at top international institutions. If students wish to explore mentored research, immersive foreign language education or other academic endeavours they have the option to enrol in programmes that offer a range of opportunities in various fields of study. These programmes offer students an interdisciplinary approach to learning such subjects as Political Science, economics, or Environmental Studies which allows them to engage with a particular discipline from multiple angles. These international opportunities enhance students’ learning experience and broaden their horizons.

Collaborations - Programmes at Ashoka meet international standards and are delivered in collaboration with renowned universities such as the University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, University of California, Berkeley, King’s College, London, Carleton College and Sciences Po, Paris.

Scholarships – The University provides Scholarships only on-need basis. Students who require financial aid must submit their parents’ income tax returns, details on gross annual income of all earning members in the family, their assets, and also the number of dependents when filling out their application. Aid at Ashoka is only in the form of grants (scholarships) and not loans. Applicants from the state of Haryana will be given special consideration for aid opportunities.

Young India Fellowship - YIF is a one-year, residential programme for recent college graduates showing exceptional ability, willingness to learn, and leadership potential. It is an eight-semester liberal arts and sciences curriculum that offers courses in a number of disciplines from literature to economics, from visual communication to group dynamics. The Young India Fellowship was created as an intellectual prototype of Ashoka University and showcases the University’s core belief in the strength of a liberal, multidisciplinary education. YIF faculty are renowned teachers and scholars from India and abroad.

Centre for Entrepreneurship – It focuses on developing student skills outside the classroom in entrepreneurship and leadership in order to prepare them for the professional world. The centre is committed to helping students in every stage of the lifecycle of an enterprise– right from inspiration, ideation and initiation, to incubation, investments and internationalization for both mainstream innovations as well as ventures around social innovation and sustainability. The Centre arranges workshops, guest sessions, and mentoring activities for students. It will also act as the primary gateway to industry tie-ups and collaborations in order to assist students with summer internships as well as jobs post-graduation.

Centre for Studies in Gender and Sexuality – It is the first in the country to conduct research into both gender and sexuality. It houses researchers working on these subjects in local and global contexts and works out ways in which the research can impact activist interventions in daily life.

Centre for Writing and Communication - It was established to help students gain crucial communication skills that are essential to excellent academic and professional work. The Centre has hired experienced writing tutors in order to instruct Ashoka students in one-on-one sessions on the essentials of English grammar and the construction of a proper argument.

Genpact Centre for Women’s Leadership - GCWL is a first-of-its-kind industry-academia partnership between Genpact and Ashoka. It empowers women through research and advocacy, training programs, and supportive infrastructure to become leaders and drive gender-inclusive growth.

Summer Internship Programme - The Ashoka Summer Internship Programme (ASIP) provides unique opportunities for undergraduate students to intern at corporations, research organizations, social impact groups (NGO’s) or local schools. This internship programme is six weeks long. It sends Ashoka students to partner groups and organizations, where students can indulge in experiential learning as well as contribute in some meaningful way to their particular organization placement. The nature of the placements will vary. Some placements may require office work, while others require hands-on work at field sites, schools, labs or clinics. These opportunities will allow students to apply the academic knowledge they have obtained.

Some of the Internship Hosts

• Ashoka University
• Centre for Science and Environment
• Chintan Environmental Research Action Group
• Des mania Foundation
• Hindustan Times
• NDTV
• The Times of India

Cooperative Society – The society provides personal products, basic medicine, and stationery that the students and the faculty can buy.

Documentation Centre – The centre has facilities for photocopying, scanning and printing.

Transport - Shuttle buses run on an hourly schedule to transport students and visitors to the Ashoka campus from the Jahangirpuri metro station, the last stop on the yellow line of the Delhi Metro. If required, a 24-hour cab liaison is also available to students at subsidised rates.

Counselling, Clinic and Emergency Care - The University's in-house clinic is staffed by general physicians who conduct a full check-up for all students every semester. The clinic also maintains student health records and contains a pharmacy for general medical needs. Keeping in mind the student's mental health, a fully-functional counselling centre staffed by professional experts looks after the mental health needs of the students. An ambulance service is also on-call in case of medical emergency students are shuttled to the nearest hospital as soon as possible.

Clubs and Societies – The University has various clubs and societies.

Some of these are:

• Neev, Community Service Club – It works on projects involving education, livelihood support, women’s rights, agriculture, heritage conservation and other relevant issues which benefits the local community. This helps students understand, build relationships and connect with their immediate surroundings.
• A Cappella - This club practices a tradition of music that entails singing and performing without instruments, solely using sounds created by the singers’ voices and mouths.
• Conduction - The club aspires to delve into Music Composition and Production, through digital media, Signal Processing, Virtual Instruments etc. The club aims to provide musicians with the means to record their compositions.
• The Edict – It is Ashoka’s Student Newspaper and involves budding journalists on campus. It is also a forum for students to express and write about events and issues. It is an online newspaper, with students as the on-campus reporters and editors.
• Film Society - The Film Society is an interactive community for students with a deep interest in films and filmmaking. It teaches filmmaking skills and encourages talented filmmakers, who are capable of producing movies of certain philosophical depth.
• Centre for Sustainability - The Centre aims to create and institutionalise a self-sustaining system of waste reduction and management on the Ashoka University campus by recycling paper, reusing plastic and composting organic matter. It has various initiatives like documentary screenings, community outreach programmes, guest lectures, etc.

Sports – The students are provided with various sports facilities, both indoor and outdoor. Some of these facilities are grounds for track and field, cricket pitches, football and hockey fields, gym facilities at the men's and women's residences.

Campus Visits - Regular visits to the Ashoka University campus located in Rajiv Gandhi Education City, Kundli, Haryana, in the National Capital Region are organised and coordinated by admissions representatives to let visitors experience student life and activities on campus, and interact with current students, administration, and admissions team.

Ashoka Crossover Series - The Ashoka Crossover Series are events organized by the University that explore the intellectual foundations of Ashoka University and attempt to cross the divide between the academy and the public. Each crossover lecture is run to introduce general audiences to some of the most interesting, startling and innovative developments in contemporary scholarship across academic disciplines.