University of North Bengal
| উত্তরবঙ্গ বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় | |
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The seal of the University of North Bengal | |
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Established | 1962 |
| Chancellor | Sri Keshari Nath Tripathi, Hon'ble Governor of West Bengal |
| Vice-Chancellor | Prof. Somnath Ghosh |
| Location |
Main Campus: Raja Rammohanpur, Darjeeling district |
| Campus | Urban |
| Nickname | NBU |
| Affiliations | UGC |
| Website | www.nbu.ac.in |
University of North Bengal (Bengali: উত্তরবঙ্গ বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়) is a state university, in Raja Rammohanpur near Siliguri in Darjeeling district in the Indian state of West Bengal. A second campus is in Danguajhar, Jalpaiguri in Jalpaiguri district in the Indian state of West Bengal. The university was established in 1962 with a goal to disseminate knowledge to fulfill growing socio-economic and technical manpower needs in the six North Bengal districts and the neighbouring state of Sikkim. Currently, colleges from Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling districts are affiliated to this university. North Bengal University offers degrees in undergraduate, post-graduate, M. Phil and doctorate programs.
History
The University of North Bengal was established by Act of the Legislature of West Bengal in 1962. This was the first university in the region. It has played a pioneering role since inception in spreading higher education and scientific attitudes within the predominantly rural areas that comprise its vast jurisdictional territory over six districts: Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar Maldah, Uttar Dinajpur and Dakshin Dinajpur.
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In 2008, University of Gour Banga was established with almost all of the 28 colleges in Maldah, Uttar Dinajpur and Dakshin Dinajpur (with the exception of Raiganj University College) were affiliated to University of Gour Banga.
In 2012-13, Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University was established with all the colleges of Cooch Behar district and Alipurduar subdivision of Jalpaiguri district affiliated with it. The University of North Bengal has jurisdiction over the districts of Darjeeling and few parts of Jalpaiguri.
Administration
- Honourable Chancellor: Keshari Nath Tripathi, Governor of the State of West Bengal
- Vice Chancellor: Prof. (Dr.) Somnath Ghosh
- Registrar (Offg): Prof. (Dr.) B. Pal
- Controller of Examinations: Dr. S. Das
(as of 3/2/2014)
Campus
The main campus of the university is spread over an area of 330 acres (1.3 km2) and lies between Siliguri and Bagdogra Airport, in the Terai region. The second campus is in Danguajhar in Jalpaiguri.
Over 36,000 undergraduate and over 1500 postgraduate students and scholars enroll every year. Students come from North Bengal, rest of West Bengal, Sikkim, Bihar and from SAARC nations like Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh.
Academics
The University of North Bengal offers two-year M.Sc. programmes in Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Zoology, Botany, Bio-technology, Anthropology, Geography and Microbiology. It offers a three-year M.C.A. programme. The concerned departments of the university offer a two-year Masters programme (M.A.) in English, Bengali, Nepali, Hindi, Economics, History, Library and Information Science, Philosophy, Sociology, Political Management, Tourism & Hotel Management, Environmental Law, Information Technology (IT), Disaster Management, Mass Communication & Video Production, Museum Studies & Cultural Tourism.
University has started a diploma course in French language and certificate course in Electronic Instrumentation & Data Handling.
Faculties
North Bengal University has 23 departments organised into two faculties: Science and Arts, Commerce and Law Faculty.
- Faculty of Science: This faculty has 10 departments. It offers courses on science subjects like
- Anthropology
- Bio-technology
- Botany
- Computer Science and Applications
- Chemistry
- Environmental Science
- Geography and Applied Geography
- Mathematics
- Microbiology
- Pharmacy
- Physics
- Tea Science
- Zoology
- Faculty of Arts, Commerce and Law: This faculty consists of 15 departments offering courses on
- Languages (Bengali, English, Hindi and Nepali)
- Education
- Economics
- Political Science
- Management
- Sociology
- Philosophy
- Psychology
- History,
- Strategic & Area Studies
- Commerce
- Law
- Library & Information Science
- Adult Continuing Education Extension & Field Outreach
Centres
The university offers affiliation to research and academic centres on and off campus.
- Centre for Development Studies
- Centre for High Energy & Cosmic Ray
- Centre for Remote Sensing Application
- Centre for Tea Management
- Centre for Mass Communication
- Centre for Himalayan Studies
- Centre for Women's Studies
- Center for Social Research
- Centre for Studies in Local Language and Culture
- Centre for Tourism and Hotel Management
- Centre for Marketing Management
- Centre for Ambedkar Studies
Colleges
The university has several affiliated colleges under its umbrella. These colleges spread over three districts of North Bengal run graduate programmes (B.A., B. Sc., and B.Com.). Islampur College,University B.T.&Evening College,Cooch Behar and Raiganj University College in Uttar Dinajpur district under North Bengal are also affiliated to this university .
Museum
The Akshaya Kumar Maitreya Heritage Museum incorporating the Raja Rajaram Museum Collection was established in the University of North Bengal in February 1965. The museum is now a rich repository of collection in sculpture, coins, paintings, manuscripts, etc. depicting the history and heritage of North Bengal. It functions as a regional museum and is one of the few university museums in India. Its main objectives are to collect, preserve and study archaeological relics lying scattered in the districts of North Bengal and sub-Himalayan region.