Tezpur University

History

The establishment of Tezpur University is considered to be one of the outcomes of the Assam Accord, along with the establishment of Assam University and Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati.

Tezpur University was established, by an Act of Parliament, in 1994. The then prime minister of India, P. V. Narasimha Rao, chaired the opening of the university.

Initially, the university operated from the premises of the Darrang College, in Tezpur. For a while it also operated from the Tezpur Law College premises. Land was acquired at Napaam, a suburb of Tezpur, about 15 kilometers east, of 242 acres (0.98 square kilometers), and the premises shifted.

Kalaguru Bishnuprasad Rava (Rabha) donated an ancestral estate of 2500 bigha land received from the British government in favour of the peasants. The present-day Tezpur University stands on the land donated by him. Recently, the university acquired an additional plot of land.

Campus

The university campus is at Napaam about 15 km east of Tezpur, the headquarters of the Sonitpur district of Assam. Napaam is a rural area surrounded people of diverse caste, religion and language. The Napaam campus of the is in a plot of an area of 262 acres (1.06 km²) of land. The campus is bounded by pucca walls. Napaam is linked by a PWD road from the National Highway No. 37A at almost the midpoint between Kalia-Bhomora bridge and Misson Chariali. Tezpur is linked by road and rail with the rest of the state and the country. There is a tri-weekly flight between Kolkata and Tezpur.

The institute is surrounded by greenery and with historic and tourist places nearby, including Ganesh Ghat, Agnigarh, Nameri National Park etc.

Accommodation

There are provisions for visitors to stay in the university guest house. Students may choose to stay in any of the men's or women's hostels. The university is primarily a residential university.

The university has five men's hostels (listed in order of construction):

There are seven women's hostels:

There is also a married-scholars hostel, which is at present serving as a makeshift accommodation for newly recruited faculty of the university.

Communications

Auto Rickshaws, the chief mode of public transport in and around Tezpur, run between Tezpur University and Tezpur city. There is an ASTC bus utility between the university and the ASTC bus stand located at the heart of Tezpur city. ASTC and private buses run daily between Tezpur and some other major places like Guwahati (ISBT, Lokhra), North Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia etc. 20-seater cabs ply between Tezpur and Paltan Bazaar, Guwahati. The nearest railway station is Dekargaon Railway Station which offers a link between Tezpur and the other parts of Assam. Travellers can also opt for flying to and from Tezpur where the nearest airport - Tezpur Airport provides air link with Kolkata and Silchar. For other destinations, the nearest airport is the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport at Guwahati.

Tezpur University is the first university in India to offer the course, Master of Technology in Computational Seismology (which has been discontinued now) and is also one of the few universities in India to have its own Department of Energy. The Department of Electronics is the first of its kind in India to introduce an interdisciplinary Master of Technology program in Bioelectronics, the first class of which graduated in June 2006. The university has four schools of studies which is divided into 21 departments and three special academic centres:

School of Science

The School of Science is divided into five departments, which provides postgraduate degrees in Science and carry on research in science and mathematics.

Department of Chemical Sciences

The Department of Chemical Sciences was started in 1997, with a postgraduate course in Polymer Science. From July 2006 the department started offering a postgraduate course in Applied Chemistry with specialization in Catalysis, Medicinal Chemistry and Polymer Chemistry. Currently the department is offering five-year integrated M.Sc. course in Chemistry, four year integrated B.Sc.(major in chemistry)-B.Ed., Masters in Chemistry and M. Tech. in Polymer Science and Technology.

It offers a doctoral program in Organic Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Bio–inorganic Chemistry, Surfactants, Water Treatments, Polymer Chemistry, Theoretical and Computational Chemistry,Crystallography, Organometallic Chemistry, Catalysis and Nanoparticles. The faculty members have published their works in all the major reputed journals of chemistry like Journal of American Chemical Society (JACS), Nature, Angew. Chem., Chemical Communications etc. Prof. Nasreen Islaam, Prof. Ramesh Ch. Deka, Prof. Aswini K. Phukan and Prof. Niranjan Karak has been awarded by the prestigious Chemical Researsh Society of India (CRSI) bronze medal.

The department has 14 laboratories. The laboratories have instruments which include Thermal Analyzer, CHN Analyzer, FTIR spectrophotometer, Fluorescence Spectrophotometer, Polarizing Microscope, UV-Visible Spectrophotometer, Universal Testing Machine, GCMS, 400 MHz NMR spectrophotometer, Rheometer, Compression Molding Machine, Cyclic Voltammeter, etc. Lecture events include the "National Conference on Chemistry, Chemical Technology and Society", National Workshop on Catalysis, "Catalysis for Clean Environment and Sustainable Future", Lecture Series in Chemistry, Summer School on Green Chemistry, Winter School on Catalysis, Webinars, etc.

Students attend summer internships at institutes in India like Indian Institutes of Technology, CSIR labs, Bhaba Atomic Research Center (BARC), IISERs. Each year many students of the department qualify national level competitive examinations like CSIR-NET(JRF), GATE and BARC-OCES.

Department of Mathematical Sciences

The Department of Mathematical Sciences offers Integrated Masters, Masters and Ph.D degrees in Mathematics. It was one of the first departments of the university to be set up. Research on analytic number theory, algebra, finite element method, statistics, topology, graph theory etc. are being carried out. Nayandeep Deka Baruah's work in q-series and it's applications to Partition Theory is well recognized by experts in the field. The department, with the rest of the world, celebrates Pi Day and National Science Day each year with contests and lectures. The department also facilitates the INSPIRE programme to motivate young students for scientific research.

Students attend summer internships at institutes in India like Chennai Mathematical Institute, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research. Some of the alumni have gone to renowned international institutes like ICTP, University of Vienna and Indian Institutes of Technology for higher studies. In 2011, two alumni of the department founded the mathematics website Gonit Sora.

Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology

The Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology was inaugurated on July 24, 1997. The department has been recognized by the Department of Biotechnology of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, and granted accreditations for the postgraduate program. The department offers a two-year M.Sc degree in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, 5 year Integrated M.Sc in Bioscience and Bioinformatics and PhD in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. The department housed a DBT-funded Bioinformatics Infrastructure Facility which was established in 2007 under the Biotechnology Information System Network (BTISnet) scheme of the Department of Biotechnology, government of India to promote innovation in Biology Teaching through Bioinformatics.

Department of Physics

The Department of Physics began in January 1998 with a two-year postgraduate course in Physics. In 2005, the department started a two-year postgraduate course in Nanoscience & Technology alongside its two-year postgraduate course in Physics. The areas of specialization offered by the department for postgraduation are Condensed Matter Physics, Electronics and Photonics, High Energy Physics, Astrophysics & Cosmology and Nanoscience & Technology. The thrust area of research are Nanomaterials, Solid State Ionics, Theoretical High Energy Physics, Plasma Physics, Opto-electronics and Microwaves.

Department of Environmental Science

The Department of Environmental Science was established in January 2004 with the objective of imparting education on regional and global environmental issues. The department offers two academic programmes M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Environmental Science. The curriculum for M.Sc. and Ph.D. programmes focuses on important aspects of Environmental Science, covering problems of nature conservation and environmental quality. The department gives emphasis in teaching and research on aspects of agro-ecosystem and hill ecosystems of Northeast India. This was merged into the School of Science in 2011.

School of Humanities & Social Sciences

This school provides education as well as diploma, undergraduate, postgraduate, and research programmes related to arts and social sciences in following departments:

Department of English and Foreign Languages

The Department of English and Foreign Languages was established on July 16, 1994 with a diploma programme in English Language Teaching which ran till December 1999. The current two-year MA programme in English was introduced in January 1997. Students undergoing this programme are required to do courses in British and American literature, Indian writings in English, New literature in English (Canadian, Caribbean, and African), Introductory Linguistics, English Phonetics, English Language Teaching, and Critical Theory. It conducts two certificate courses in Chinese. One of these is a full-time course, open to all, while the other is meant for the students of this University alone.

The department offers certificate courses in French and German. The department offers a remedial course in English for students from other departments to improve their competence in spoken and written English. From the start the department has been involved in conducting teacher development programmes, and has been offering expertise in curriculum design and material production in English Language Teaching (ELT). In 2011, the Department began offering five-year Integrated MA and four-year Integrated BA-B.Ed courses with major in English literature. In 2012, the department started offering Masters in Linguistics and Language Technology. From 2015, the department started offering Masters in Linguistics and Endangered Languages.

Department of Cultural Studies

The Department of Cultural Studies, Tezpur University, is one of the earliest Departments fully devoted to the pursuit of Cultural Studies in India. Culture is increasingly being perceived as a premise from within which subjectivities are being validated as a rapidly transforming world grapples with ethnicity, notions of nation, radical revision of history and space. ‘Culture’ is the repository of ideas and values, lifeways, modes of communicating and making sense of selves.

The department was founded in 1995 and has a special focus on East India. Researchers and faculty are drawn from disciplines like Anthropology, Performance Studies, Literatures, Folklore, Media and Film Studies, Gender Studies explore ethnicity, religious institutions, folklore and culture, local and national media, cultural theory, transformation and transaction in translated literatures and formation of nationalities.

Department of Mass Communication and Journalism

The Department of Mass Communication and Journalism offers a two-year (four semester) Master's programme in Mass Communication and Journalism. This course particularly helps students who wish to work as communicators for social change using high-end communication devices. Besides this, the department offers Ph.D.

Department of Sociology

The Department of Sociology was established in 2006. It introduced the two-year M.A programme in August that year with an intake capacity of 15. It introduced a doctoral programme from 2008. The M.A. students are given training in the advanced areas of sociology which include courses on Sociological Theories, Social Demography, Industrial Sociology, Sociology of Development, Sociology of Northeast India, Sociology of Governance. The students are required to undertake 20 courses out of which four are interdisciplinary courses. The optional courses include Sociology of Medicine, Social Statistics, Fieldwork Practicum, Sociology of Culture and Mass Media, Criminology, Environmental Sociology, and Gender and Society. Students are required to write a field-based dissertation on a theme of their preference under the supervision of a faculty.

Department of Hindi

The Department of Hindi was established in January 2010. At present they offer a postgraduate Diploma programme in Translation (Hindi), an interdisciplinary Course (IDC) in Hindi, and Hindi as a modern Indian Language (MIL) to students on integrated BA. The department offers a PhD programme (in Hindi literature/language). The department offers a Certificate Course in Official Hindi (Level-1) to the employees of the university to help them develop their skill and self-confidence in speaking and writing in the language. An M.A. programme started autumn semester 2013.

Department of Education

The Department of Education was established in 2014 under the school of Humanities and Social Science for offering Integrated B.Sc. B.Ed. and B.A. B.Ed. Programme. The Four-Year Integrated B.A./B.Sc. B.Ed. programme aims at producing such graduates who while studying for an undergraduate degree in Science or Arts with major in a subject of their choice would continue to study from the very beginning the courses for a B.Ed. degree so as to integrate the learning of these two components to emerge as teachers at the secondary level as recommended by NCFTE 2009.

Department of Social Work

The Department of Social Work was established in 2014. The department offers a master's degree programme and follows a credit-based continuous evaluation system. The students are encouraged to carry out internship and volunteering activities during the semester breaks in profit and non-profit sectors and other various government departments. Graduates from the department are placed in social welfare organisations, in non-profit and private sectors, and in academics.

School of Management Sciences

The school provides education as well as diploma, undergraduate, postgraduate, and research programs related to business management in the following departments.

Department of Business Administration

The Department of Business Administration came into existence in January, 1995, through enrolment of its first batch of students to its flagship 2 -year full-time MBA Programme. The programme is recognized by the AICTE. The department is engaged in pursuing research, consultancy and training apart from imparting management education which includes a course in tourism.

At present the department runs a doctoral programme (full-time and part-time), Master of Business Administration (full-time) and postgraduate Diploma in Tourism Management.

Department of Commerce

The Department of Commerce was established in 2014 and is presently run in cooperation with the Department of Business Administration.

Centre for Disaster Management

The Centre for Disaster Management was established in 1997 to conduct trainings, conferences, workshops, case studies and research work; teach courses in diploma programme; prepare documentation etc.

Till 2002, the centre received funds from the NDM division of Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation, government of India under a central sector scheme. The NDM scheme was transferred to the Ministry of Home Affairs, government of India in 2002.

The centre receives funds from the Ministry of Home Affairs, government of India through the National Institute of Disaster Management, New Delhi.

School of Engineering

The school offers courses in engineering and technology. In 2006, the school started offering B.Tech programmes in the following disciplines (in addition to the already existing masters programmes):

Students are admitted to the B.Tech programs of the above-mentioned departments on the basis of their JEE (Main) scores through CCB counseling.

Besides B.Tech and M.Tech programs, School of Engineering, the university provides Ph.D programs in specialized fields in the above-mentioned branches.

Department of Computer Science & Engineering

The Department of Computer Science and Engineering came into being in 2006 as a result of renaming of the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology.

The Department of Computer Science and the Department of Information Technology were merged in 2004 and renamed as Department of Computer Science and Information Technology.

The Department of Computer Science was started in July, 1994 under the school of Science and Technology. It was started to promoting knowledge in the field of Computer Science and Computer Application. The programmes started under the department were Master of Computer Application (MCA), Master of Science (by Research) in Computer Science and PhD in Computer Science.

The Department of Information Technology was started in July, 1997 under the school of Science and Technology. The programmes started under the department were Master of Technology (M Tech) in Information Technology, and PhD in Information Technology.

Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering

The Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering was started in 1997 as the Department of Electronics under the School of Science and Technology. The department was renamed as Electronics and Communication Engineering under the School of Engineering in 2006.

The major areas of study of the department include Communications, DSP, Biomedical Signal Processing, Bio-Sensors, MEMS, Instrumentation, VLSI, Hardware architectures for signal and image processing, Image Processing and Computer Vision. The department offers the following degrees: B. Tech. (in Electronics and Communication Engineering), B. Tech (in Electrical Engineering), M. Tech. (in two specializations: Electronics Design & Technology and Bioelectronics) and Ph.D. The department has established an MEMS microfabrication laboratory for designing and fabricating MEMS Sensors.

Department of Mechanical Engineering

The Department of Mechanical Engineering　was started in 2006 under the School of Engineering for offering B. Tech degree with an annual intake of 52 students. The department has started M. Tech in Applied Mechanics from autumn 2013, admission to which is offered through Gate examination conducted by IITs. The department offers a Ph.D. along with research in fields of Mechanical Engineering.

Department of Food Engineering and Technology

The Department of Food Engineering and Technology at Tezpur University is one of the six constituent departments under the School of Engineering. The department, earlier known as the Department of Food Processing Technology, started in 2006 with a two year M.Sc. program in Food Processing Technology. The department offers B. Tech., Integrated M. Tech., M. Tech. and Ph. D. program.

The department has been supported and recognised by Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), government of India for running programmes. Also with support of MoFPI department has proposed to start Food Testing Laboratory for North Eastern States of India. The department has projects sponsored by funding agencies like UGC, MoFPI, DST, DBT, and DRDO.

Department of Civil Engineering

The Department of Civil Engineering of the Tezpur University was established in the year 2009 under the School of Engineering for offering B.Tech Degree with 16 students.

Department of Energy

The Department of Energy at Tezpur University was the first department established for energy related studies & research by an educational institution in India in 1996. Initially a Centre for Non-conventional energy was established in the university in 1995, which offered a one-year Diploma Programme in Non-conventional Energy Technology. The center was then converted to the Department of Energy in 1996. It was integrated into the School of Engineering in 2011. The thrust areas of research are Biomass energy, Bio-fuels, Solar energy, Wind energy, Hydro-energy and Energy conservation and Management. At present it is a “DST-FIST Sponsored Department”. The department offerings an M.Tech. in Energy Technology for engineering graduates and master's degree holders in Physics and Chemistry and PhD in energy related areas for the master's degree holder in Science & Engineering/Technology.

Centre for Assamese Studies

The Centre for Assamese Studies undertakes research in Assamese language/linguistics, literature and culture. This a research-based centre, promoting research in the field of Assamese linguistics, translation studies and comparative research. The centre offers MIL Assamese courses for the graduate and postgraduate students of the university and a couple of inter-disciplinary courses.

Other centres are:

The Bioinformatics Infrastructure Facility (BIF) at the Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (MBBT) was established in 2007 under the Biotechnology Information System Network (BTISnet) scheme of the Department of Biotechnology, government of India to promote innovation in Biology Teaching through Bioinformatics.

Ranking

According to the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry’s ‘India Ranking Report 2016’ Tezpur University 5th in the list. Again it begs the 601-800 band rank in Times Higher Education (THE) ranking 2016. Tezpur University was also won the Best Central University Award from Government of India in 2016.

National Science Day-inSCIgnis

The science fest of the university organized by the School of Sciences and Students' Science Council (SSC) is a two-day event with competitions for school and undergraduate students. The main feature of this fest is the lecture, where the doyen of Indian science and mathematics are invited as speakers. Students from all over the region participate in it. Past speakers include Jayant Vishnu Narlikar, Kankan Bhattacharyya and many others.

Sampark-The Interface

“SAMPARK… the interface” is the annual national-level B-school event of the Department of Business Administration, organized mainly by the students with active support from the faculty members.

TechXetra

TechXetra(Assamese:টেকক্ষেত্ৰ, Hindi: टेकक्षेत्र) is the National Level Annual Technical Festival of the university. TechXetra is a combination of two words- Tech and Xetra. ‘Tech’ refers to technology and ‘Xetra’ meaning terrain. It is one of the common platforms in North-East India to showcase knowledge and intellect. A blend of technical and management events, it has cultural events as well. TechXetra attracts enthusiasts from all over India.