Panjab University (PU), Chandigarh has been placed amongst the leading Universities in
the country in the field of quality research and publication of high quality research
papers.
 

Department of Science and Technology has selected PU as one among the 14 top
universities in India for funding under the Promotion of University research and
Scientific Excellence (DST-PURSE) programme. Under this prestigious scheme, PU will
receive Rs.34.8 crore for the development of research infrastructure, which could be
utilized in the period from 2014 to 2018.
 

In a recent communication to PU, the Union Science & Technology Department Secretary Dr.
T. Ramasami has informed the PU Vice Chancellor Prof Arun Kumar Grover that PU has been
selected among the 14 selected Universities in the country for award of incentive grant,
which is based on the improved Research & Development performance of the University. Dr.
T. Ramasami has also congratulated the PU VC and the University for its improved
Research & Development performance.
 

PU Spokesman said that the PU has been ranked among the top three in the coveted list of
14 top Indian Universities selected under this programme based on its h-index, which is
a measure to assess the quality of research in science. In the period of 1996 to 2006,
Panjab University with 50 plus h-index was among the top three. University of Delhi and
University of Hyderabad were the other two in that period.
 

The h-index is a parameter used to assess the performance of researchers and the
institutions based on the number of times a published research paper has been cited by
peers or other researchers. The improved h-index scores indicate that the PU has been in
the top three Universities in the country for its quality of research pursued.
PURSE was launched in 2008 based on the independent evaluation of scientific publication
emanating from university sector using the SCOPUS Database for the 10 year period. PU
was also part of the selected club of 14 Universities in first PURSE grant scheme.
PU has a long tradition of pursuing excellence in teaching and research in science and
technology, humanities, social sciences, performing arts and sports. PU history goes
back to 1882, when it was set up at Lahore, which is now in Pakistan. By virtue of its
age, experience, achievements and philosophy, PU is a University of national character
and stature and draws both faculty and students from all over the country and abroad.
PU, with its 75 teaching and research departments besides 15 centers/chairs for the
teaching and research on the main campus at Chandigarh, has more than 192
affiliated/constituent colleges spread over Punjab and Chandigarh besides Regional
Centres at Muktsar, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur and Kauni. In addition, there is the
Vishveshawaranand Vishva Bandhu Institute of Sanskrit and Indological Studies (VVBIS&IS)
at Hoshiarpur.
 

Besides PU, the University of Delhi, Banaras Hindu University, University of Hyderabad,
Jadhavpur University, Anna University, University of Pune, University of Madras, Aligarh
Muslim University, University of Rajasthan, Jawahar Lal Nehru University, University of
Mumbai, Karnataka University and Andhra University are the other thirteen universities
in the country, which have been selected by the Department of Science and Technology,
Government of India for this prestigious PURSE programme.
 

Press release No.509