Patna, Aug 23 (IANS) Under the leadership of Vice-Chancellor Prof. (Dr.) Sharad Kumar Yadav, Aryabhatta Knowledge University in Patna has continuously expanded the scope of modern, employment-oriented education for students through the establishment of new schools, courses, and research centres.

An official statement from the university underlined the numerous significant initiatives, spearheaded by Prof. Yadav during his tenure, ranging from academic expansion to industry-research collaborations.

It mentioned that an Academic Advisory Committee was constituted under his leadership to provide academic guidance to all schools within the university. Centres such as Journalism and Mass Communication, Geography, River Studies, the Pataliputra School of Economics, Stem Cell Technology, Astronomy, and Philosophy were upgraded into schools, initiating teaching and research activities.

Additionally, new centres were established for Law and Legal Sciences, Management Studies, and Urban Policy and Good Governance. Its Centre for Urban Policy and Good Governance has emerged as a "significant academic initiative of its kind" in Bihar.

As part of the academic expansion of the institution during Prof. Yadav's tenure, postgraduate courses were launched in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, River Science, Water Resources Engineering, GIS and Remote Sensing, Space Science and Astronomy, Management, Economics, Philosophy, Journalism and Communication, and Geography.

Moreover, employment- and research-oriented courses such as Film Production, Photography, Digital and Online Journalism, Media Writing, and Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine were also introduced.

Two significant patent publications in the field of Nanoscience underscore the university's research capabilities, the statement said.

Under Dr Yadav's leadership, the university updated its curricula in alignment with the provisions of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. To provide institutional strength to research, a Research Consortium was formed, an incubation centre and placement cell were established, and a modern central library and IT cell were developed. E-governance has been promoted through the 'Samarth' system as part of the digital transformation drive.

The Samarth eGov Suite is an open-standard, robust e-governance and enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform developed for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the country.

To boost research and academic collaboration, the university has signed agreements with numerous national institutions and industries, including IIT Patna, IGIMS, the National Institute of Hydrology, NIELIT, the National Institute of Ayurveda, Chandragupt Institute of Management, Amity University, DY Patil International University, Bihar Animal Sciences University, and JP University.

Further, the educational institute has expanded collaborations in emerging fields such as Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Machine Learning, drone technology, robotics, nanotechnology, stem cell science, and space education. Agreements have also been reached regarding Python programming and the use of Generative AI in business applications.

The university has also taken steps towards establishing the 'Aryabhata Space Club' in Bihar. Workshops were organised to facilitate the operations of the School of Astronomy, and collaborations were developed with institutions such as the Survey of India and the Satcom Industry Association.

The statement added that importance is also being given to skill development and industry-oriented education, alongside encouraging students to participate in national and international sports competitions.

It claimed that approximately 900 students received advanced training in land surveying through a collaboration between the Department of Geography and the Bihar Board of Open Schooling and Examination.

To strengthen its academic presence on a global platform, the university was represented by a delegation of Indian Vice-Chancellors visiting Japan and an inter-university collaboration delegation visiting the UK. The university hosted the East Zone Vice-Chancellors' Meet of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), attended by Vice-Chancellors from nearly 100 universities. The institution highlighted that the establishment of an Academic and Administrative Development Centre by the AIU was another significant achievement.

New initiatives in fields such as cybersecurity, social behaviour change, urban policy, space science, stem cells, nanotechnology, and digital media are considered significant steps towards transforming the university from a traditional educational institution into an emerging hub of research and innovation, the statement said.

--IANS

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