Established: 1953
Type: Public
Chancellor: President Mohammad Zillur Rahman Vice-Chancellor: Prof Abdus Sobhan
Pro Vice Chancellor: professor Sheikh Mohammed Nurullah Faculty: 1000
Staff: 2000
Students: 25000
Location: Rajshahi, Bangladesh
Campus: Urban, 753 acres (3 km2)
Website: www.ru.ac.bd
Introduction:
Rajshahi University or University of Rajshahi (Bengali: রাজশাহী বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, Rajshahi Vishwavidyaalay) is a public university located in Rajshahi, a city in north-western Bangladesh. Rajshahi University was established in 1953, the second university to be established in what was then East Pakistan.
The university's forty-seven departments are organised into nine faculties. Rajshahi University is located in a 753 acres (3 km2) campus in Motihar, 3 kilometres (2 mi) from the Rajshahi city centre. With 25,000 students and close to 1000 academic staff, it is one of the largest universities in Bangladesh. In addition to hosting programs in the Engineering, arts, sciences, agriculture, social sciences, business studies and medical sciences, the university houses a number of institutes of higher studies. This is the premier university in Bangladesh to have online subscription of world renowned journals.
Campus:
The university's main campus is located in Motihar, on the eastern side of the city of Rajshahi and a mile from the river Padma. The campus area is nearly 753 acres (3.05 km2). Access to the walled-off university campus is controlled through three security gates. The campus houses eleven large academic buildings—five for the arts, business studies and social sciences, four for the sciences and two for agricultural studies.
The central part of the university, accessible by the main gate, is dominated by the administrative building, where the offices of the Vice-Chancellor and other officials are located. This is flanked by the senate building and the residence of the Vice-Chancellor on one side (also featuring the famous Shabash Bangladesh sculpture) and the university mosque and Shaheed Minar complex on the other. Behind the administrative building is the central library, around which the four science buildings and three main arts buildings are located. The science buildings are named numerically as the "First Science Building" and so on. The arts buildings are named respectively after Muhammad Shahidullah, Momtazuddin Ahmed and Rabindranath Tagore. More towards the east lie the stadium, the new teacher-student centre and the main auditoriu
Art and architecture:
Rajshahi University is home to many architectural and artistic landmarks. The Shaheed Minar is an important example, complete with a mural designed by Murtaza Bashir. The Senate House is a modern mini-parliament house, usually used for meetings of the senate of the university, but it also accommodates national and international conferences, seminars and symposia. In front of the Senate House is Shabash Bangladesh, one of the largest war memorial sculptures in the nation; designed and constructed by Nitun Kundu. The name comes from a poem by Sukanta Bhattacharya of the same name, the last four lines of which is engraved under the structure. Golden Jubilee Tower, a 2003 addition to the university's array of sculptures, commemorates the university's 50th anniversary. Other well-known buildings include the library and the university mosque. The Department of Fine Arts hosts a sizeable collection of contemporary art, while Varendra Museum has a large collection of ancient and medieval art.
Academics:
Faculties:
The university's 47 departments are organized into nine faculties: Engineering, Arts, Law, Science, Medicine, Business Studies, Social Sciences, Life and Earth Sciences, and Agriculture. The Arts and the Law faculties are the oldest in the university, both established in 1953, closely followed by the Faculty of Science (1956) and newly the Faculty of Engineering (2009). The university's departments represent the traditional studies in arts, commerce, sciences and engineering through programs in History, Languages and Linguistics, Economics, Business studies, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics (est.2002), Physics, Computer Science & Engineering, Chemistry, Statistics, Geology & Mining, Geography, Psychology, Zoology, Botany, etc. The university is increasingly emphasizing on more specialized programs such as Pharmacy, Biochemistry,
Information and Communication Engineering (ICE)(est. 2000) or Genetics and breeding (est. 1996).The Faculty of Engineering includes departments in Information and Communication Engineering (ICE)(est. 2000), Computer Science & Engineering, Applied Physics & Electronic Engineering, and Applied Chemistry & Chemical Engineering. In the late 1990 and 2000s, programs in computer engineering and communication engineering were introduced.The university used to have a separate engineering program through BIT (Bangladesh Institute of Technology) Rajshahi, which has become an independent university being renamed Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology in 2002.
The Faculty of Arts includes departments in languages and linguistics (Bengali, English, Arabic), historical studies (history, Islamic history and culture), philosophy and fine arts. In the late 1990s, programs in theater, music and folklore studies were introduced.
The Faculty of Social Science has programs in sociology, social work, anthropology, economics, political science and media-related studies.
The Faculty of Law consists only of the department of law, while the departments of finance and banking, management, marketing and accounting make up the Faculty of Business Studies. All facilities of these three faculties are located in the three arts buildings.
The four science buildings house the Faculty of Engineering, Science and the Faculty of Life and Earth Science. The former has programs in physics, applied physics & electronics, mathematics, statistics, computer science, chemistry, psychology, applied chemistry, material science, biochemistry, and information & communication engineering.
Prominent departments in the faculty of Life and Earth Sciences include zoology, botany, geography, pharmacy, and genetics & breeding; these are all housed in the third science building. Department of geology & mining is situated in the second science building.
Founded in 2000, the Faculty of Agriculture is the newest addition to the university, and was formed when a local agricultural college was absorbed into the university. The Faculty has programs in fishery, genetic engineering, agronomy and veterinary sciences.
Faculty of Medicine is organized differently from other disciplines. Medical education is provided by seven medical colleges located around the Rajshahi Division. Though these colleges are autonomous to a large extent, the degrees are conferred by Rajshahi University. Rajshahi Medical College is the oldest medical college under administration of the university and is located a few miles west of the university campus along with a highly equipped large hospital.
Education and research:
Undergraduates enroll for a four-year program through a highly competitive written admission test (on an
average, 50 students compete for 1 seat). Students are assigned to a major when they enter the university, and cannot change it after the enrollment process. Most programs are organized by yearly semesters, though the business programs use two semesters a year, and others have been following suit. Classes can be quite large in departments like history or accounting, due to a high student-to-teacher ratio (1:27).