JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY (JNU)

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY (JNU)

The Jawaharlal Nehru University, popularly known as ‘JNU’ was founded by the Country’s former and first lady Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi who named the University after her father and the first Prime Minister of India, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru.

JNU was established in 1969 under the act of the Parliament of India and appointed G. Parthasarathy as its First Vice-Chancellor. The prime objective to establish such a University was to introduce a Premier Institution of Higher Learning for students of former Developing and Third World Countries.

Since its inception, JNU has been the centre for Third World studies and has promoted research and teaching in various post graduate level and doctoral level courses that has led to the increase in engagement of its students and teachers in higher level academic work as well as National and International Policy Making.

Today, JNU is considered as a prime research-oriented post graduate University with a total strength of approximately 5,500 students and over 500 faculty members.

JNU is places amongst the top 200 Universities in the World based on the International league tables produced in 2006 by The Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) based in London. It ranked amongst the top 100 Universities in the study and research of life and biological sciences while the University’s School of Social Sciences is positioned at # 57 amongst top 100 institutes for social sciences worldwide.

JNU has 10 Schools with each of them further housing several Centres and four independent Special Centres. These Include the School of Arts and Aesthetics, School of Bio Technology, School of Computational and Integrative Sciences [Formerly known as the School of Information Technology], School of Computer and Systems Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, School of International Studies, School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies, School of Life Science, School of Physical Sciences And School of Social Sciences.

The four Independent Special Centres at JNU include the Center for Molecular Medicine, Center for the Study of Law and Governance, Special Center for Sanskrit Studies & Special Centre for Nano Sciences.

There are several Institutions that are affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru University which include the C. V. Raman Research Institute at Bangalore, Central Drug Research Institute [CDRI] at Lucknow, Central Institute of Medicine and Aromatic Plants at Lucknow, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology [CCMB] at Hyderabad, Centre for Development Studies [CDS] at Trivandrum, College of Military Engineering [CME] at Pune, Institute of Microbial Technology at Chandigarh, International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology [ICGEB] at New Delhi, Military College of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering [MCEME] at Secunderabad, Military College of Telecommunication Engineering [MCTE] at Mhow [Military Headquarters Of War] in Madhya Pradesh, National Institute of Immunology [NII] at New Delhi, National Institute of Plant Genome Research [NIPGR] at New Delhi, Naval College of Engineering [NCE], INS Shivaji at Lonavla, Inter-University Accelerator Centre [IUAC] (formerly known as Nuclear Science Center) at New Delhi, The Army Cadet College at Dehradun and The National Defence Academy at Pune.

JNU also offers academic collaboration for exchange programmes through the signing of the Memorandum of understanding or ‘MoUs’ with 71 International Universities worldwide. These include the Ankara University in Turkey, Australia National University in Canberra in Australia, George Washington University in USA, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva in Switzerland, Gyeongsang National University in Korea, Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris in France, King’s College London in United Kingdom, Lancaster University in UK, MVL Moscow State University in Russia, NASA in USA, School of Oriental and African Studies in University of London, University of Cologne in Germany, University of Essex in UK, University of Heidelberg in Germany, University of Illinois in USA, University of North Carolina in USA, University of Philippines in Quezon City, University of Strasbourg in France, University of Sydney in Australia And Yale University in USA.

The JNU Campus is situated in South Delhi and houses buildings made of red bricks that is typical of the mid twentieth century architecture. It spans over a massive area of 1000 acres covered in lush green grass and tall dense trees. The Aravalli Hills touches the northern most part of the JNU Campus owing to which this campus area still maintains scrubs and forestland also known as the ‘JNU ridge’. This Ridge is home to over 200 species of birds and other wildlife such as Jackals, Mongoose, Nilgai, Peacocks and a large number of snakes.

The JNU Library is a nine-storey building situated at the heart of the academic block area. This is the tallest structure seen on the campus and it houses a wide collection of books, printed journals, newspapers and archives of primary sources. The ground floor of the JNU Library features several reading rooms, a newspaper and journal section and a section dedicated to a collection of back numbers of scholarly journals and computer terminals. Besides the Ground Floor, the rest is devoted to different subjects.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University has recently moved towards being ‘Green’ and promoting a ‘paperless’ environment, transparency and e-governance with the assistance of Wipro, and a wireless network to connect the teachers and the students to the library.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union or JNUSU ensures that there is a consistent healthy political culture and positive atmosphere in and around the campus. They conduct open debates and Students are kept informed about various discussions, public meetings, and general information through Notice boards and pamphlets. The Foreign Students’ Association or FSA [official JNU body] ensures promotion of friendly relations and cultural exchange between the Indian and Foreign Students. All foreign students of JNU are members of the FSA. This association also conducts Culture and Linguistic classes for all JNU Students free of charge that includes languages like Arabic, English, German, Japanese, Hindi and Urdu classes with assistance from the FSA members and students. Group Tours, Picnics and Heritage Tours, International Film Festival are also organised by the FSA Group. The ‘Thursday Forum’ allow foreign students to discuss different issues and topics which is also organised by FSA.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University features nine cultural clubs that include the Debating Club, Drama Club, Film Club, Fine Arts Club, Literary Club, Music Club, Nature & Wildlife Club, Photography Club and the UNESCO Club. Other cultural groups include the Bahroop Arts Group, Indian Peoples’ Theatre Association or IPTA, Odisha Sanskrutika Parishad [OSP] and the Wings Cultural Society. The Students for Harmony or SFH at JNU also organise Annual Cultural Programmes like ‘Tastopia’, a World food festival; ‘Ahimsa Day’, a blood donation camp organised every 30th of January; ‘Talents’, an inter-hostel festival; ‘Madhurima’, folk songs and dance programme; ‘Oceania’, an international cultural evening programme; ‘Imprint’, handicrafts exhibition and dignitaries lecture series are events organised to name a few.

Forums organised at JNU campus include the ‘Northeast Nite’, a cultural festival that celebrates the cultural diversity of people from Sikkim and the Seven North Eastern States of India. ‘Kallol’, an Annual Sports and Cultural Festival organized by the students of SLL&CS JNU during the Monsoon Semester. ‘Summit’, a Sports and Cultural Festival of the SIS organized during the Winter Semester. ‘Kalrav’, an International Film Festival organised by the students of SLL&CS JNU during the Winter Semester where voluntary donations are accepted from the students. ‘Utkal Divas Celebration’, a celebration of ‘Utkal Divas’ or ‘Odisha Day’ organised every 1st of April by Odisha Sanskrutika Parishad or ‘OSP’ which is a cultural association of Odia Students at JNU. This is considered as one of the most attractive cultural functions of JNU. ‘Ugadi’, a Telugu New Year festival celebrated on the JNU campus where all Telugu students present various cultural and traditional activities and also serves a fare of traditional Telugu cuisines.

Sports and extracurricular activities also form an important part of the daily life at the JNU campus. The JNU Campus features a Sports Complex or JNU Stadium that has a cricket & football ground, volleyball & lawn tennis courts, badminton hall, weight lifting or gymnasium centre and yoga & athletics centre.

The Hostels at JNU campus form an integral component of the intellectual and cultural life of the campus. JNU houses 15 residential complexes comprising of 7 sectors dedicated to women and 4 sectors that has hostels for both men and women but on separate buildings. This residential complex also homes one hostel for married students.

Contact Information:
Address: Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi – 110 067
Phone: + 91 – 11 – 2674 2676 , + 91 – 11 – 2674 2575 , + 91 – 11 – 2674 1557
Fax: + 91 – 11 – 2674 2580
Website: www.jnu.ac.in