Chapter 3 Analysis of Past Performance against Specific Goals

Bharathiar University
The Bharathiar University was established in Coimbatore by the Government of Tamil Nadu in February, 1982, with jurisdiction over the districts of Coimbatore, Erode and Nilgiris. It is named after the great poet Subramania Bharathi. The motto of the university is “Educate to Elevate”. It has been awarded the status of University with Potential for Excellence by the University Grants Commission. According to a survey by India Today, it holds the 34^th rank in a list of India’s top 45 universities. The faculties of the university have carved a niche for themselves with cutting edge research in the fields of Business, Marine Biology and Biochemistry.
As per the policy note The University has established collaboration for research with the financial support of Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Ministry of Defence, Government of India. Consequently, the university’s strength in research has produced processes and products for the DRDO. This has resulted in the establishment of BU-DRDO centre for Life Sciences in the university campus.
Bharathidasan University

Bharathidasan University, named after the great revolutionary Tamil Poet, Bharathidasan was established in 1982. Bharathidasan University is making rapid strides in academic, research and extension activities. The University has 17 Schools, 57 Departments / Specialized Centres and offers 108 courses. The University has 133 affiliated Colleges comprising 17 Government Colleges, 20 Government Aided, 9 Constituent, 72 Self-financing colleges along with 15 other approved institutions. About 2,11,500 students are enrolled in the above Colleges.

UGC Sponsored SAP Programs
Bharathidasan University boasts of UGC sponsored SAP in the departments of Education, Economics, Department of Education, Centre for Distance Education. Department of Education was started in the year 2006 in the Centre for Distance Education with the aims of enhancing the Professional Competencies and Skills of the Teachers working in Elementary, Secondary and Senior Secondary schools. Consequently, it is expected to lead to the development of Competence to teach the subjects of specialization on the basis of the accepted principles of learning and teaching Skills, understanding, interests and attitudes which would enable them to foster all-round growth and development of students Skills in identifying, selecting, innovating and organizing learning experiences for teaching school subjects.
Department of Lifelong Learning
UGC accepted the proposal to establish the Department of Adult, Continuing Education and Extension in Bharathidasan University during 1985-86. The focus of research in this department is on adult literacy, non-formal education, linking literacy with population education, students and teachers in extension education, community development, health & sanitation/nutrition, herbal medicine in hill area, sex education, empowerment of women self-help group, human resource development and management and rural extension technology etc. In over 25 years of the history, the Department has undertaken 12 minor research projects and 15 major research projects funded by various funding agencies like UGC, ICSSR, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Dept. of Youth Affairs & Sports, TN NSS Cell, IRCS, TN Branch, Bharathidasan University, Ford Foundation, TNPL, Tamil Nadu AIDS Control Society and UNAIDS-APAC.
Human Consciousness Yogic Centre
The UGC has identified Nine Universities to launch a scheme for “Promotion of Yoga Education and Practice in Universities” during the year 1993. In southern part of India, Bharathidasan University has got that credit to execute the scheme fruitfully. Thus the Yoga Centre was established in October 1994. The university has received Rs.10 lakhs from UGC for up-gradation of Yoga centre.
Centre for Nehru Studies
Bharathidasan University is one among the six centers in the country and the first in Tamil Nadu (in July 2005) to receive grants from UGC for the establishment of the Centre for Nehru Studies during the X Plan Period. The Centre for Nehru Studies holds periodic seminars, conferences and lecture series in order to impart knowledge about Nehru’s ideology and contribution as a “Maker of Modern India”.
The Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy and Centre for Differently Abled Persons have already been discussed under State Universities Contribution to Equity.
School of Performing Arts - Department of Performing Arts
To mark the Silver Jubilee Year of the Bharathidasan University (2006-2007), the Centre for Tamil Music and Performing Arts was started on 13.11.2006 and its has been functioning since the academic year 2007-2008. This was renamed as SCHOOL OF PERFORMING ARTS during the year 2009-10. It aims at conducting Interdisciplinary teaching, performing and research activities in the field of Performing Arts. The School also offers M.P.A., P.G. Diploma and Diploma programs.
School of Basic Medical Sciences
Department of Biomedical Science
The Department of Biomedical Science was started in 2005, realizing the importance of the need to expose young minds towards the different disciplines of Biomedical Sciences and allied fields at an early age and opening up career options other than engineering and medicine. Thus the primary emphasis of the Biomedical Science program is the training of students / research scholars for careers in research, teaching and/or public health in academia, government or the private sector including Biopharma industries and R&D. The department provides the opportunity to obtain both a M.Sc. and Ph.D degree in Biomedical Science. It is the first of its kind in the country in offering a 5-year integrated program leading to a M.Sc. degree in Biomedical Science. This program aims at generating skilled manpower in different areas of biomedical science which would not only feed the Biotech industries but also would provide trained and a motivated young task force required by other institutions. In addition to M.Sc and Ph.D in Biomedical Science, the Department offers two year M.B.A. program in Hospital Management from July 2011, which is one of the much demanded programmes.
School of Chemistry
The Department of Chemistry of this university is a UGC-SAP and DST-FIST Sponsored Department. Almost all the faculty members have undertaken sponsored research projects funded by various National agencies and have successfully completed more than 40 individual research projects.
School of Environmental Sciences
The Department of Environmental Biotechnology is also a UGC-SAP and DST-FIST Sponsored Department.
Centre of Excellence in Life Sciences - School of Life Sciences
As the School of Life Sciences of Bharathidasan University has grown from strength to strength, it has recently been recognized as a “Centre of Excellence in Life Sciences” by the Govt. of Tamil Nadu with a grant of Rupees One Crore.
A “Laboratory facility” with high tech. equipment viz. 2D Gel Electrophoresis unit with Chemi Doc, UV Visible Spectro Fluorometer, RTPCR, HPTLC and Ultra Centrifuge, was established. From the University fund a building (G+1) for this centre at a total cost of Rs.1.5 crore has been constructed. Thus the centre will function towards collaborative research, with participation by faculty from within the SLS, as well as Scientists from other institutions in the country and abroad, so as to earn recognition for SLS as an international referral center.
Five Year Integrated M.Sc. Programme
The Department of Animal Science is also a UGC-SAP and DST-FIST Sponsored Department. The Department of Animal Science was established on 31st July, 1993. The Department has mobilized research grant of Rs.498.00 lakhs from UGC, DST, DBT, CSIR, ICMR, DOD, GoES, MoEnF, DAE-BRNS and ICAR. The Department was awarded a DST-FIST Programme from 2002-2007 and UGC-SAP-DRS-I from 2007-2012. The Department has been further extended and includes the Centre for Pheromone technology (2008) and the Mahatma Gandhi-Doerenkamp Centre (2009). A total of 536 research papers have been published by the faculty in International/ National journals. The Department has a well-established CPCSEA-approved Animal House, an Aquarium facility and Behavior monitoring Lab Facility. The Animal House also caters to the needs of the other Departments in the University.
Department of Biochemistry
The Department of Biochemistry, Bharathidasan University was established in 2005. Though it is a budding department, faculty members of this department are recognized based on their merit of research by financial assistance in the form of Major research projects. Projects have been sanctioned from funding agencies like UGC, DBT, DST and ICMR.
Department of Microbiology
The Department of Microbiology emerged from the parent Department of Botany during 1992 in association with National Facility for Marine Cyanobacteria. They have received project grants of around Rs. 4 crores from various government funding agencies such as DOD (MoES), DBT, DST, ICMR, CSIR, UGC, IFS and INSA. Recently the department of Microbiology has received a non-sap fund from UGC .
Department of Plant Science
It is sponsored by DST-FIST, UGC-Non SAP, UGC-Innovative Program and UGC-SAP. The Department of Plant Science is a full-fledged research department of Bharathidasan University from 1981.
Centre for Research & Development of Siddha-Ayurveda Medicines
The Centre for Herbal Drug Discovery and Development was established on 2nd July 2008 under the Department of Plant Science in the School of Life Sciences of the Bharathidasan University. It was renamed as Centre for Research and Development of Siddha-Ayurveda Medicines (CRDSAM) on 10th December 2009.
National Facility for Marine Cyanobacteria (NFMC)
The oceans and seas cover more than three-quarters of the earth’s surface. Marine organisms account for a major share of the Earth’s biological resources. The demands of the marine environment have led these organisms to evolve unique structures, metabolic pathways, reproductive systems, and sensory and defence mechanisms. Many of these same properties have important potential applications in the terrestrial world. In spite of the sea’s vast potential as a source of new biotechnologies, this domain remains relatively unexplored. Hence the main focus of the department is to impart quality education and train students in marine biotechnology including field visit. Hence the main focus is to impart quality education to students and give them hands-on training in Marine Biotechnology encompassing fields like Physical, chemical and biological oceanography, marine biodiversity, marine microbial technology and aqua culture.
Centre for Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics has gained momentum with the progress of genome sequencing projects. From human to cyanobacteria, the genome sequences have made a pivotal role in biological research. Cyanobacteriology, is the central dogma as it is the first oxygenating organism bridging the gap between pro and eukaryotes. This bioinformatics DBT, Govt of India center is set up to update cyanobacterial genome sequences to enhance the biotechnological exploitation of cyanobacteria and carryout gene sequencing for Indian marine cyanobacterial isolates.
SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
Department of Mathematics
The Department started functioning in 1963 in the erstwhile Madras University Postgraduate Centre. Except for the initial period, the department has been offering M.Sc., M. Phil., and Ph.D. programmes. The department has a full-fledged computer lab for both teaching and research. More than four thousand reference books are available in the department library.
For the past five years there has been a tremendous development in the department that several outstanding mathematicians have visited the department and delivered lectures; a training programme for college teachers has been conducted for two years with the financial assistance from the DST to promote research; many students of the department have been absorbed as lecturers in some institution or the other, a good number of research papers have been published in international journals; Choice Based Credit System CBCS) has been introduced from the academic year 2002-2003 for M.Sc. Mathematics programme, with the syllabi based on NET/SLET; some students have participated in quiz programmes conducted outside the University and brought laurels to the department by winning various prizes.
Department of Statistics
The Department of Statistics is newly created in Bharathidasan University from the academic year 2011-2012. The mission of the Department is to provide an opportunity for students to enhance their ability to apply statistics in a wide range of fields. The vision of the Department is to produce committed, competent, efficient and professionally capable post graduates in the allied fields of statistics such as Product Testing, Sample Surveys, Clinical Trials in Medicine, Nursing, Bio-Statistics, Environmental Studies, Consulting, Econometrics, Information Technologies, Education, Social Sciences and Engineering for research and extension. The Department is interacting with industries.
Career Opportunities of the M.Sc. Statistics (with Computer Applications) programme
Central Government Departments like Indian Statistical Service (ISS), IAS, IPS, IFS, Class-I Services, Statistical Officer at various levels in Central Statistical Organization (CSO), Statistical Officer at various levels in National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO), Assistant Director of Statistics (Planning Commission), Insurance Companies (Vital Statistics) and Statistical Investigator.
State Government Departments like Assistant Director of Statistics, District Statistical Officer, Assistant Statistical Investigator, Statistical Inspector, Statistical Assistant and Block Development Statistical Investigator.
Public and Private Sector / Industries / Organizations / Bank Sector like Statistical Officer, Statistical Analyst, Statistical Assistant and Statistical Quality Control Officer, Quality Controller.
Teaching and Research like [after finishing Ph.D. in Statistics or National Eligibility Test (NET) and State Eligibility Test (SET) or State Level Eligibility Test (SLET)] Assistant Professor, Lecturer, Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), Senior Research Fellowship (SRF) and Research Associate (RA).
School of Physics
Department of Physics
It is a DST-FIST and UGC-SAP Sponsored Department. The School of Physics which was originally started in 1976 as a unit of the Autonomous Post-graduate Centre of the University of Madras at Tiruchirappalli (the present Khajamalai Campus) with Prof. P. K. Ponnuswamy (the former Vice-Chancellor of University of Madras and Madurai-Kamaraj University) as the first Head, became the Department of Physics of Bharathidasan University in 1982. Since its inception, the Department has shown strong commitment towards research and teaching. In a short span of time, the Department established itself as centres of excellence for research in the areas of Nonlinear Dynamics, Biophysics and Crystallography. In recognition of the excellent contributions made in the field of Nonlinear Dynamics at the international level and in recognition of the S. S. Bhatnagar’s prize (the nation’s highest science prize) awarded to Prof. M. Lakshmanan (the former Head and at present Professor of Eminence in the School of Physics) for his excellent contribution to the field, the university created the Centre for Nonlinear Dynamics in the year 1990. Since then, the centre has been liberally supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) towards the development of infrastructure, manpower, library and computational facilities and today the centre is recognized as one of the top-ranking centres of excellence in Nonlinear Dynamics at the National and International levels.
Over the years, with the appointment of new faculty members, research in other areas such as Thin Films, Crystal Growth, Nonlinear Optical Materials and Photonics, High Pressure Studies, Nanomaterials were started and important contributions have been made. In the year 2005, the Department of Physics was renamed as the School of Physics. In order to highlight research in high pressure studies and nanotechnology, in the year 2008 the university created research centres in the above topics in the School of Physics. The School has very good infrastructure in terms of library, computational and laboratory facilities for conducting high quality research and hence it has been the destination for many talented students for doctoral and post-doctoral studies.
Having attained very good international reputation and recognition in research with a motivation to train young post-graduate students towards research in frontier topics, a two year M. Sc. programme in Physics was started in the year 1993 – 1994. Later in the year 2006 – 2007, M. Sc. Medical Physics (Two Year Programme) and M. Sc. Physics – Five year integrated programmes were started. From the academic year 2009 – 2010, M.Phil., Physics (One year Programme) was reintroduced. All the above programmes are popular among the students and they have been conducted successfully.
Centre for High Pressure Research
The High Pressure Low Temperature Laboratory was established with financial support from AICTE, TWAS, BRNS, DST-DAAD-PPP and CSIR during 2001-2007. During this period, the founder Dr. S. Arumugam has developed indigenous instruments such as 1) A simple uniaxial pressure device for electrical resistivity measurements suitable for closed cycle refrigerator system, 2) A simple uniaxial pressure device for ac-susceptibility measurements suitable for closed cycle refrigerator system 3) A DC-SQUID vibrating coil magnetometer for the magnetic measurements of extremely small volume of samples and 4) A simple uniaxial pressure device for electrical resistivity measurements suitable for 17 Tesla superconducting magnet system at Institute for Solid State Research, Dresden, Germany under DST-DAAD-PPP project. The uniaxial pressure and DC SQUID VCM devices that were developed here are not commercially available.
As recognition of the work carried out at High Pressure Low temperature Lab, the Department of Science and Technology has sanctioned an amount of Rs.2.35 Crores for establishing the “High Pressure Low Temperature and High Magnetic field facilities” at Bharathidasan University in January 2008. The major focus of this centre is to study the physical properties of condensed matter under extreme conditions such as low temperature, high pressure combined with high magnetic field. Under these conditions, novel phenomena and new concepts can be simulated in strongly correlated electron systems of different dimensionality. Discoveries of such phenomena have often opened up new horizons in materials science. Thus high pressure technique combined with other external parameters such as temperature or magnetic field has proved to be efficient to probe the fundamental problems in strongly correlated electron systems.
Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
Centre for NanoScience and NanoTechnology (CNT) was established in 2008 to address the various issues of science and technology considering the interdisciplinary nature of emerging fields cutting across Science, Engineering and Technology. The university has funded about 10 million Indian Rupees to develop infrastructure for the fabrication and probing of nanostructured materials. Though the Centre is relatively young, it has diversified research interests ranging from Nanomaterials to biological applications including the nanowire based Field Emission Transistor (FET), biosensor and stabilizing liposome using nano particles and organic light emitting diodes. Interfacing nano and bio system would create new and powerful tools that enable direct, sensitive and rapid analyses of bio and chemical molecules and also screening of new drug molecules. The mission of the Centre is to promote, develop and bind interdisciplinary research activities in Bharathidasan University.
Centre for Nonlinear Dynamics (CNLD)
This centre was liberally supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) Government of India towards the development of infrastructure, manpower, library and computational facilities. Several prestigious awards and recognitions at the national and international levels have also been received by members of the faculty such as S. S. Bhatnagar Prize, Tamilnadu Scientist Award, Goyal Prize, Fellowships of Science Academies, Membership of Editorial Boards of prestigious journals, Post-Doctoral research Fellowships abroad, Associateship by reputed institutes abroad, Guest and Visiting Scientist positions etc. The Centre has been identified as one of nodal points for Theoretical Physics Seminar Circuit (TPSC) programme by DST.
ALAGAPPA UNIVERSITY
Alagappa University accredited with 'A' Grade by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is located at Karaikudi  in Tamil Nadu is accessible from Madurai and Tiruchirappalli Airports within two hours. The 440 acre green and lush campus houses all the academic activities. This University has emerged from the galaxy of institutions initially founded by the great philanthropist and educationist Dr. R.M. Alagappa Chettiar.

Alagappa University was brought into existence by a Special Act of the Government of Tamil Nadu in May 1985 with the objective of fostering research, development and dissemination of knowledge in various branches of learning. Alagappa University is recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of India. The University has 18 Departments, 5 Centres and 2 Constituent Colleges on its campus. 28 Affiliated Colleges located in the districts of Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram are part of the University. The University's motto is "Excellence in Action" and the University keeps before it the vision of excellence in all spheres of its action.
Research is one of the strongest components of Alagappa University. All the faculty members of the University have been actively engaged in research. With financial support from national/international agencies like DST, DBT, UGC, CSIR, ICMR,DRDO, MHRD, UNESCO, etc., various research projects are being carried out. Currently 70 projects with external funding to the tune of Rs.1400 lakhs are on-going. The University Grants Commission has been supporting the Departments of Physics, Chemistry and Biotechnology and Physical Education under Special Assistance Programme (SAP). Similarly, the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India has been supporting the Departments of Physics, Chemistry and Biotechnology under “Fund for Improvement of S&T Infrastructure in Universities and Higher Educational Institutions (FIST)" scheme. Based on the research publications and ‘h’ index, the DST has recently sanctioned a research grant of Rs.600 lakhs to all the Science Departments of the University under Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence (PURSE) scheme. The average impact factor of the publications made is close to 2.0. Alagappa University has published 618 research papers with an average citation per paper of 2.85 during the period 1999-2008 and has a high share (31.07%; All India Rank 3 among top 50 Indian Universities) of International Collaborative Publications in total publications output during the same period (Gupta BM, Indian J. Sci. Technol. 3(7):837-843, 2010). Based on the average H-index of 22, Alagappa University has got 27th rank at the national level.  
Apart from earmarking Rs. 1000 lakhs for equipment and consumables in the last 5 years, the University has created an internal research fund, Alagappa University Research Fund (AURF) with a corpus of Rs. 500 lakhs for inculcating research culture and promoting research. Every year, projects worth Rs. 50 lakhs are sanctioned by the University from its own funds for research.
A separate Research Section has been functioning under the Dean of Research since 24th January, 2011. The University has Research Advisory Committee (RAC) to monitor and foster research activities at various levels in the University with the University’s objective of ‘Fostering Research for the Advancement and Dissemination of Knowledge’. The RAC has formulated the guidelines for admission to M.Phil and Ph.D. programs. Alagappa University is one of the early birds to adopt the University Grants Commission (Minimum Standards and Procedures for award of M.Phil and Ph.D. Degree) Regulations, 2009. The guidelines were formed on the lines of UGC regulations as well as on the guidelines of Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education (TANSCHE) in important aspects such as fixing the eligibility criteria for M.Phil/Ph.D Supervisor-ship, Procedure for admission, Allocation of Research Supervisor to Research Scholars, Course Work, Evaluation and assessment methods. On the advice of RAC, the University conducts an All India Level Pre-PhD Entrance Examination twice a year (February and July) for selecting meritorious candidates for M.Phil and Ph.D. programs in various disciplines. Wide publicity is also given through National dailies and University website for the Pre-PhD Qualifying Entrance Examination. The RAC also advises the University authorities in several other matters which are involved with fostering of research and maintaining the quality of the research programs. The RAC meets 4-6 times in a year and evolves strategies for maintaining quality in research besides dealing with special issues, as and when they arise and provides recommendation based on merits of each case. The University had thus far enrolled 2131 candidates for doctoral programs, of whom 1028 have been awarded PhD while the rest of the candidates are pursuing their work.