Kalapet Campus

The UGC Centre for Maritime Studies (CMS) was established during the academic year 2014-15 by the University Grants Commission under its Area Studies Programme. The CMS would examine the relevant policies and mechanisms aimed at fulfilling the new maritime objectives of India. The CMS intends to introduce Ph.D.Programme and Soft Core courses in Maritime Studies.

Faculty & Research Personnel: The UGC sanctioned one Assistant Professor and two Research Personnel (RA/ PA/PF ) for the period i.e. 2014-1019 to the Centre and will be recruited soon.

Objectives:

The Centre would promote research, teaching and other academic programmes on the following areas of concern to Indian national interests. Considering India’s strategic location across the east-west SCLOCS of the IOR, the Centre would promote studies on India’s role in ensuring the safety of SLOCs, trade, energy security and cooperative linkages with other coastal states to combat the maritime threats and maintain a peaceful and stable order in the IOR.

1. Maritime jurisdiction, resources, cooperation and conflicts with neighbours
2. Non-traditional threats to India’s maritime security: piracy, maritime terrorism, environmental threats
3. Building maritime connectivity, merchant shipping, development of maritime infrastructure, national maritime development policy, foreign collaborative ventures
4. India and Indian Ocean Security Regime
5. India and the Regional Initiatives

Vision:

· To blossom into a Centre of Excellence for Maritime Studies in India and later as an Institute of Maritime Studies
· To provide a platform for interdisciplinary teaching and research
· To develop network with other Institutions
· To create awareness about the maritime affairs/issues in India

The University Grants Commission sanctioned Southern Asia Studies Programme to Pondicherry University under its Area Studies Programme in June 2005. As per the UGC guidelines, the Centre is headed by the Director, who is assisted by a Post-Doctoral Research Associate. The area of teaching and research under the auspices of Southern Asia Studies Programme is wider than South Asian Studies in the sense that the Southern Asian region covers not only SAARC countries, but also a part of West Asia, East Asia and South-East Asia. To be more precise, this region covers the area from the Gulf of Hormuz to the Strait of Malacca.

In formulating and coordinating its programmes, the Centre is guided by an inter-disciplinary Advisory Committee, chaired by the Vice Chancellor of the University. The Centre is offering Ph.D programme since the academic year of 2011-12.

Objectives

• To promote a comprehensive understanding of social, cultural, economic, political and strategic dimensions of the study area.
• To offer vitally important inputs to the policy planners to formulate policies advancing India’s economic, strategic and political interest; and
• To promote research with emphasis on comparative study of the issues and problems between the regions.

Microbes are playing important role in the bioprocess of all living things and maintain homeostasis of the universe. Without microbes, one cannot imagine such a biologically balanced and diverse universe; rather our earth would have placed as a barren planet.  As the microbial activities are so diverse, the microbiology programme is a multidisciplinary subject, which will have the roots of life science, environmental science, and engineering.   Traditional microbiology is considered to be an important area of study in biology since it has enormous potential and vast scope in fermentation, bioremediation and biomedical technology. But the recent developments from human microbiome project, metagenomics and microbial genome projects has expanded its scope and potential in the next generation drug design, molecular pathogenesis, phylogeography, production of smart biomolecules, etc.  Modern Microbiology has expanded its roots in genome technology, nanobiotechnology, green energy (biofuel) technology, bioelectronics etc. Considering recent innovations and rapid growth of microbiological approaches and applications in human and environmental sustainability, the M.Sc. Microbiology curricula is designed to enlighten the students in basics of Microbiology to recent developments. The first semester curricula would cover basic concepts including biomolecules and metabolism, cell and molecular biology and techniques in microbiology. In the second semester, the students will study core microbiology including bacteriology, mycology, virology etc, subsequently they will study applied and modern microbiology including environmental, food, agriculture, aquatic microbiology, microbial genomics and metagenomics. A unique feature of the curricula includes both theory and practical course for each papers and dissertation work in the fourth semester. 
The M. Sc., Microbiology Programme was started in the year 2009 and is housed under the Department of Studies in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Life Sciences. The M.Sc., Microbiology Programme is committed to excellence in education, research and extension. The programme is being strengthened with various research units and periodical update / modernization of the curricula. The M.Sc., Microbiology programme at the Pondicherry University, School of Life Sciences, brings together a variety of researchers as faculty of this programme who are specialized in their domains and united by the common goal of understanding the “Microbes”. Their individual research interests are varied and can be viewed on their profiles.

The Centre for European Studies was established in 2012 by the University Grants Commission under its Area Studies Programme. The Centre intends to launch Ph.D and P.G. Diploma Programmes in European Studies from the forthcoming academic year. It is also to offer some soft core courses on different aspects of European Studies for the post graduate and 5-year integrated students. It is also intended to establish a Documentation Centre.

The course comprises of Foundational (eg. Business Environment), Fundamental (eg. Law), Functional (eg. Marketing, Finance, Operations, Personnel, Systems and their electives) and Fusional (eg. Strategic Management) subjects.

Department of Hindi was established in 1993. The Department is offering quality education programmes and it facilitates for intensive study and research in different areas of Hindi Language and Literature and its applied and functional aspects such as translation, media, comparative studies, language technology, various contemporary discourses etc. Syllabus of the Hindi Department is based on the Model Syllabus of University Grants Commission and updated time to time in consultation with experts with due approval of Academic Bodies. Faculty members of the department have designed and floated courses on contemporary relevance and emerging areas which are offered as optional and soft core courses. Some of these courses are interdisciplinary in nature and aimed to nurture the skills of the students for their career development. Some of the courses offered in English medium too. Department is playing a vital role in spreading E -Literacy in the area of computing in Indian Languages and adopting innovative practices in teaching, learning and evaluation process. ICT integrated teaching, seminars, interactive classes, group discussions, internal and external assessment practices are enriching the teaching and learning.  Department is also playing vital role in developing MOOCs, which provides opportunity to many for open online-learning and blended learning experience to campus students.

Established in 1991, this centre has developed a vigorous culture of applied environmental research, teaching, and industrial consultancy. Several dynamic PhDs and MTechs, trained in frontier research areas, in India and abroad, contribute to the pool of manpower expertise of the centre; the laboratories/units manned by them provide the momentum for cutting edge R&D that strives to carve fresh niches and open new vistas. The effort has been peer-recognized in the form of major international and national prizes, election to the fellowship of premier academies/professional bodies, and nomination on the editorial boards of prestigious technical journals. The most recent of the honours include the National Design Award in Environmental Engineering (conferred by the Institution of Engineers), nomination on the Board of Governors of IITR and other premier institutions, and a succession of three best paper awards received for pioneering research in eco-friendly nanoparticle synthesis. The centre has thus far published over 250 papers in high impact-factor international journals including Critical Reviews in Environmental Science & Technology, Bioresources Technology, Journal of Hazardous Materials, Biochemical Engineering Journal, Environmental Modeling & Software, Applied Energy, Journal of Cleaner Production, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Journal of Loss Prevention in Process industries, , Trans IChemE (UK), Trans AIChE (USA), etc. The centre has also been providing expert advice to government departments, industry, and academia across the world. The Hirsch Index of the centre’s publications as per SCOPUS is 22, which is among the highest in the departments dealing with environmental engineering in India. Several of the publications have become citation classics in the fields of chemical and environmental engineering. The centre’s efforts in innovative teaching and curriculum development have also resulted in the creation of 33 popular textbooks and reference books, published by Oxford University Press, Prentice-Hall, Orient Longman, Springer, Elsevier, Taylor & Francis, etc.

The Department was established in 1986 and it aims to train people, who are oriented towards research and teaching, in advanced areas of Mathematics. The Department is supported by the University Grants Commission's Special Assistance Programme (SAP) for Research related activities, by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India's FIST programme, for the development of infrastructure and by the National Board for Higher Mathematics (NBHM), Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, through annual library grant for purchase of books.

Course Pattern

A candidate of M.Sc. programme should take 12 hard core courses and a minimum of 6 soft core courses. A candidate of M.Phil. programme has to take 3 hard core courses and a minimum of 3 soft core courses and complete a dissertation.