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Academic Departments

NAAC’s opinion about Research Performance:

The changes that are of late taking place on the educational scenario and in the socio-economic climate in the country pose problems before the University. It is remarkable that the University is trying to adjust to these changes without disturbing its tradition and its distinctive culture. It is commendable that the University has without completely giving up research in the traditional areas, taken up research in frontier and applied areas. The work being done in some of the science and technology departments compares well with that in prestigious institutions abroad. ... Departments in Humanities and Social Sciences have also taken up the challenge and their output is qualitatively of a high order.”

To be updated soon.

Manuscript Library

The Manuscript Section was in existence right from the inception of the University. In 1990, the Manuscript Library became a full-fledged unit of the University of Calcutta under the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic). The Library has a collection of more than 42,000 manuscripts including quite a few on palm leaves, including 20,000 in Sanskrit, 12,000 in Tibetan and Bengali and also several Persian and Arabic manuscripts. They are in different languages such as Sanskrit, Tibetan, Bangla, Oriya, Maithili, Pali, Arabic and Persian, and in scripts like Bengali, Oriya, Gaudi, Newari, Malayalam and Maithili. Some manuscripts are wrought in gold and silver lettering. The Manuscript Resource Centre (MRC) at the University of Calcutta was started in August 2003. The MRC has conducted the survey in twenty-nine Government and Government-sponsored libraries, seven institutional libraries, thirteen private libraries and fifteen personal collections in West Bengal . The MRC has documented 21,000 manuscripts covering thirteen districts of West Bengal so far and also prepared a list of manuscripts for digitisation. It has also taken initiative in providing conservation support to several collections of manuscripts through applying herbal methods for conservation of manuscripts at the time of documentation. 20,000 manuscripts codices were fed in to e-granthavali database. Fifteen awareness campaigns have been held, with more than fifteen hundred people participated in the programme.

Asutosh Museum of Indian Art

Asutosh Museum of Indian Art, the first public museum in any university in India, was established in 1937. Named after Sir Asutosh Mookerjee, the great educationist, who introduced the study of Indology including Indian art and archaeology at the university level, this Museum stands for preservation, presentation and study of objects of Indian art and antiquity particularly of eastern India. From a humble beginning with only 5 objects, the collections, thanks to the endeavours of Sri D.P. Ghosh, the first Curator and a number of benevolent donors and selfless workers, the museum has swelled to contain more than 25,000 items consisting of sculptures, paintings, folk-art objects, textiles, terracottas, etc. of extraordinary variety, providing a wide panorama of cultural endeavours of the people throughout the ages.

Since its inception, the Museum had to change its location more than once. Originally, the collections were housed in the rear portion of the old Senate Hall from where the portable exhibits were shifted to Murshidabad Imambada and heavy stone sculptures were deposited underground in 1942, due to the threat of bombing during world war II. The collections came back to their old location after five years only to be shifted again in 1960, to make room for its new building. Having sojourned in a temporary home for seven years, the Museum returned in 1967 to the newly constructed Centenary Building of the University where the ground and first floors accommodate the galleries, maintenance and administration of the establishment.

University Halls and Hostel

There are 17 Halls and Hostels under the University of Calcutta providing accommodation to about 2000 students studying in the University Colleges of Arts, Commerce, Science, Technology and Law and also the undergraduate students of the colleges as well as men research scholars/fellows of the University. Management of Halls / Hostels is executed by Board of Residence, an advisory body of the University of Calcutta.

List of University Halls/Hostels

The Carmichael Hall is reserved for Muslim students only (both undergraduate and postgraduate students). The Under-graduate Halls namely (1) Vidyasagar Chhatriniwas is attached to the Viharilal Home Science Campus and (2) U.G. Lady Students’ Hall is open to lady students of any University of Calcutta-affiliated college in the city of Kolkata which has no hostel of its own. Only paid research scholars of the University conducting male research work leading to a doctoral degree are eligible for Research Scholars’ Hostel.

University Press and Publications

The University has its own press at 48, Hazra Road, Kolkata-700 019. Established over a century ago, it has not only been continuously helping the Confidential Section ofthe Controller’s Department in printing confidential papers in connection with all the examinations conducted by the University but has also been publishing wide variety of textbooks, treatises and journals.

Steps have recently been taken to modernise the Press through the acquisition of new printing machines including offset and DTP.

Publications of the University have always attracted the attention of the intellectuals of our country. Besides books authored by distinguished academics on various topics of literary and cultural interest, the University has been publishing the journal The Calcutta Review which is one of the oldest university journals of Asia. Well known forits rich contribution to the literary heritage of our country, the journal has recently been modernised for providing stimulus to creative writings in arts, science and technology. In addition, journals are regularly published by a number of departments containing original contributions from the faculty.

The Court of Directors of the East India Company sent a despatch in July, 1854 to the Governor-General of India in Council, suggesting the establishment of the Universities of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay.

In pursuance of that despatch, the University of Calcutta was founded on JANUARY 24, 1857.

The University adopted in the first instance, the pattern of the University of London and gradually introduced modifications in its constitution

Some Heritage Buildings Associated with the University of Calcutta

The establishment of the University of Calcutta by the University Act of 1857 was the logical culmination of historical forces created by the emergent aspirations for acquisition of modern education, an offshoot of the process which started with the advent of Western culture in India in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Initially the University was only an affiliating and examining body. All the teaching was done in the constituent colleges (the Presidency College, the Sanskrit College and the Bengal Engineering College appear among the sketches presented hereinafter). Besides, it had no habitation of its own. This was a constraint of serious proportions and the University was forced to take recourse to many expedients to discharge its functions as efficiently as possible. In those early years, the meetings of the Senate were held in the Council Room of the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital while the Syndicate generally met at the private residence of the Vice-Chancellor. The Faculty Councils met either at the private residences of the Presidents of the Faculties concerned or in the Civil Engineering College or in some of the rooms of the Writers’ Buildings. The University examinations were held in the Town Hall and at other places (including even some improvised tents at the Maidan).