Mangalore University

Mangalore University, an accredited higher educational institution was established in 1980, and has since been catering to the higher educational needs of three districts of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is a public, state-funded University and has evolved into a centre for advanced studies and research with a good ranking at the national level. The campus is spread over 353 acres and overlooks the Arabian Sea to the West and the biodiversity hotspot Western Ghats to the East. The main campus has 28 academic departments offering 47 Masters and 33 Doctoral Programmes spread over four faculties: Arts, Commerce, Education and Science & Technology with 12 PG programmes also offered at its Postgraduate Centre. Among these are also programmes with due accreditation from National Agencies Such as AICTE, NCTE, AERB and AYUSH, Govt. of India. A new campus for PG programmes and advanced research has been established at Belapu, Udupi District. A total of 174 colleges in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Kodagu Districts are affiliated to the University.   

The central facilities include Computer Centre, University Science Instrumentation Centre, Microtron Centre, Centre for Advanced Research in Environmental Radioactivity, Centre for Application of Radioisotopes and Radiation Technology, Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence Laboratory, IBM-Incubation Centre, Language Lab, Health Centre, Hostels etc. The campus also has guest houses, a shopping complex, Cafeterias, Banks, indoor sports facilities. The campus is well-connected with public transport. Buildings have solar power, solar water heaters, biogas plants and rainwater harvesting. The campus is a ‘green’ campus, with botanical garden, landscaped parks and outdoor learning points for students. It has been placed 2nd in the country and 137^th globally in the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings-2023, and has participated in Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2024.

The University is honoured with the Karnataka Kreeda Poshak Award by the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports– Govt of Karnataka, in recognition of promoting sports activities and for producing national and international level sports persons. Besides sports, short-term programmes for staff and students in Yoga, workshops and training programmes are also organized under different endowment chairs. Several co-curricular and cultural activities reflecting the multicultural ambience of the region are conducted on the campus. A publication unit is engaged in dissemination of knowledge through extension lectures and publication of books. The campus has a large presence of international students from over 21 countries at Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD levels.

The University has taken steps to establish international contacts through exchange of scholars and students with universities in USA, UK, Finland, Japan, Norway, Germany, Spain, Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries. Several faculty members have been on research assignments with Fellowships from the Commonwealth, Scholarship Commission as also the Humboldt, Rotary, Agatha Harrison, Rockefeller and McArthur Foundations. Several departments have entered into MOUs and hosted many researchers from reputed institutions.

The University has over 17 ongoing research projects funded by UGC, BRNS, DST, NPCL, MoES, and ICSSR, etc. The University has received major grants for research from the Macarthur Foundation, Chicago; NBPGR, UGC, DST, Department of Ocean Development, Department of Electronics, Department of Space, Department of Biotechnology, Department of Atomic Energy besides the Govt. of Karnataka. The total grants sanctioned for these projects amounts to over 2,203,724 USD as a result of which the University has achieved SCOPUS h-index of 89 as on December 2023.

Mangalore University has established twenty Endowment Chairs in areas such as Banking, regional languages/literatures and cultures including the Kanakadasa Study Chair, the Yakshagana Study Centre, Study Centres for local/regional languages (Tulu/Kodava/Konkani/Beary/Arebhashe); Women’s Studies Centre, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Study Centre, Vivekananda Study Centre and a Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy with considerable grants over the years from 2005 onwards. The innovative projects undertaken by these Chairs/Centres have given a new dimension to the University’s efforts to make the educational experience secure and meaningful to its students.

The governance model is participative, collective, democratic, transparent, and accountable. The Internal Quality Assurance Cell initiates quality measures and participates in accreditation, assessment and ranking. Over the past 43 years, Mangalore University has grown and earned a respectable position among HEIs in the country and is forging ahead with the philosophy ‘continuity with change’.