Forest Research Institute (FRI), an institute of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, is a premier institution in the field of forestry research and environment education across different disciplines. It was founded in 1878 as the British Imperial Forest School and was conferred the status of university in 1991

Campus: One campus in Dehradun

Population: ca. 180 students

Faculties/Centres: The corresponding faculties are Faculty of Cellulose and Paper Technology, Faculty of Forestry, Faculty of Environment Management, and Faculty of Wood Science and Technology, offering masters and doctoral degrees.

Interesting fact: some of the most popular forest museums of the world are in FRI Dehradun. It has six museums based on social forestry, pathology, silviculture, timber, non-wood forest products and entomology. Forest Research Institute Dehradun is among the oldest institutions of its kind and acclaimed the world over. The forest area nearby FRI was also undertaken by the forest authority to educate the candidates who aspired to study in this institute as they would analyse different forest regions for research and this would also safeguard the nearby forests from any damage

Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE) is the oldest research and training institute in Economics in India. Established in 1930, it is a non-profit public higher-education institution dedicated to research in the socio-economic dimensions of the Indian society. Named after Gopal Krishna Gokhale who founded the Servants of India Society in 1905. GIPE is renowned for its initiatives in qualitative research in diverse areas of economic theory and practice. The Institute is credited with pioneering contributions by way of surveys, research, informed debate, analysis and critique, which have shaped public discourse on major socio-economic initiatives and in formulating economic plans at the regional level, as well at the national level.

Campus: One campus located in the urban setting of the metropolis Pune. The residential campus of the institute comprising faculty and staff houses, guest houses, and the student dormitories, is built on a separate in close proximity to the institute.

Population: ca. 350 students

Faculties/Centres : The major research areas of the institute are Agricultural Economics, Population Studies, Economic History, Input-output analysis for planning and development, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Monetary economics, Financial Economics, Public Economics, International Economics and the study of economics of East European countries.

Interesting fact:  Its library, the Dhananjaya Rao Gadgil Library has one of the largest collections of social science documents in India, as well as a large number of rare books published before the advent of twentieth century, which may not be available elsewhere. There is a cottage in the campus where Gandhi met Gokhale for the first time and it is said, that that unleashed his journey of India’s freedom struggle.

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata (IISER K) is an autonomous public research university in science and education field located at Kalyani in Nadia district, West Bengal, India. It was established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. It is one of seven Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research and was the first of the IISERs to be established along with IISER Pune. IISER Kolkata integrates education with research so that undergraduate teaching as well as doctoral and postdoctoral research work could be carried out in symbiosis.

Campus: One main campus in Mohanpur, Nadia

Population:  1378 students

Faculties/Centres: The institute has five major academic departments : Biological Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Earth Sciences, Mathematics & Statistics, Physical Sciences and several research centres: Centre of Excellence in Space Sciences in India (CESSI), National Centre for High Pressure Studies, Centre for Advanced Functional Materials (CAFM), Centre for Climate and Environmental Studies (CCES), and  Centre for Large Scale Computing (CLSC). Additionally, the college also provides minor qualifications through the humanities and social sciences (HSS) and in computational and data sciences (CDS). It also has a field station for ecological, environmental and field studies, and a broadband seismological observatory.

Interesting fact: The College organizes a major annual festival, Inquivesta, which is promoted as one of the first and the biggest science fest of the country. The Nature Index (compiled by Nature Research) ranked the institute among the top 5 academic research-intensive institutes of India.

The Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune is an autonomous public research university and a premier institute dedicated to research and teaching in the basic sciences. Established in 2006 as a unique initiative in science education in India by the Ministry of Human Resource Development IISER is a Science University of the highest calibre devoted to both teaching and research in a totally integrated manner, with state-of-the-art research and high quality education, thus nurturing both curiosity and creativity.

Campus: One campus in Pashan, Pune

Population: 1511 students

Faculties/Centres: IISER Pune offers a BS MS dual degree, Integrated PhD, and PhD programmes in Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Climate Science, Mathematics and Physics. IISER Pune has also initiated a Humanities and Social Sciences department. IISER Pune also hosts various Centres of Excellence (DBT Centre of Excellence in Epigenetics, National Facility for Gene Function in Health and Disease, Centre of Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education, Centre for Energy Science established through DST Nanomission, Centre for Water Research).

An interesting fact: Students organized the intercollegiate science challenge Mimamsa. Its objective is to make it the most conceptually challenging competition at the national level for science students. IISER Pune has been ranked 20 on a list of top 175 Young Universities (aged 50 and under) in the world by Nature Index

Founded in 1994, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati is a public technical and research university established by the Government of India, imparting world class advanced research and equipped with state-of-the-art scientific and engineering instruments. It is the sixth Indian Institute of Technology established in India and it is officially recognized as an Institute of National Importance by the government of India.

Campus: One fully residential campus 20 km from Guwahati

Population: 6117 students

Faculties/Centres: Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemistry, Department of Civil Engineering, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Department of Design, Department of Electronics & Electrical Engineering, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Mathematics, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Physics.  And five academic centres Centre for Nanotechnology, Centre for Rural Technology, Centre for Linguistic Science & Technology, Centre for the Environment, Centre for Energy covering all the major engineering, science and humanities disciplines, offering BTech, BDes, MA, MDes, MTech, MSc and PhD programmes

Interesting fact: The institute is famous for organizing various festivals and competitions. The major festivals include Alcheringa, the annual cultural festival, Techniche, the annual techno-management festival, Udgam, the annual entrepreneurship summit and Research Conclave. IIT G considered as the most beautiful and scenic campus in the country. The Names of the hostels at IIT G are derived from the name of famous rivers and lakes.

The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT K) is a premier public institution in India for higher education in science and technology, set up in 1959 with the help of a consortium of nine leading US research universities.

Campus: One campus at Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Population: 8350 students

Faculties/Centres: Areas of study at IIT Kanpur can be roughly divided into four areas: Engineering, Sciences , Management , and Humanities .The IIT K houses more than 20 advanced research centres.

Interesting fact: IIT Kanpur was the first institute in India to offer computer science education in India, way back in 1963. Also, IIT Kanpur has its own airstrip for aeronautical engineering students.

Jawaharlal Nehru University is the foremost university in India, and a world-renowned centre for teaching and research located in New Delhi, India. JNU was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister. The university is  known for leading faculties and research emphasis on liberal arts and applied sciences, as well as for intense student activism and providing a liberal democratic space for students in India. The educational philosophy of the university gets translated into its somewhat unorthodox academic structure. Grounded in a faith in the unity of knowledge, JNU has sought to avoid the narrowly conceived Department structure of conventional universities, preferring instead to bring allied disciplines within a few broad and inclusive entities called Schools, under whose interactive ambit are placed the more specialized units, called Centres.

Campus: One campus on the Aravali range in New Delhi,

Population: 8082 students

Faculties/Centres: 20 Schools and Centres: School of Arts & Aesthetics, School of Biotechnology,School of Computational and Integrative Sciences,School of Computer and Systems Sciences,School of Engineering,School of Environmental Sciences,School of International Studies,School of Language Literature and Culture Studies,School of Life Sciences,Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management and Entrepreneurship,School of Physical Sciences,School of Sanskrit and Indic Studies,School of Social Sciences,Centre for the Study of Law and Governance,Special Centre for Disaster Research,Special Centre for E-Learning,Special Centre for Molecular Medicine,Special Centre for Nanoscience,Special Centre for National Security Studies,Special Centre for the Study of North East India.

Interesting fact: JNU is infused with an intense political life on campus debating on social issues such as feminism, minority rights, social and economic justice. JNU was the first to offer courses in foreign languges in an integrated five year MA programme.

Established in 1949, Savitribai Phule Pune University, one of the premier universities in India, is a collegiate public state university located in Pune, Maharashtra. The university is named after Savitribai Phule, a 19th-century Indian social reformer who is known for her contribution towards empowerment and emancipation of women through education. It is popularly known as the ‘Oxford of the East’ and it has been given the highest “A” rating by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) for its overall performance. The higher education challenge for SPPU is threefold, namely expansion, inclusion and excellence – Expansion to serve the exponential demand, Inclusion for equity and access to all without compromising Excellence at par.

Campus: One campus in Pune

Population: 7562 students

Faculties/Centres:  43 academic departments, about 307 recognized research institutes and 612 affiliated colleges offering undergraduate, postgraduate, and PhD courses in all areas of  Science and Technology, Social Sciences and Humanities, Commerce and Management, Law, and interdisciplinary studies.

Interesting fact: Due to its excellent offer and its good accommodation facility, the university attracts many foreign students, at a quota of more than 15 %.

Tata Institute of Social Sciences is a multi-campus public research university in Mumbai, India. It was established in 1936 as the Sir Dorabji Tata Graduate School of Social Work. In 1944, it was renamed as the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. Since its inception, the vision of the TISS has been to be an institution of excellence in higher education that continually responds to changing social realities through the development and application of knowledge, towards creating a people-centred, ecologically sustainable and just society that promotes and protects dignity, equality, social justice and human rights for all.

Campus: TISS has four campuses:

• Mumbai Campus
• Tuljapur Off-Campus
• Hyderabad Off-Campus
• TISS Guwahati Off-Campus

Population: 4115 students

Faculties/Centres: TISS has 21 schools and 45 centres. Its academic programmes focus on the social sciences, development studies, health, media and cultural studies, law and governance, education, rural development, management and labour, gender studies, humanities, research and methodology i.a. offering bachelor, masters, and doctoral programmes.

Interesting fact: The TISS won the inaugural round of the Obama-Singh 21st Century award for research on leadership development in higher education. TISS is the Principal Recipient of the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in a countrywide project for capacity-building of higher institutions of learning in HIV/AIDS Counselling.

The University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore (UASB) was established in 1963 and inaugurated by Vice-President of India on August 21, 1964. The UASB aims at generating quality human resources in the area of agriculture and allied disciplines, generate cutting-edge competitive technologies and evolve efficient disseminating mechanism so as to serve the farming community of the State and the Country.

Campus:

• Bangalore-560 065, Karnataka, India
• Mandya-571 405, Mandya District, Karnataka, India
• Hassan-573 225, Hassan District, Karnataka, India
• Chintamani-563 125, Chikkaballapur District, Karnataka, India
• Chamarajnagar-571 127, Karnataka, India

Population: 4355 students

Faculties or centres: A range of new technology oriented six under-graduate degree programmes in Agriculture, Sericulture, Food Science & Technology, Agricultural Marketing & Cooperation, Agricultural Biotechnology and Agricultural Engineering.

Interesting fact: In less than half a century, UAS-B has released over 200 varieties in diverse crops such as cereals, pulses, oilseeds and commercial crops. UASB began as a small agricultural research farm in 1899 on 30 acres of land donated by Her Excellency Maharani Kempa Nanjammanni Vani Vilasa Sannidhiyavaru, the Regent of Mysore, and appointed Dr. Lehmann, German Scientist, to initiate research on soil crop response with a Laboratory in the Directorate of Agriculture.

The University of Delhi, informally known as Delhi University, is a collegiate public central university located in New Delhi, India. Founded in 1922 is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) by the University Grants Commission (UGC). It is a premier university of the country with a venerable legacy and international acclaim for highest academic standards, diverse educational programmes, distinguished faculty, illustrious alumni and varied co-curricular activities.Drawing students and faculty from across India and abroad, the University has emerged as a symbol of excellence, integrity and openness of mansa (thought), vaacha (speech) and karmana (action).

Campus: Two  campuses, North Campus and South Campus. In addition, University of Delhi is planning to build East Campus and West Campus.

Population: 23034 students

Faculties/Centres: 16 faculties (Arts, Applied Social Sciences and Humanities, Commerce and Business, Education, Interdisciplinary and Applied Sciences, Law, Management Studies, Mathematical Sciences, Medical Sciences, Music, Open Learning, Science, Social Sciences, Technology), 86 departments distributed across its campuses, 77 affiliated colleges and five other institutes. Five departments, namely Chemistry, Geology, Zoology, Sociology and History have been awarded the status of the Centres of Advanced Studies.

Interesting fact: The Indraprastha College for Women c is famous for its beautiful campus but surprisingly, it is way beyond important in the history. It is the oldest girls’ college around, and the women who went to IP College during partition helped people take refuge, eat, drink and pass the area safely during those tumultuous times. Delhi University organizes Flower Show every year in the North Campus. This is done with the purpose to promote compassion towards nature. It is open for everyone, including all residents, people from various walks of life and DU students.

The University of Hyderabad (UoH) is a public research university located in Gachibowli, Hyderabad, Telangana, India, established in 1974. It is regarded as one of the top multi-disciplinary universities in India in the area of higher education, achieving honours and attaining standards that set a benchmark for other universities in the country, and is ranked among the top institutions in India by various ranking agencies both in India and Abroad. Internationally the UoH collaborates with more than 20 foreign universities.

Campuses: Main campus and City campus
Population: ca. 5700 students

Faculties/Centres: 12 schools of study with 24 departments and 19 centres. It also has a Centre for Distance and Virtual Learning and a Centre for Digital Learning, Training & Resources.

Interesting fact: The university is the youngest and smallest of the 10 public-funded institutions selected for Prestigious Institution of Eminence status by the Government of India.

Founded in 1737, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen is a research university of international renown with strong focuses in research-led teaching. The University is distinguished by the rich diversity of its subject spectrum particularly in the humanities, its excellent facilities for the pursuit of scientific research, and the outstanding quality of the areas that define its profile. From 2007 to 2012 Georg-August-Universität Göttingen was rewarded funding from the Initiative of Excellence of the German Federal and State Governments with its institutional strategy for the future entitled “Göttingen.Tradition – Innovation – Autonomy”. The University was able to realise all measures of the concept. Now Göttingen University develops the successfully established measures further to continously advance the University’s positive developments in research and teaching.