| University of North Bengal | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1962 |
| Type | Public |
| Vice-Chancellor | Debayan Pal |
| Location | Siliguri, West Bengal, India |
| Campus | Rural |
| Affiliations | UGC |
| Website | www.nbu.ac.in |
University of North Bengal (Bengali: উত্তরবঙ্গ বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়) is a state university near Siliguri in Darjeeling district in the Indian state of West Bengal. The university was established in 1962 with a goal to disseminate knowledge to fulfill growing socio-economic and technical manpower needs in the six North Bengal districts and the neighbouring state of Sikkim. Currently, colleges from Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling districts are affiliated to this university. North Bengal University offers degrees in undergraduate, post graduate, M. Phil and doctorate programs.
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The University of North Bengal was established by Act of the Legislature of West Bengal in 1962. This was the first university in the region. The university has played a pioneering role since inception in spreading higher education and scientific attitudes within the predominantly rural areas that comprise its vast jurisdictional territory.
The campus of the university is spread over an area of 330 acres (1.3 km2) and lies between Siliguri and Bagdogra airport, in the Terai region. Over 36,000 undergraduate and over 1500 postgraduate students and scholars enroll every year. Students come from North Bengal, rest of West Bengal, Sikkim, Bihar and from SAARC nations like Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh.
North Bengal University has 23 departments organised into two faculties: Science and Arts, Commerce and Law Faculty.
The university offers affiliation to a number of research and academic centres on and off campus.
The University of North Bengal offers two-year M.Sc. programmes in Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Zoology, Botany, Bio-technology, Anthropology, Geography and Microbiology. It also offers a three-year M.C.A. programme. The concerned departments of the university offer a two-year Masters programme (M.A.) in English, Bengali, Nepali, Hindi, Economics, History, Philosophy, Sociology, Political Management, Tourism & Hotel Management, Environmental Law, Information Technology (IT), Disaster Management, Mass Communication & Video Production, Museum Studies & Cultural Tourism.
University has started a diploma course in French language and certificate course in Electronic Instrumentation & Data Handling.
The university has several affiliated colleges under its umbrella. These colleges spread over three districts of North Bengal run graduate programmes (B.A., B. Sc., and B.Com.).
The Akshaya Kumar Maitreya Heritage Museum incorporating the Raja Rajaram Museum Collection was established in the University of North Bengal in February 1965. The museum is now a rich repository of collection in sculpture, coins, paintings, manuscripts, etc. depicting the history and heritage of North Bengal. It functions as a regional museum and is one of the few university museums in India. The main objectives of the museum are to collect, preserve and study archaeological relics lying scattered in the six districts of North Bengal and sub-Himalayan region.