Students on the campus of Central University of Bihar. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Number of students who have applied for courses at Central University of Bihar over two years

DRAWS FOR STUDENTS

Permanent campus

Last year, the Union cabinet gave its nod to two central universities in Bihar — at Gaya and Motihari. Prospect of a permanent campus is attracting more students

Good placements

CUB offers research- oriented subjects like biotechnology for which, demand in job market is enormous

Better prospects

Students of CUB have got admission in premier institutes like Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, IIT-Kanpur and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Many have cleared National Eligibility Test

Improved faculty

• Permanent teachers: 50
• Visiting faculty: 25

Superior infrastructure

Over the past year, the university has developed infrastructure like a new library and laboratory

Prospect of a permanent home, improved infrastructure and good placements have attracted a large number of students to Central University of Bihar this year.

Last year, the Union cabinet gave its nod to two central universities in the state — to be set up in Motihari and Gaya. This year, the number of applications for the courses offered by the university, which would eventually shift to Gaya but is operating from a temporary campus in Patna now, has increased manifold.

For instance, there was no taker for political science and international relations course last year. Around 44 students have applied for the 20 seats of the course this year. English and sociology had only three and one applicant(s), respectively, in 2012. In 2013, there are 31 and 33 applicants for the two humanities courses.

Varsity registrar Mohammed Nehal said: “The clearance of the Union cabinet for the central universities last year is attracting more students to our courses this year.”

Besides the humanities and social science courses, the science subjects have also attracted a large number of applications this year. Around 343 students have applied for the life science course, while 337 are seeking admission to biotechnology.

Sources at the university said apart from external factors like the Union cabinet nod for its campus, there are a number of other reasons why the new varsity was attracting more students.

In the past few years, the Central University of Bihar (CUB) has increased its faculty strength. At present, the university has 50 permanent teachers for its postgraduate courses and 25 visiting faculty members.

Along with faculty, there has also been an improvement in the infrastructure. The CUB has developed a new library, well equipped with books and academic journals. It has also constructed a new laboratory for science students.

Better faculty and superior infrastructure are already bearing fruit.

A number of students who have passed out of the CUB are pursuing higher degrees in premier institutions like Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, IIT-Kanpur and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

“Many students who have earned their postgraduate degrees from our university have also cleared the competitive National Eligibility Test,” said CUB registrar Nehal.

Sources said students of some of the courses — like biotechnology and life science — have high demand in the job market.

For instance, career prospects of biotechnology students have improved steadily over the past few years.

“It is a research-oriented subject, combining biology and technology. It covers topics like genetics, biochemistry, microbiology, immunology and virology. Students with a degree in biotechnology can easily get a job in environment conservation, genetic engineering, healthcare, medicine and industrial research and development,” said a source.

The CUB has also become the home of courses that are dying out elsewhere.

For instance, in Patna University, there was no admission in postgraduate bioinformatics and statistics courses. But in the CUB, 33 students have applied for bioinformatics, while 17 are seeking admission to the statistics course.

Admission for different courses would be done on the basis of Central Universities Common Entrance Test, 2013. Counselling would be held from August 5 to 8.

Of the 16 postgraduate courses offered by the university, classes for four will be held at the Gaya campus — MA in sociology, MA in political science and international relations, MA in English and MA in Hindi.

For the remaining courses, students will have to attend classes at the temporary campus in Patna. The campus is located on the premises of Birla Institute of Technology, Patna.

While the postgraduate courses are gaining popularity, the undergraduate courses are also quite a rage among students.

From its Gaya campus, the university is offering four-year dual degree courses — BA-BEd, BSc-BEd, BA-LLB and BSc-LLB.

The CUB is the first university in the state to offer BSc-LLB, for which students have to study physics, chemistry and life sciences apart from the law papers.

Saurav Singh, a student of the course, said: “BSc-LLB is a new course, which has become very popular over the past few years. As cases of cyber and electronic crime have gone up, students of this course have many career options.”

The CUB was established along with 15 other new central universities by the Government of India according to Central Universities Act, 2009.