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Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
Motto	Shradhavaan Labhathe Jnaanam
Motto in English	The earnest aspirant gains supreme wisdom
Established	2003
Type	Private
Chancellor	Mata Amritanandamayi Devi
Vice-Chancellor	Dr.P.Venkat Rangan
Faculty	1500
Students	12000
Location	Amritapuri, Bangalore, Ettimadai, Kochi, Mysore, India 10°54′4″N 76°54′10″E / 10.90111°N 76.90278°E / 10.90111; 76.90278Coordinates: 10°54′4″N 76°54′10″E / 10.90111°N 76.90278°E / 10.90111; 76.90278
Campus	Both urban and rural
Website	www.amrita.edu

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham or Amrita University is a multi-campus, multi-disciplinary research and teaching university located in India, with a National Assessment and Accreditation Council A grade as per the new grading system for the next five years. Its five campuses are in the three states of South India, in Kerala at Amritapuri and Kochi, in Karnataka at Bangalore and Mysore, and in Tamil Nadu at Ettimadai. The University Headquarters are at Ettimadai in a picturesque campus near the foothills of the Western Ghats, about twenty km from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.^[1] Extensive interaction between all campuses is made possible through the Amrita-ISRO satellite network for e-learning.^[2]

The university offers bachelors, masters, and doctoral degree programs in computer science, engineering, business, biotechnology, nanotechnology, ayurveda, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, social work, journalism, education, and basic sciences. Areas of specialization which include Medical Informatics, Computational Engineering, Cyber Security, Clinical Research, and Oncology have been designed keeping in mind India's National Development Plans. 13,000 students are enrolled in nearly a 100 different degree programs. The former President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on a visit to the campuses observed that "Amrita University has a major role to play in transforming our society into a knowledge society through its unique value-added education system."^[3]

Amrita University is only five-years old, and as such, it is young compared to many of the eminent Indian Universities that are at least a few decades old. Most renowned Universities of the West are also much older, some going back to over a century even.^[4] In partnership with national and international organizations, it has undertaken research projects to benefit society.^[5] For example, a project to investigate the use of wireless sensors in a novel manner^[6], is currently underway to help predict disasters in landslide-prone areas. Another project involves the design and fabrication of an inexpensive, indigenous insulin pump for use by diabetic patients in poorer countries.^[7]

Contents 1 Administration 1.1 Chancellor 2 History 3 Campuses 4 Schools 4.1 Amrita Schools of Engineering 4.2 Amrita School of Business 4.3 Amrita Schools of Arts and Sciences 4.4 Amrita Healthcare Campus 4.5 Amrita School of Ayurveda and Biotechnology 4.6 Amrita School of Communication and Education 4.7 Other Programs 5 Admissions 5.1 Amrita Entrance Examinations 6 Research 6.1 Centres of Excellence 6.2 International Collaborations 7 References 8 See also

[edit] Administration

[edit] Chancellor

The Chancellor of the university is India's famous spiritual leader Mata Amritanandamayi, also known as Amma or Mother. Amma started Amrita University in order to promote scientific research in India and provide the youth of the nation with access to quality higher education.

Inspired by the Chancellor, many noted academicians from all over the world have left high-profile careers elsewhere to join Amrita University.^[8] Amrita Alumni Association or A3 (website) is the umbrella association for the alumni of Amrita University.

[edit] History

The two campuses, Amritapuri and Ettimadai had humble beginnings. Both the campuses started as computer training centers and slowly evolved into colleges, christened as Amrita Institute of Technology(AITEC) , where the AITEC,Amritapuri was affiliated to the University of Kerala and AITEC, Ettimadai was affiliated to the Bharathiyar University. In 2002, the two colleges were rechristened as Amrita School of Engineering when the Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham was born.

[edit] Campuses

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham has five campuses, with the headquarters in Ettimadai, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. It has four other campuses, namely Amritapuri and Kochi campuses in Kerala and Bangalore and Mysore Campuses in Karnataka. The university is also plaaning to open up new campuses in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Hyderabad & Vishakapatnam(Vizag) Andhra Pradesh and one in New Delhi.

[edit] Schools

[edit] Amrita Schools of Engineering

at Amritapuri (official website), Bangalore, and Ettimadai

The Amrita School of Engineering at Ettimadai predates Amrita University. In 1994, when it was established, it became the first Amrita institution for higher education. In 2008, the School celebrated its 13th Institution Day.^[9] In a survey of nearly 1500 AICTE-approved engineering colleges in India, Outlook (magazine) ranked the Amrita School of Engineering as 21st among private engineering colleges.^[10] Considering placements alone, the School received the 11th rank.^[11]

The three Schools of Engineering offer B.Tech degree degree programs in Computer Science and Engineering, Information Technology, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Instrumentation Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Aerospace Engineering. In addition, M.Tech and PhD degree programs are also offered.

[edit] Amrita School of Business

at Ettimadai (official website)

The school offers a fully residential two-year MBA degree program. Equipped with infrastructure that rates as one among the best among Business Schools in India,^[12] the school attracts students from all over the country and also from abroad. In addition, it offers a dual degree program leading to an MS in Information Technology and MBA in collaboration with State University of New York at Buffalo, for working professionals at the Bangalore campus.^[13] Faculty members have degrees from IITs, IIMs and reputed foreign universities such as University of California, Berkeley, Cornell University, NYU Stern School of Business, University of Texas at Austin, and Kellogg School of Management.^[14] Outlook (magazine) ranks this school as 27th among Business Schools in the nation.^[15].

[edit] Amrita Schools of Arts and Sciences

Amrita Schools of Arts & Sciences at Amritapuri (official website) and Mysore (official website)

The Schools offer Bachelor of Commerce (BCom), Bachelor of Business Management (BBM), Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA), Master of Computer Applications (MCA), Master of Science (MSc) in Computer Science and Information Technology degree programs.

[edit] Amrita Healthcare Campus

Amrita Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Dentistry at Kochi (official website)

Attached to the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, a 1300-bed super-speciality hospital in Kochi that provides the best medical care regardless of the patient's ability to pay,^[16] is the University's healthcare campus. The Amrita Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Dentistry are all located on this campus. They respectively offer MBBS, Bachelors of Science (Nursing), Bachelor of Pharmacy, and Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree programs.

The School of Medicine also offers a large number of graduate programs including MSc in various disciplines, DNB (Diplomate of National Board), and PhD. In 2008, the first batch of MBBS students graduated with Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam presiding over the graduation ceremony.^[17] Outlook (magazine) ranks the School of Medicine as 8th in the nation.^[18]

[edit] Amrita School of Ayurveda and Biotechnology

Amrita School of Ayurveda and Biotechnology (official website) at Amritapuri

The School of Ayurveda offers the Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medical Science (BAMS) degree program. The School of Biotechnology offers BSc and MSc in Biotechnology, BSc in Microbiology, and MSc in Bioinformatics, as well as the PhD degree programs.

[edit] Amrita School of Communication and Education

Amrita School of Education at Mysore (official website)

The School offers the Bachelor of Education (BEd) degree program.

communication (BA and MA) BA in Mass Communication, which helps prepare students for careers in journalism, short film making and advertising, is modeled on UNESCO guidelines. Amrita University was one among the first Indian Universities to adopt the UNESCO model curriculum.^[19]

[edit] Other Programs

Programs Directly Offered by the University

Degree programs in social work (MSW), and are directly offered by the University.

[edit] Admissions

[edit] Amrita Entrance Examinations

A competitive entrance examination the Amrita Engineering Entrance Examination(AEEE) is conducted to find the best of talents in and outside India.

[edit] Research

[edit] Centres of Excellence

The Centres of Excellence carry out research in areas that are of strategic importance for a developing nation such as India. For example, the Government of India has planned an investment of up to Rs 1,000 crore in nano-technology.^[20] In February 2007, the Amrita Center for Nanosciences became the nation's first centre to be setup for tissue engineering and stem cell research.^[21]

Inter-disciplinary research is strongly promoted. The Centres for Digital Health and Digital Earth, for instance, participate in telemedicine projects to bring specialized healthcare to rural India.^{[22] [23]} The Centre for E-learning develops the software and infrastructure needed, which will eventually also help bring distance learning to village clusters.^{[24] [25]}.

International symposiums organized by the centres include the Healing Across Cultures Symposium in 2007 organized by the Center for Environmental Studies.^[26] Products developed include Amrita MiTrans made at the Amrita Research Labs (ARL) to facilitate delivery of high bandwidth information to moving vehicles to help with flight scheduling, location tracking and other content delivery.^[27] ARL has filed for a patent for this product.^[28]

[edit] International Collaborations

Strong collaboration with national and international organizations is the hallmark of all research carried out at Amrita University. The earliest research projects were initiated in partnership with Indian Government Organizations such as Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).^[29]. The Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), which helps promote industry-university collaborative research provided funding to start two research centres, in Biomedical Engineering and Cybersecurity, respectively.

In 2005, an MoU was signed with many Ivy League US Universities to bring world-class technical education to India.^[30] As part of this agreement, nearly a hundred professors from these universities have taught short-term and full-semester courses in Amrita University. These courses were made available not only to students at the five campuses of Amrita University, but also to other participating colleges from across the nation. The use of open courseware developed at universities such as Yale and MIT is also made available through this consortium to universities all over India^[31] In 2008, as part of the European Research and Educational Collaboration with Asia (EURECA), faculty and students from Amrita University will have the opportunity to conduct research at any of the nine partner European universities. Funding will be provided by the European Union.^[30]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Mata Amritanandamayi Devi
• Mata Amritanandamayi Math
• Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences
• Centre for Excellence in Computational Engineering

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