Starting this year, the Bangalore University and its affiliated science colleges will offer a four-year Bachelor of Science (BS) degree course. This first of its kind course is modelled around the credit-based, multi-disciplinary American system of university education.
On Friday, the university invited applications from colleges that were keen on offering the course in science disciplines. Colleges affiliated to the science stream and accredited with NAAC grades ‘A' and ‘B' may apply. Two assistant professors/readers, who are Ph.D. holders (in science stream), and good laboratory and library facilities are the prerequisites. Autonomous colleges are eligible to apply; however, this course can only be offered on a non-autonomous basis.
Academics hope that this multi-disciplinary approach, where students will be free to study pure sciences while opting for electives or “minors” in Economics, Political Science or even Arts, will attract more students to the pure science stream. Earlier this year, the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and the Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, also mooted a similar course. But with this formal announcement, the Bangalore University has become the first university in the State to offer this course, Vice-Chancellor of the university N. Prabhu Dev claimed. This course was proposed by the Vice-Chancellor a few days after he assumed charge, and he said that he was happy to see it crystallise. Dr. Dev said that students would be taught basic disciplines of science for the first two years. They would move on to specialise in their chosen streams in the third year and fourth year. Learning two foreign languages was also part of the designed curriculum. This was in order to make students globally competent and increase their employability levels, he added.
“Basically, we wish to infuse interest in students and coax them to take up careers in pure sciences. We also wish to make this course multi-disciplinary so students, who learn science, can also take an elective in commerce or history. This will broaden their horizons,” he said.
