For a university that has been mired in controversies recently, mostly for non-academic reasons, the all-India ranking of 29 for the University of Kerala has come as a surprise to many. However, those in the know pointed out that the high output in terms of research projects as well as inclusivity proved to be instrumental in attaining the notable achievement for the university.
While it had been left out of the rankings a year ago for purely technical reasons, this year Kerala University scored 43.95 points on the basis of five parameters, namely, teaching, learning and resources (TLR), research and professional practice (RPC), graduation outcomes (GO), outreach and inclusivity (OI) and perception, for which it secured 50.61, 14.62, 89.18, 64.47 and 0.89 respectively.
Research output
As for research output, the varsity has published 636 papers during the last three years based on the Scopus abstract and citation database, the largest of its kind in the world. There were also 2,151 citations during the period. Besides, the university had filed for five patents during the last four years.
The establishment has performed highly as far as consultancy works are concerned. While the varsity undertook consultancy works worth ₹62 lakh in 2015, similar projects worth ₹42 lakh were taken up the next year.
Another notable feature among the achievements of the varsity is the proportion of women among the faculty and students, as well as the intake from reserved social categories. The varsity has 151 PhD holders out of the total number of 166 faculty members. Of these, as many as 64 are women members.
In addition, while 1,155 students registered for postgraduate courses in 2015-16, a total of 859 were from socially challenged categories such as the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes. Similarly, the total intake in the Ph.D. level was 1,085, of which 767 research scholars were from the reserved categories. While there were 1,330 female students in the PG level, the corresponding figure in the Ph.D. level is 872.
