The rise in ranking of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Coimbatore, to second position in ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) ranking from eighth in 2020 has reflected in increased admissions of students from other States for post-graduate and Ph.D programmes.
As per the 2023 ranking, TNAU has been placed next only to the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, in the ranking of State Agricultural Universities.
“There are students in TNAU from across the country. Industry tie-up, research fellowship, and the research environment have been the main reasons for TNAU rising up the ranking,” says Vice-Chancellor V. Geethalakshmi.
TNAU was also ranked fifth in 2023 by ICAR under the category ‘Agriculture and Allied Sectors’. The first four constituted Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi; ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal; Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana; and Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.
The TNAU was ranked 93rd among 2,478 institutions representing all public and private funded universities, Central and State institutes, and autonomous bodies, and 72nd out of 1,073 universities that participated in the ranking.
In particular, the fellowship and industry exposure are what sets TNAU apart from the rest.
The top-notch rankers among the 24,948 applicants who had appeared for ICAR’s All India Entrance Examination for Admission - Post Graduate, for admission into programmes in Agriculture, Horticulture, Forestry, Veterinary, Animal Sciences, Agricultural Engineering, Community Science (erstwhile Home Science), Fisheries, Dairy Science and other allied sciences, had chosen TNAU, Coimbatore.
The university had enrolled 487 students for the post-graduation programmes and 147 doctoral students, and is looking forward to retaining the same intake.
The PG students are provided with scholarship of ₹10,000 per month and 185 Ph.D students with ₹20,000 a month for their research time.
The amount covers the tuition and hostel fee of the PG students for the third and fourth semesters. For the Ph.D. scholars, the fellowship amount covers these expenses for the third, fourth, fifth and sixth semesters.
The PG admissions are made in 33 departments, and the Ph.D. admissions in 28 departments.
For their industrial exposure, the TNAU has tie-ups with agricultural entrepreneurs, companies manufacturing animal feed, fertilizer production units, factories producing chemicals, and agricultural equipment manufacturing units.
The University received funding from 32 funding agencies and is operating 483 externally funded research projects. The fellowship of PG/ Ph.D students is dovetailed to their participation in these projects.
The h – Index of research publications considerably increased to 94 during 2023, witnessing good publication record.
