Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, formerly Baroda College, is a public university in the city of Vadodara, Gujarat, India. Originally established as a college in 1881, it became a university in 1949 after India's independence. It was later[when?] renamed after its benefactor Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, the former ruler of Baroda State.
The university offers undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programs. It houses 89 departments spread over 6 campuses (2 rural and 4 urban) covering 275 acres of land.
The university has its origins in the Baroda College, established in 1881 by Baroda State. The main building, which houses the Faculty of Arts, was designed by Robert Fellowes Chisholm in Indo-Saracenic architecture style, in a fusion of Indian and Byzantine arches and domes in brick and polychrome stone. The main dome on the convocation hall was modelled after the great dome of the Gol Gumbaz in Bijapur.
Pratap Singh Gaekwad of Baroda, the last Maharaja of the erstwhile Baroda State, founded the university in 1949 on the wishes of his grandfather, Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, and settled the Sir Sayajirao Diamond Jubilee and Memorial Trust, which caters to the education and other needs of people of the former Baroda State.[1]
Faculty of Education and Psychology
This faculty is established for the development of teachers of child psychology. Its departments include:
Department of Education (CASE)
Department of Psychology
Department of Educational Administration
The Department of Education was established in 1935, having formerly been a teacher training college. The department was originally named the Center of Advance Study in Education Baroda.
Faculty of Science
The old Baroda College founded in 1881 consisted of Arts and Science faculties. The Faculty of Science started its independent existence in March 1951 with Dr C.S. Patel as its first dean. The Old Building which houses the Faculty of Science was completed in about 1934 in the reign of Sayajirao Gaekwad III. It is conspicuous by its small copper dome and is flanked on the west by the building of the Faculty of Education and Psychology and on the east by the majestic building of the Old Baroda College, now the Faculty of Arts.[2]
Department of Mathematics
Department of Physics
The department, established in 1949, offers U.G., P.G., and PhD programme and is a sponsored department of Science and Technology, Government of India under FIST programme. In MSc, students are offered Solid State Physics, Electronics and Communication, Nuclear Physics, and Molecular Spectroscopy as specialization. The department is also equipped by two of the oldest and famous observatories:
(i) Astronomical Observatory and (ii) Meteorological observatory.
Researchers are provided with advanced technologies including FTIR-4100 Spectrometer, Thermal Analyser (DSC), AFM, Workstations-4, Cluster Computing facility (Supercomputer), etc. which help them in researching on Condensed Matter Physics, Material Science, Experimental Nuclear Physics, Spectroscopy, Theoretical Particle Physics, and Astrophysics.[3]
It is one of the oldest Physics departments in India, which adopted advanced curricula based on Courses viz, Berkeley Physics Course, Feynman Lecture Series, etc. under the leadership of S.K. Shah and H.S. Desai. Department has an active society, notably 'The Physical Society MSU Baroda'.[4] Department of Condensed Matter Physics has been sponsored for researches in coordination with TIFR and BARC by DST-FIST as a major beneficiary. Department is indulged in a number of active researches with record endowments. The university holds the accolade of having worldwide spread Departmental alumni, including Nobel Laureate cum President, Royal Society, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan.
Dr. Vikram Sarabhai Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology
Dr. Vikram Sarabhai Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology
Established in 2012, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology is an interdisciplinary research institute that integrates several departments of the Faculty of Science. The centre was established with the financial support of the Government of Gujarat. The institute started a 5-year Integrated MSc programme in Cell and Molecular Biology in 2012. The course offers 30 seats each year, which are filled through a common entrance exam.[5]
Department of Computer Applications
Formally established in 2013, the department offers three programmes, Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA), MSc in Information Technologies and MSc in Software Technologies.[6]
Department of Biochemistry
The Department of Biochemistry was established in 1955, under the Chemistry Department, and was headed by Prof. C.V. Ramakrishnan, father of 2009 Chemistry Nobel Laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan).[citation needed] The department was awarded an Excellent status in 2006 by FIST, a Government of India accreditation agency. It imparts master's degree courses in Biochemistry & Medical Biotechnology with a force of around 50 research students. The department was funded[when?] under the DST-FIST I programme under which it has the most worst equipment that has been purchased and infrastructure facilities strengthened. The department has received support from UGC-DRS, UGC-DSA, and COSIST programs.[citation needed]
The areas of research in which the department is engaged are Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering, Microbiology, Bioprocess Engineering, and Immunology, Biophysics. Courses offered: include doctoral programs, and Master of Science in biochemistry, medical biotechnology and Postgraduate diploma in applied biochemistry.[7]
Faculty of Performing Arts
Faculty of Performing Arts building
Classical music
Maharaja Sayajirao Rao Gaekwad was a patron of Indian classical music. ustad Moula Bux founded the Academy of Indian Music under the patronage of Sayajirao, on 26 February 1886. This academy later became the Music College and is now the Faculty of Performing Arts of The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. Apart from Moula Bux, Sayajirao's Court boasted of artists like Ustad Inayat Khan and legendary Agra Gharana Aftaab e Mousiqui (Sun of Music) Ustad Faiyyaz Khansaheb
After educationist Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande's music curriculum was introduced at the college, Gayanacharya Madhusudan Joshi became the first recipient of a diploma in Music (1932) in the history of music education in India.
Dance
The MSU started the first dance programme in India in 1950.
In 1880, the Maharani Chimnabai I of Tanjore was married to Baroda's Maharaja Sayajirao III Gopalrao Gaekwad, a prince who established the Baroda College as one of his first public acts. It was later absorbed into the university that bears his name. Chimnabai I was knowledgeable in Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music and brought a troupe with her: two dancers, two nattuvanars (leaders of Bharatanatyam concerts), and two teachers.[8] Others followed: Nattuvanar Appaswamy and his dancer wife Kantimati, who had studied with Kannusamy and Vadively, two members of the Tanjore Quartet. After Appaswamy's death in 1939, Kantimati and their son, Kubernath, left to teach in Lucknow and worked in film in South India until Maharaja Pratap Singhrao Gaekwad called the Tanjorkars family back to Baroda in 1949, to teach in the music department in the Palace Kalavan which was later absorbed into MSU.[9]
Faculty of Arts Dome, designed by Robert Fellowes Chisholm (1840–1915) in Indo-Saracenic style, modelled on Gol Gumbaz[10]
The Faculty of Arts building is known for its Gumbaz (The Dome) which has been modelled on the 'Gol Gumbaz' of Bijapur and has often been rated as the finest dome for Educational Institutions in India.[11][12]
Departments
Department of Archaeology and Ancient History
Department of Anthropology
Department of Arabic
Department of Canadian Studies
Department of Defence and National Security Studies
The Baroda Medical College serves as the Faculty of Medicine. Attached with the Sir Sayajirao General (SSG) Hospital, Faculty of Medicine is considered amongst the top Medical Colleges of Gujarat. Started in 1949, today it has a batch of 250 MBBS Students per year and more than 400+ Post graduate students in various MD & MS Residency programmes. GMERS Medical College & Hospital, Gotri has also been given affiliation of Faculty of Medicine, MSUB
Faculty of Pharmacy
The Faculty of Pharmacy was established in 2015. Prior to that, it was a department under the Faculty of Technology and Engineering.[17]
Prof M R Yadav is the founder dean of Faculty of Pharmacy.
Library
The Hansa Mehta Library was established in 1950.
Oriental Institute
The institute was established in Baroda on 1 September 1927. It operated from the Central Library before it was shifted to a separate building near the palace.[18] It is known for the seven volumes of the critical edition of Ramayana that it published between 1951 and 1975, a part of a 25-year project sponsored by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The text was later the reference source for Ramayan, the popular TV series by Ramanand Sagar that originally ran in 1987–88.
Internationally, the university was ranked 701–750 in Asia on the QS World University Rankings of 2023.[23] It was ranked 501+ in Asia by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings of 2022[24] and in the same band among emerging economies.[25]
The NIRF ranked the university 44th in its 2024 pharmacy rankings.[29] It also ranked 101-150 band in the university[26] rankings and 151-200 band in the engineering rankings[27]
