University of Calcutta

The University of Calcutta (Bengali: কলিকাতা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়; informally known as Calcutta University or CU) is a public state university located in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), West Bengal, India established on 24 January 1857. It was the first institution in Asia to be established as a multidisciplinary and secular Western-style university. Within India it is recognized as a "Five-Star University" and a "Centre with Potential for Excellence" by the University Grants Commission and the National Assessment and Accreditation Council.  There are four Nobel laureates associated with this university: Ronald Ross, Rabindra Nath Tagore, C. V. Raman and Amartya Sen.  The university has the highest number of students who have cleared the doctoral entrance eligibility exam in Natural Science & Arts conducted by Government of India's National Eligibility Test to become eligible to pursue research with full scholarship awarded by the Government of India. 


The university is recognized as one of the most prestigious universities in the world. The University of Calcutta was ranked 401+ in the QS World University Rankings of 2011[8] and 43 in the QS University Rankings for Asia in 2012.[9] In India, it was ranked 2 by the India Today Top India Universities of 2012  and 2013 and 2014. 



The Calcutta University Act came into force on 24 January 1857 and a 41-member Senate was formed as the policy making body of the university. When the university was first established it had a catchment area covering the area from Lahore to Rangoon (now in Myanmar), and Ceylon, the largest of any Indian university. 

The first Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor of the Calcutta University were Governor General Lord Canning and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Sir James William Colvile, respectively.  In 1858, Joddu Nath Bose and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay became the first graduates of the university. On 30 January 1858, the Syndicate of the Calcutta University started functioning. 

Following its inauguration, many institutions gradually came under its jurisdiction. Kadambini Ganguly and Chandramukhi Basu became the first female graduates of the country in 1882. The Honourable Justice Gooroodas Banerjee became the first Indian Vice-Chancellor of University of Calcutta in the year 1890  Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee was the Vice-Chancellor for four consecutive two-year terms (1906–1914) and a fifth two-year term (1921–23). Four Nobel laureates were associated with this university: Ronald Ross. Rabindra Nath Tagore, C. V. Raman and Amartya Sen.