The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has launched a call for candidates for its Online Short, Term Internship Programme (OSTI), which will be held from 9 to 20 March 2026. The two week internship that will be conducted completely online is designed to give university students real life experience of human rights issues and the working of an institution.

The programme will be held on a full time schedule, 10 am to 5.30 pm (IST), on all working days. Those students who will be awarded the internship and complete it successfully will be given a stipend of 2, 000 in addition to a certificate from the Commission.

NHRC communicated that the interns selected will have the opportunity to participate in 40 to 45 interactive sessions that will be facilitated by subject matter experts and senior officials.

The programme content covers a wide range of human rights issues such as child labour, trafficking in persons, mental health, women's rights, education, and the rights of marginalized groups.

Besides group works, book reviews, human rights, themed film screenings, and virtual tours of prisons, police stations, and NGO- run shelters are also included in the programme.

Moreover, the interns will be given the chance to meet the NHRC Chairperson and Members.

The internship is accessible to students in their third year or higher of five, year integrated postgraduate courses, final year undergraduate students, postgraduate or diploma students of any semester, and research scholars. The candidates should have obtained a minimum of 60 per cent marks starting from Class XII and must be under 28 years of age as of January 1, 2026. Those candidates who have already undergone NHRC internship are not allowed to reapply.

Those wishing to apply should only send their applications via the official website, nhrc.nic.in, by 6 pm on 28th January 2026. The application entails a 250, word Statement of Purpose outlining the applicant's interest in human rights, self, attested copies of academic mark sheets from Class X onwards, and a recently signed recommendation letter from the institution's head.

Selection will take into account academic performance, research inclination, co, curricular achievements, and overall suitability. The list of selected interns will be uploaded on the NHRC website.

Indian Institute of Technology, Madras led learning platform SWAYAM plus has launched 'AI for All' courses in Hindi. The platform has launched 6 free online courses that will help learners from across the country to acquire essential AI skills in their preferred language.

The last date to apply for these courses is January 26, 2026. The link to apply is available on the official website of SWAYAM Plus at swayam-plus.swayam2.ac.in.

According to the press release by IIT Madras, these courses are designed by the experts from the IIT Madras ecosystem who have thorough academic and industry experience. The courses highlight working on hands, on activities, real datasets, and case study, based learning with a major focus on employability. No prior knowledge of AI or coding is necessary for the courses. Basic digital literacy and willingness to learn are enough, so the program is not only for first time learners but also for educators and faculty members. Each course takes between 25 and 45 hours and is freely available.

Attending the event Prof. R. Sarathi, Dean (Planning), IIT Madras, said, “With the launch of the Hindi versions, all six ‘AI for All’ courses are now accessible to a wider and more diverse learner base, including students and professionals from arts, science, commerce and allied disciplines. The initiative is designed to remove language barriers, deepen conceptual understanding and broaden participation in AI education across regions and academic backgrounds.”

The AI for All courses available in Hindi include:

1. AI for Educators: Open to aspiring teachers and K–12 teachers, focusing on AI-enabled teaching strategies, assessment and student engagement
2. AI in Physics: For UG and PG students and faculty members, exploring AI applications in solving real-world physics problems
3. AI in Chemistry: For UG and PG students and faculty members, covering AI-driven molecular predictions and chemical reaction modelling using real datasets
4. AI in Accounting: For commerce and management learners, linking accounting principles with AI-based automation using practical datasets
5. Cricket Analytics with AI: Introducing sports analytics through real-life cricket data, case studies and visualization techniques
6. AI/ML using Python: A foundational course covering Python programming, statistics, linear algebra and data visualization for AI and ML applications

A new study by a team of researchers from IIT Bombay has revealed that over half of students from Indian universities are living with ‘moderate mental health’, a state in which they are not clinically ill, but are also not thriving.

The team conducted two studies, one with nearly 800 students between the age of 18-25 years from across India to map the landscape of their well-being, and the other, an experiment on a smaller group.

The results of the first study, published early this month in the Journal of Human Values, revealed that only a third of the students were found to be ‘flourishing’, indicating a combination of social, emotional and psychological well-being, while the majority (55%) were simply going through the motions.

IIT study: Engaged living, family support influence mental health

A study on mental health of students in Indian universities by a team of IIT researchers found 12% of the surveyed students were found to be ‘languishing,’ a state devoid of motivation and joy that often is a precursor to more serious mental health disorders.

The team of Prof Ashish Pandey from IIT-B’s Shailesh J Mehta School of Management, his two Ph D scholars Chirag Dagar and Ajinkya Navare, and research assistant Aishwarya surveyed students, 464 male and 316 female, between the age of 18-25 years were part of an online workshop on self-awareness and wellness. A large majority of these participants were from urban and semi-urban locations and belonged to nuclear families.

The study found that self-direction and achievement are the two factors impacting mental health significantly. Higher self-direction led to higher well-being and on the contrary, higher drive for achievement led to an increase in the probability of languishing. Achievement, in this context, is a value that stresses on personal success as per societal standards.

“Our analysis showed that engaged living, social connections and family support strongly influenced mental health. Students who were more engaged, socially connected and supported by their families were more likely to be flourishing rather than merely coping or languishing. Additionally, we observed that a focus on hedonism was associated with poorer mental health outcomes, with such students more likely to be languishing,” said Prof Pandey.

The second study, a field experiment on a smaller group of 107 graduate students enrolled in an MBA programme at a top-rung institute, was done to examine the effect of a curriculum-integrated course comprising contemplative and mind-body practices on the markers of their ‘social connectedness’ and well-being.Seventeen per cent of the participants of the second study were female.

In this study, the researchers embedded a seven week comprehensive development program into the college curriculum which, apart from traditional lectures also, included yoga, mindfulness, and self reflection exercises. The results were highly visible. The students who took the program experienced a significant increase in their social connectedness, which was associated with higher levels of friendliness, compassion, and joy for others, thus resulting in their overall flourishing.

The group emphasized that mental health must not be viewed as a distinct problem apart from academic achievement.

The research showed that it is possible for universities to help the next generation develop the resilience required for a fulfilling life by substituting a culture of ruthless competition with one that promotes self, awareness and community. 

Last week Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Sambalpur, organized a six day business accelerator programme for SC/ST entrepreneurs with the support of the national SC/ST hub, ministry of MSME. The programme was one of the initiatives through which a vibrant entrepreneurship ecosystem was being built. It was aimed primarily at capacity development and creating opportunities for SC/ST entrepreneurs to acquire business, financial, and digital skills in order to thrive and thus contribute to the achievement of the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 along with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The inaugural batch of the business accelerator programme comprised 25 participants from the states of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra.

As many as 25 participants from Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra, were involved in the maiden batch of the business accelerator programme.

IIM Sambalpur director Mahadeo Jaiswal said the institute’s vision was to nurture responsible leaders with an entrepreneurial mindset. He added that entrepreneurship is not just about creating wealth for oneself but about creating value for society, the nation and the planet. The second cohort of the programme will commence in Feb, offering a 72-hour hybrid learning experience through virtual weekend sessions and a six-day on-campus module at IIM-Sambalpur.

St Xavier’s now in Cuttack

St Xavier’s High School was inaugurated on the premises of the historic Christ Collegiate School at Mission Road in Cuttack on Jan 23. The school will follow CBSE curriculum and in its first phase, will offer classes from Bal Vatika (pre-primary) to Class VIII, with gradual expansion planned in the coming years. It is being developed under a long-term 50-year agreement with the Cuttack Christian Education Board.

During the inauguration, a 7, ft, tall statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was unveiled, and educationist Anand Kumar of Super 30 fame made a speech to the students, highlighting the importance of value based education. Situated in a historic and central location, the school intends to establish a lively and caring atmosphere for learning.

Seminar on tribal incomes

The PG department of anthropology at Fakir Mohan University recently organised a two, day national seminar on Tradition, Transformation and Development.

The seminar was about the new problems in the livelihoods of tribal and indigenous communities due to the fast technological, socio, economic and cultural changes in the 21st century. It was an interdisciplinary forum for scholars from anthropology, sociology, political science, economics, psychology, environmental sciences, health and nutrition to discuss the sustainable and inclusive development of the future.

In the twenty-first century, global societies are facing unprecedented environmental, social, and economic challenges. Climate change, biodiversity loss, resource depletion, and social inequality have intensified the demand for leaders who can navigate complexity with ethical
responsibility and emotional resilience. Sustainability education has emerged as a crucial discipline for developing such leaders. However, traditional sustainability curricula havelargely focused on scientific, technical, and policy-oriented competencies, often overlooking the psychological and emotional dimensions of leadership. Integrating mental health curricula into sustainability education is therefore essential for cultivating resilient eco-leaders capable of sustaining long-term environmental and social transformation.

Mental health is no longer regarded merely as the absence of illness but as a fundamental component of individual and collective well-being. In the context of sustainability education, mental health literacy, emotional regulation, stress management, and psychological resilience are indispensable skills. Students preparing for careers in environmental management, social development, and sustainable entrepreneurship frequently encounter high-pressure environments, ethical dilemmas, and prolonged exposure to ecological crises. Without adequate psychological support and training, these individuals may experience burnout, anxiety, and disengagement. Consequently, embedding mental health curricula within sustainability education frameworks is vital for ensuring both personal well-being and professional effectiveness.

The Psychological Dimensions of Sustainability Leadership

Sustainability leadership demands more than technical expertise. It requires empathy, moral courage, adaptability, and long-term vision. Eco-leaders often work in uncertain contexts where progress is gradual and setbacks are frequent. Climate-related disasters, policy resistance, and corporate inertia can generate emotional fatigue and feelings of helplessness. This phenomenon, commonly referred to as “eco-anxiety” or “climate distress,” has become increasingly prevalent among young environmental professionals. Mental health curricula can address these psychological challenges by equipping students with coping mechanisms and reflective practices.

Courses in mindfulness, emotional intelligence, positive psychology, and trauma-informed leadership can help future eco- leaders maintain psychological stability while engaging in demanding work. By fostering self- awareness and emotional literacy, sustainability education institutions can nurture leaders who are not only environmentally competent but also mentally resilient.

Mental Health Curriculum as a Core Component of Sustainability Education

A comprehensive mental health curriculum within sustainability education should encompass several key domains. First, it should provide foundational knowledge of psychological well-being, including stress physiology, cognitive-behavioural patterns, and emotional regulation. Second, it should emphasise preventive strategies such as resilience training, time management, and healthy lifestyle practices. Third, it should encourage help-seeking behavior and reducing stigma associated with mental health challenges. Integrating these elements into existing sustainability programs can take multiple forms. Universities may introduce interdisciplinary courses combining environmental studies with
psychology. Workshops on mental health awareness can be embedded into leadership development modules. Peer-support systems and counseling services can be aligned with academic programs. Such holistic approaches ensure that mental health is not treated as an
auxiliary service but as an integral aspect of professional development.

Furthermore, experiential learning activities—such as community engagement projects, ecological restoration initiatives, and social entrepreneurship programs—can incorporate reflective practices and psychological mentoring. These activities allow students to process
emotional experiences constructively, reinforcing resilience and ethical commitment. Implications for Psychology Careers and Professional Development The growing emphasis on mental health in sustainability education has significant implications for psychology careers. As educational institutions and environmental organizations recognize the importance of psychological well-being, demand for professionals trained in mental health counselling, environmental psychology, and Organizational psychology is increasing.

Graduates specialising in psychology can contribute meaningfully to sustainability initiatives by designing mental health programs, conducting behavioural research, and providing counselling services to eco-professionals. Environmental NGOs, government agencies, and corporate sustainability departments increasingly require mental health experts who understand both ecological challenges and human behaviour. This convergence has created new interdisciplinary career pathways that combine psychology and sustainability. Psychology career benefits in this context are multifaceted. Professionals gain opportunities to work in socially impactful fields, contribute to global well-being, and engage in interdisciplinary collaboration. Careers in mental health counselling, particularly within sustainability-focused organisations, offer long-term professional stability, intellectual fulfilment, and ethical purpose. Counsellors who specialise in climate-related stress, workplace resilience, and community well-being are positioned to play a critical role in shaping sustainable societies.

Building Institutional Capacity and Policy Support

For mental health curricula to be effectively integrated into sustainability education, institutional commitment and policy support are essential. Educational policymakers must recognize psychological well-being as a core learning outcome. Accreditation bodies can incorporate mental health competencies into sustainability program standards. Funding agencies may prioritize research and curriculum development in this interdisciplinary domain.

Faculty development is equally important. Educators must be trained to address mental health issues sensitively and competently. Collaborative teaching models involving Psychologists, environmental scientists, and social scientists can enhance curriculum quality. Digital platforms and blended learning approaches can further expand access to mental health resources, particularly in regions with limited professional infrastructure. Additionally, partnerships between universities, healthcare institutions, and environmental organizations can strengthen support systems for students and professionals. Such collaborations facilitate internships, mentorship programs, and community-based interventions that reinforce both psychological and environmental resilience.

The integration of mental health curricula into sustainability education has far-reaching societal implications. Resilient eco-leaders are better equipped to foster inclusive decision-making, managing conflict, and inspiring collective action. Their emotional stability enables
them to engage constructively with diverse stakeholders, including policymakers,corporations, indigenous communities, and civil society organisations. Moreover, mentally healthy leaders contribute to healthier organisations. Sustainable enterprises and institutions led by emotionally intelligent professionals demonstrate higher levels of employee engagement, ethical governance, and social responsibility. Over time, these qualities translate into stronger public trust and more effective environmental Policies.

At a broader level, embedding mental health education within sustainability frameworks promotes a culture of care and empathy. It reinforces the understanding that environmental protection and human well-being are inseparable. Such perspectives are essential for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and addressing global ecological crises.

In an era defined by environmental uncertainty and social complexity, the development of resilient eco-leaders is an urgent priority. Sustainability education must evolve beyond technical instruction to encompass psychological well-being and emotional intelligence. Integrating mental health curricula into sustainability programs provides students with essential tools for managing stress, sustaining motivation, and exercising ethical leadership. This interdisciplinary approach also expands opportunities for psychology careers, enhances
psychology career benefits, and strengthens the role of careers in mental health counselling within sustainability-driven sectors. By investing in mental health education, institutions can cultivate professionals who are not only environmentally competent but also emotionally
resilient and socially responsible.

Ultimately, the convergence of mental health and sustainability education represents a transformative model for leadership development. It acknowledges that sustainable futures depend not only on technological innovation and policy reform but also on the psychological
strength and moral integrity of those entrusted with guiding change.

IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti has been awarded the Padma Shri in the science and engineering category for his contribution to computer architecture research and national security. 

Reacting to the honour, Kamakoti said the award had strengthened his resolve to contribute to the country’s progress. In a video message released late Sunday evening, he said, “The Padma Shri Award means only one thing to me. I will put all my best efforts towards Viksit Bharat 2047.”

Who is V Kamakoti?

V Kamakoti, or Kamakoti Veezhinathan, is a highly experienced computer science professional and academic leader who has been teaching, researching, and institution, building for decades. He is currently the Director of IIT Madras and is widely recognized for his research in computer architecture, information security, and VLSI design. Besides, over the years, he has been involved in several major national technology and security programs.

Kamakoti Veezhinathan completed his M.S. and PhD in Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Madras. He joined the faculty of the same institute in 2001 and was made the Director in January 2022. Currently, he serves on the National Security Advisory Board, and formerly he was the Chairman of the Artificial Intelligence Task Force constituted by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. He is also a member of the Technology committees of the National Stock Exchange and the Reserve Bank of India.

V Kamakoti’s areas of expertise 

Kamakoti’s core areas of work include Computer Architecture, Information Security and VLSI Design. At IIT Madras, he leads the Microprocessor Development Program and the Information Security Education and Awareness Program, both funded by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. He has also been appointed as a member of the institute body of AIIMS in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.

His leadership has helped IIT Madras to maintain a solid track record of achievement in national rankings. As of 2025, the institute has been ranked number one in the engineering category for 10 consecutive years by NIRF 2025 and number one overall for the seventh consecutive year.

Besides leading the institute, Kamakoti has been entrusted with various important roles at IIT Madras like Chairman of JEE and Associate Dean for Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research. In the course of his career, he has written more than 150 research articles published in various international journals and presented at international conferences. He has also guided a significant number of PhD and Masters students and has been a leading researcher in around 50 projects funded by the industry and government.

Dr Kamakoti has received numerous awards throughout his career like the DRDO Academic Excellence Award, Indian Electronics and Semiconductor Association Techno Visionary Award, Abdul Kalam Technology Innovation National Fellowship, ACCS Lifetime Achievement Award, IBM Faculty Award, and the VASVIK Industrial Research Award.

A group of bioengineers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay have invented new intelligent systems, BrainProt and DrugProtAI, that integrate the information of scattered brain diseases to assist researchers in locating markers, analyzing treatments, and finding druggable targets. BrainProt v3.0 is a database that collects different types of biological information, from genes to proteins, and merges them in a single platform to allow getting insights into human brain activity in both the normal and pathological situations. The system is the first to combine the data of multiple diseases from genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and biomarker research, as well as multi, database information into a single portal.

“BrainProt also includes resources to identify and understand protein expression differences between the left and right hemispheres of the human brain across 20 neuroanatomical regions. This is the first resource of its kind,” said Prof. Sanjeeva Srivastava from the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Bombay.

BrainProt includes data on 56 human brain diseases and 52 multi-omics datasets derived from more than 1,800 patient samples. These datasets include transcriptomic data for 11 diseases and proteomic data for six diseases.

For each disease, users can examine genes and proteins frequently associated with the disease, assess how strongly these genes and proteins are already supported by existing medical and scientific databases, and how their activity levels change in patient samples.

DrugProtAI was developed to understand whether a protein can be druggable (has the biological and physical characteristics needed to be a useful drug target) before doing costly experiments.

This is crucial because only about 10 per cent of human proteins currently have an FDA-approved drug, with another 3-4 per cent under investigation.

“Before investing years of work in a protein target, DrugProtAI predicts whether the protein is druggable by looking beyond the protein's sequence, such as cellular location, structural attributes, and other unique characteristics it has,” said Dr. Ankit Halder, co-author of the study.

The tool generates a “druggability index” -- a probability score indicating how likely a protein is to be druggable. A higher score suggests that the protein shares many properties with proteins that already have approved drugs, while a lower score indicates that drug development would be more challenging.

“By integrating DrugProtAI directly into BrainProt, we created a pipeline where researchers can move from identifying a disease marker to examining its expression patterns to evaluating its druggability and exploring existing compounds or clinical trials, all within an hour,” Halder said.

The Goa government is “studying” the possibility of implementing an Australia-like law banning social media for children under the age of 16.

Goa Tourism and Information Technology (IT) Minister Rohan Khaunte said the matter is under consideration. In response to a query on whether such a ban was under consideration, the minister told the media on Sunday: “We have had a lot of complaints from parents. Social media and some of these platforms are becoming a distraction for the children, leading to a lot of social implications.”

He continued: “Australia has brought in a law ensuring a ban on social media for children below the age of 16. It is something they have already done. Our [IT] department, our people have already pulled out those particular papers. We are studying them. We will talk to the chief minister, and if possible, implement a similar ban on children below 16 for usage of social media. The details will follow.”

The team is already studying it “and I think in the days to come… before the [next] Assembly [session], maybe we will come with a statement, after talking to the chief minister”, he said.

The overall thought, according to him, is to have children “more focused on education and technology related to education”.

“In the world of Artificial Intelligence, we need them to be more focused on this, which can make them good citizens and take care of the future of the state and the country. The social impact will be positive,” Khaunte said.

He further said: “Today, the children are always on their mobiles on social media, whether it is at the dining table or while watching television or around family. So, the personal space occupied by social media is so large, which is also putting a sort of complex in the children. Australia has done it and we need to look at the IT laws of the country. But at the same time, whether a state-wide ban is possible [or not], we are studying. And if it is possible, we would want to do it to ensure that things go well for the next generation.”

Earlier last week, Andhra Pradesh’s IT and Education Minister Nara Lokesh said the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led government was mulling bringing in an Australia-like law banning social media for children under the age of 16, and that a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by him has been set up to study the proposal.

The Australian law, called the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act, states that age-restricted platforms will be expected to take “reasonable” steps to find existing accounts held by under-16s and deactivate or remove those accounts, prevent them from opening new accounts, including prohibiting any workarounds that may allow under-16s to bypass the restrictions. Platforms also need to have processes to correct errors if someone is mistakenly missed by or included in the restrictions, so no one’s account is removed unfairly.

On the one hand, the world has become more and more opinion based, outraged, and quick to form conclusions without thinking. On the other hand, forensic science remains a silent and calm partner, emphasizing patience, precision, and evidence. It is the discipline which draws a clear line between speculation and facts, and between faith and proof. In India, the role of forensic science is no longer marginal or occasional. It is turning out to be a key element of the justice system, governance, and accountability, as courts demand scientific clarity and technology generates evidence which is impossible to be ignored.

For students who are fond of patterns, logic, and the profound gratification of doing things the right way rather than the fast way, forensic science offers a very special kind of mission. The job is tough, the burden of responsibility is great, and the effects are genuine. However, so is the faith in those who perform the practice.

When it is a matter of absolute truth, society calls for forensic experts.

Choosing an Evidence Mindset, Not a “Crime” Career

Forensic science is often mistaken for a crime centric profession only. Actually, it is an evidence ecosystem. Every step in the process of material from the point of collection at the scene through its analysis in the lab to its explanation in the court must be documented, work in the repeat, and be experimentally demonstrated. Even the strongest finding can be undermined by a single procedural slip.

The field incorporates several different areas of studies such as crime scene management, forensic biology and DNA, chemistry and toxicology, ballistics, questioned documents, trace evidence, forensic anthropology, behavioural analysis, and more frequently, digital and cyber forensics. Today, digital evidence is not a luxury anymore; it exists in nearly every investigation, physically linking the reality with the unseen data trails.

The First Real Choice: Life Sciences or Tech

The most important decision is not the college or job title, but the foundation you choose. Generally speaking, students start forensic science from two main engines.

The Life Sciences track is perfect for those who are interested in chemistry, biology, and laboratory meticulousness. It opens up the way to DNA analysis, toxicology, narcotics testing, and chemical examination, where scientific discipline is the pillar of the justice system.

The Tech and Cyber track is for those who are at ease with systems, data, and a logical approach to problem solving. It leads to digital forensics, cyber investigations, fraud analysis, and electronic evidence examination, the latter being one of the fastest, growing sectors due to the explosion of digital footprints.

Both paths require depth. You can cross over later, but early focus builds confidence and competence.

What the Work Actually Looks Like

A forensic professional almost never has a dramatic day. In the labs, mornings start with checking verification, making sure seals are intact, confirming details of the case, calibrating instruments.

Without a proper procedure, the results are essentially meaningless. Reports are equally significant as analyses; the results should not only be exact and careful, but also capable of standing up to legal scrutiny.

In cyber forensics, the discipline is similar. Devices are treated not as gadgets but as containers of fragile proof. Every action is documented. The goal is not discovery for excitement, but reconstruction that can withstand scrutiny in court.

Across both paths, credibility is the core skill. On both routes, the central skill is credibility. Forensic experts are trained to speak truthfully and not to overstate, to recognize their limits, and to stand firm against pressure. Gradually, their trustworthiness turns into their brand.

Getting Ready for the Future

For kids at school, its more important to have solid basics in science, math, computer studies, and written communication than to be swayed by the hype. Being observant, making records, and having a clear mind are early habits that will be very beneficial in the long run.

At the undergraduate level, the focus moves from grades to methodology. Work placements, getting a feel of the lab, forensic, related projects, and regular report writing all make a big difference. The top notch applicants are the ones who have a neat process and whose reasoning is well organized.

Why This Decade Matters

Forensic science in India is becoming more institutional, more relied upon, and more demanded—across courts, policing, corporate investigations, and regulatory systems. It is not a flashy career. But it is a future-proof one.

For students who want proof over noise, discipline over drama, and purpose over popularity, forensic science offers something rare: the chance to make truth clearer in a world that increasingly struggles to agree on what truth is.

Design is increasingly at the core of the way products, services, brands, and systems are developed, and students now more than ever run into two separate but very similar and confusing academic directions: Design Studies (BDes/MDes) and Design Management (BA/MA). Both are parts of the design world, both appreciate design thinking, and both indicate good career prospects. However, they are training students for completely different roles outside the school.

Realizing the difference early on is a great time saver as it prevents years of confusion and it can be a guide for students to pick the path that is more in line with their thinking, working, and imagination of the future.

At its core, Design Studies is about creation. BDes and MDes programmes train students to think through making, using design as a method to solve problems and express ideas through tangible and intangible outcomes.

The methodology is very much studio based and the main thrust is on the students' work.

There are long hours of sketching, prototyping, testing, repeating, and polishing. They figure out how to smartly mix looks and utility, novelty and user, friendliness, fantasy and real life tech. Be it product design, communication design, fashion, interaction design, or spatial design, the main point stays the same, to design capability development.

The curriculum is designed to blend the two quite hard elements: theoretical and practical learning. In the process of their studies students get to understand the very basics of design, i.e. form, colour, typography, composition, human, centred design etc. Besides they also get to know different research and ideation techniques, user testing, and iterative prototyping. Technical training is extensive software like CAD tools, Adobe Creative Suite, UI/UX platforms, fabrication methods, model making, and increasingly AR/VR and AI driven design systems. Alongside this runs an understanding of design history, cultural context, storytelling, and ethics. The students in this category are those who have a very strong visual or spatial sense.

 They are the ones who like to make things, visualize and come up with several solutions to a problem. Most of them, their arrival is always preceded by portfolios of sketches, digital work, photographs, or prototypes and a desire to communicate their ideas through form. When graduating, Design Studies students are capable in numerous ways. They are conceptually, technically, and visually. Their portfolio is their most convincing credential. A career might be a position of a UX/UI designer, product or industrial designer, graphic or visual designer, fashion or textile designer, animator, game designer, motion graphics artist, AR/VR designer, or creative technologist. These are fairly physical jobs, frequently done in studios, tech companies, startups, media houses, or as freelancers.

Design Management (BA/MA): Learning to Lead, Strategise, and Scale Design

Design Management is essentially the discipline of managing design as a strategic resource instead of focusing on the production of design artefacts.

BA and MA courses in Design Management focus on the role of design in organisations, markets, and systems. The emphasis shifts from "How do I design this?" to "How does design generate value, foster innovation, and align with business goals?"

These courses reflect the combination of design thinking with management and business fundamentals. Students delve into marketing, branding, strategy, finance, operations, organisational behaviour, project management, and leadership, all under the influence of design. Design turns out to be a differentiating factor, an innovation driver, and a source of competitive advantage, rather than just a product.

Besides design strategy, brand management, innovation management, user and market research, intellectual property and design law, entrepreneurship, and the financial and operational aspects of creative industries are also covered. Students are taught how to lead creative teams, bring designers and business objectives into alignment, measure return on design investment, and present design value to decision makers.

Incoming students are often analytically inclined, communicative, and interested in both creativity and structure. At the undergraduate level, prior design training may not be essential. At the postgraduate level, many entrants already have experience in design, business, media, or technology and want to move into leadership roles.

Graduates of Design Management programmes typically do not design interfaces or products themselves. Instead, they direct, guide, and evaluate the design process. Career outcomes include design strategist, brand manager, innovation consultant, design manager, creative director, product or innovation manager, business development head, or design entrepreneur. These roles are common in corporates, consultancies, startups, and design-led organisations.

The fundamental difference between the two paths is not about which one is "better, " but more about in which part of the design ecosystem you want to be.

Going through a Design Studies program will get you to think and act as a designer essentially, as a creative problem solver, a prototype developer, a design output deliverer. On the contrary, a Design Management program will get you to think and act as a leader or strategist basically, as a person who decides why design matters, where it should be applied, and how it should be organised and scaled.

Design students come out of their education with highly developed creative and technical execution skills, intermediate, level business acumen, and portfolios that showcase their thought process. Design management students come out with well developed strategic, leadership, and business capabilities, intermediate, level design understanding, and the ability to connect creative teams and organisational goals.

In spite of these differences, the two disciplines share some essential commonalities. Both areas are highly user focused, relying on a deep understanding of human needs, behaviours, and situations. Both fields are based on structured problem, solving and design thinking methodologies. Collaboration and communication are indispensable in both, as is a shared ethical concern about the impact of design and business decisions on society.

Good design managers should have a thorough understanding of the creative process in order to be able to effectively manage designers. To survive and develop, good designers are becoming more and more required to have a basic understanding of business. Usually, the most capable professionals are those that find themselves at the crossroads of these two different worlds.

Choosing the Right Path

If you have a passion for creating, visualising, prototyping and refining ideas through form, a Design Studies degree is your grounding. On the other hand, if your interest lies in leadership, systems, strategy, and decision making, and you want to be a part of how design impacts organizations, your way is Design Management.

Both of these professions are equally aligned with the future. The distinction is not in the availability of opportunities but in the orientation: Do you prefer to design the solution, or design the direction?

Organised by eight leading medical colleges and spearheaded by All India Institute Of Medical Sciences, New Delhi (AIIMS Delhi), literary fest Oracle brought together a vibrant community of participants, faculty, and literary enthusiasts from across Delhi's medical fraternity from 16 to 18 January. Passionate medical students found themselves engaged in creative arts, baffling quizzes, debates, extempore speaking and intriguing panel discussions. Often thrust into a rigid academic that flatlines creativity into CVs, the students found Oracle a reinvigorating and enriching experience.

Padma Shri legendary Hindi poet, Dr Ashok Chakradhar acted as the judge for the Open Mic event, Awaaz. Participants were brimming with fervour as they presented self-written poetry. The fest at its core was a medical literary fest and saw numerous intellectual engagements throughout.

The festival's panel discussions invited prominent doctors, such as Dr R.L Bijlani, former Head of Department of Physiology at AIIMS Delhi, Dr Debraj Shome, acclaimed plastic surgeon and author, Dr Tanaya Narendra, popular sex educator and content creator, and Dr Tripti Sharan, author and physician. Oracle also saw Dr Megha Tandon, Professor of Surgery at VMMC & Safdarjung and Dr Atul Goel, the director general of health services at Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India.

Bharat Goel, third-year MBBS student at AIIMS Delhi, literary secretary and the founding president of Oracle, said, "Bringing together 8 medical colleges to collaborate for something bigger than themselves, unified only by the sheer love of language, and then actually making it happen, Oracle felt like a dream I wish never ended. Having sowed the seed, I look forward to the growth of Oracle which will be significantly acclaimed over time, creating a literary heritage for the future generations."

Oracle was the embodiment of the belief that empathy, creativity, and reflection are essential elements of medical education. Also, that medical doctors should be cultivated not only as clinicians but also as compassionate thinkers through medical humanities.

The first issue was so warmly welcomed and generated such lively debates that it has become a landmark for medical literary projects, emphasizing the power of the written and spoken word in the progression of medicine.

Forensic science does not thrive on drama. It thrives on proof. In a time when crime shows and courtroom drama are everywhere, the real forensic science discipline is a lot quieter and it demands a lot more accuracy. In essence, forensic science is the meeting point of lab science, field investigation, technology, and law. What it does might sound easy: take the leftover of a real, life incident and turn it into evidence that is trustworthy, well documented, and so strong that it can stand the test of a court hearing. For those who are attracted to puzzles, patterns, and logical thinking rather than the thrill of new experiences, forensic science is a career that allows you to use your precision to impact justice, public safety, and truth directly.

More than anything, forensic science is an entire ecosystem of evidence and not one subject. The left end of the spectrum is the crime scene, where the evidence is found, photographed, gathered, sealed, labelled, and preserved. At the other stands the courtroom, where that same evidence must be explained with clarity and methodological restraint—without exaggeration or speculation. In India, this ecosystem spans crime scene management, forensic photography, fingerprint and impression evidence, questioned documents, forensic biology and DNA profiling, chemistry and toxicology, ballistics, trace evidence, forensic anthropology and odontology, behavioural forensics, and increasingly, digital and cyber forensics. Each discipline represents a different “language of proof,” and justice depends on how well these languages work together.

The biggest change in the use of forensic evidence is the introduction of digital evidence, which has become a major part of the investigation instead of an optional extra. Nowadays, almost every crime will have some kind of digital evidence: phone records, GPS trails, CCTV footage, online transactions, social media posts, device data, and cloud logs. Consequently, the classic forensics fields are quickly merging with cyber and digital forensics. Even the biologists, chemists, or document experts who used to stay away from digital stuff have to get used to working in a digitally mediated world, learning about timestamps, metadata, traceability, and chain of custody.

To put it simply, the forensic careers in India can be categorized into three different lanes. Firstly, there are the public forensic laboratoriesthe core of the systema number of work experts such as State FSLs, Central FSLs, work in these laboratories across the division of DNA, toxicology, cyber forensics, documents, and ballistics. Secondly, the field and investigation support area, which includes mobile forensic units and crime scene teams, where a small procedural mistake can ruin a case. Thirdly, and the fastest developing, lane is in private, and enterprise forensics, which deal with digital forensics, corporate fraud, discovery, insurance investigations, cybersecurity incident response, and litigation support.

Career growth in forensic science usually follows a pattern where depth is rewarded before breadth. Initial years involve acquiring technical skills and learning how to write reports in a disciplined manner. Halfway through your career, you can move up by taking on cross, domain leadership roles linking digital footprints with physical or financial evidence. The final stages at the top can take you to running a laboratory, handling quality and accreditation, being an expert witness, teaching, or freelance consulting. Across all stages, credibility remains the most valuable professional currency.

India’s growing demand for forensic professionals is driven by two forces.Firstly, we are surrounded by evidence on an everyday basis to such an extent that digital systems leave tracks for almost every activity. Secondly, policies and infrastructure investments are gradually turning forensic science from merely a supporting role to becoming a systemic necessity in the criminal justice process. Courts are becoming more and more focused on methodology, risk of contamination, and the integrity of documentation, which has led to both an increase in standards and demand.

For candidates, the field is generally separated into two different paths. The life sciences track is for people who want to study biology, chemistry, toxicology, and other laboratory, based evidence where clean technique, validation, and interpretation are as important as instrumentation. The tech and cyber track is for individuals who are intrigued by the inner workings of systems, gadgets, networks, and data trails where the evidence integrity, investigation structuring, and documentation discipline are of the highest priority. Both courses of study will lead to a similar practice of professional ethics: never guess, dismiss doubt, and let the evidence rather than the story determine the conclusion.

Preparing is the main step. At the schooling level, students should not only be able to build strong scientific and technical bases but also get the habits that courts appreciate: keeping very detailed records, choosing accurate words, and having a strong moral self- control. The focus of an undergraduate education should shift from interest to capability, emphasising lab exposure, workflow understanding, and real, world internships. Whether working with DNA samples or digital logs, the principle remains the same—methods must be sound, findings proportionate, and reports defensible.

The coming decade will reward seriousness. Forensic science is not a television career; it is a rigorous career. Those who combine strong science or strong technology with disciplined thinking, clear writing, and ethical resilience will find themselves at the centre of India’s evolving justice system. In a world increasingly driven by data and dispute, the ability to prove truth—quietly, cleanly, and convincingly—may be one of the most consequential professions of all.

The St. Marys Rehabilitation University (SMRU) Hyderabad offers a specialised B.Sc Forensic Science course that is dedicated to practical training in the first privately run university that is specialised in rehabilitation and other related health sciences in India. Hyderabad SMRU has excellent facilities, relevant curriculum, compulsory internships, practical exposure, and the best place to apply practical forensics to students who are looking to attend B.Sc Forensic Science admission Hyderabad 2026.

Specialized Forensic Training at India's First Rehabilitation-Focused University

SMRU Hyderabad focuses on education of forensic and applied sciences as a subset of its mission to educate on rehabilitation sciences. Unlike normal universities where forensic science usually remains theoretical, SMRU provides practical forensic education that combines with health sciences. Learners develop expertise using actual equipment and scenarios, equipping them to work in crime labs and as investigators.

State-of-the-Art Forensic Labs and Crime Scene Facilities

SMRU features dedicated forensic laboratories equipped for hands-on learning. Facilities include fingerprint analysis labs, DNA profiling setups, toxicology workstations, cyber forensics stations, and questioned document examination areas. A crime scene investigation simulation area lets students practice evidence collection and processing. This infrastructure ensures forensic skills go beyond books to actual application.

Industry-Relevant B.Sc Forensic Science Curriculum at SMRU

The SMRU B.Sc Forensic Science curriculum is in line with the current forensic industry standards. Basic subjects include crime scene management, cyber forensics, DNA analysis, fingerprint identification and toxicology testing. The curriculum focuses on workforce competencies, which assist the students to move on the campus to a forensic laboratory, police unit, or a private security agency.

Compulsory Internship and Field Training.

As part of the B.Sc, SMRU will need hands-on experience with a forensic lab, hospital, or investigation agency. Students go on field trips, crime scene simulation, and workshops. This on-the-job training is accrued during study making graduates have a competitive advantage in the forensic employment process.

Career Paths After B.Sc Forensic Science from SMRU Hyderabad

SMRU forensic science graduates pursue roles such as:

• Forensic Scientist in government crime laboratories
• Crime Scene Investigator with law enforcement
• Forensic Lab Analyst in testing facilities
• Cyber Forensic Expert with cybersecurity firms
• Research Assistant in forensic research centers
• Many continue to M.Sc Forensic Science, Criminology, or related postgraduate programs.

Hyderabad Location Boosts Forensic Career Prospects

Hyderabad is a key centre of education, research, forensic laboratories and IT firms specialising in cyber forensics. The location of SMRU in the city centre can provide students with a great access to the industry as opposed to other universities in remote locations. Natural internship and employment are generated by the close proximity to government agencies, hospitals and tech companies.

Low Fee Structure at a high value.

SMRU has a moderate fee structure relative to other private forensic colleges. The university provides high academic value in terms of special infrastructure, qualified faculty and placement assistance. This mix is very lucrative to students joining the forensic labour market.

Experienced Faculty and Continuous Academic Support

SMRU employs faculty with forensic and medical backgrounds who offer practical guidance. Ongoing mentoring helps students prepare for competitive exams, higher studies, and professional certifications. The supportive environment ensures every student receives personalized academic assistance.

SMRU Hyderabad: Top Choice for Forensic Science Careers

St. Marys rehabilitation university hyderabad is a blend of highly focused forensic skills, modern laboratories, industry-oriented curriculum, compulsory internship opportunities, the career benefits of Hyderabad, and quality education at a low cost. Since SMRU is the first privately owned rehabilitation sciences university in India, its B.Sc Forensic Science students are set to be instantly hired in crime investigation, cyber forensics, laboratory analysis, and research in government facilities.

Looking forward to forensic science courses in Hyderabad? SMRU provides the hands-on training and contacts in the industry that forensic careers require to be successful. Take the AIFSET entrance test today  and gain easy admission. Connect with us now for free consultation or more info @08035018480

Studying Agriculture course after 12 th science 2026? You've come to the right place. Courses in agriculture after 12th provide excellent job opportunities (₹4-8 lakh starting salary) in agricultural technology, crop science, and agribusiness. The smartest entry? AIACAT 2026 - an easy online exam that directs admission to the best of the best in the private universities such as Parul University and LPU. Such a guide will contain all the information that 12th science students require to know to be admitted to BSc agriculture without any hassle after 12th.

​Why should one pursue Agriculture Courses in 2026 after 12th science?

Young talent is in dire need in the agriculture industry of India. Programs such as PM Kisan Samman and Agri Stack by the government will provide employment to 50 lakh people by 2030. Science after 12 th courses Agriculture courses are found to be good fit to both PCB (Lovers of biology) and PCM (Lovers of Math). Having only 50 per cent marks in the 12th, you can take B.Sc Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry among others. Universities accepting the AIACAT agriculture entrance exam offer affordable admission and fees with scholarship opportunities, 90% placements, and hand-on training.

Complete List of Agriculture Courses After 12th Science 2026

1. B.Sc Agriculture (Hons) - Crop production, soil health, farm management (₹5-10 LPA jobs)
2. B.Sc Horticulture - Fruits, vegetables, flowers, landscaping (₹4-9 LPA exports)
3. B.Sc Forestry - Tree farming, wildlife conservation (₹6-12 LPA govt jobs)
4. B.Sc Fisheries/Aquaculture - Fish farming, seafood processing (₹4-8 LPA)
5. B.Tech Agricultural Engineering - Farm machinery, irrigation tech (₹6-15 LPA)
6. B.Sc Agri Biotechnology - GM crops, plant genetics (₹5-12 LPA research)
7. B.Sc Agri Business Management - Farm marketing, exports, startups (₹5-10 LPA)
8. B.Sc Dairy Technology - Milk processing, food production (₹4-9 LPA)
9. Diploma Organic Farming - 1-2 years quick start (₹3-6 LPA entrepreneurship)

Best Entrance Exam for Agriculture Programs

AIACAT, also known as the All India Agriculture Common Aptitude Test, is one of the latest, best GenZ preferred national-level entrance tests for UG and PG admission in Agriculture courses. It is accepted in 100+ top colleges across India and helps students gain easy admission in the college they  prefer. The best feature of this exam is its exam mode which is 100% online allowing the candidates to take the exam from anywhere using their phone, pc or laptop. 

AIACAT Eligibility Criteria for 12th Science Students

The AIACAT eligibility criteria are straightforward: 12th science PCB/PCM with a minimum of 50% marks (45% for reserved categories), 17+ years of age, and Indian nationals only. Students giving board exams are also eligible to apply. No domicile criteria apply, all Indian students are eligible.

AIACAT Syllabus and Exam Pattern 2026

• AIACAT syllabus consists of 100 MCQs in 60 minutes: Physics, Chemistry, Biology/Agriculture/Math (class 11-12 NCERT level), General Awareness, Reasoning. 
• No negative marking: target 60+ correct answers. 
• AIACAT exam pattern: Online proctored from home, no need to travel. 

Prep plan: NCERT books + 5 mock tests from aiacat.com. 2 months prep is sufficient for top ranks.

Top Colleges Accepting AIACAT Scores for BSc Agriculture 2026

Top AIACAT colleges for agriculture programs after 12th are Parul University (Vadodara), Lovely Professional University (Punjab), Vivekananda Global University (Jaipur), Jaipur National University, and Shoolini University. These provide merit scholarships, 3-5% girl reservations, and 85-95% placement assistance with ITC, Mahindra Agri, and HDFC Bank.

Career Prospects After Agriculture Programs (Freshers Package)

After BSc agriculture admission after 12th, one can pursue Agriculture Officer (₹6-12 LPA), Farm Manager (₹5-10 LPA), Food Inspector (₹4-8 LPA govt jobs), Agri Consultant, or open organic farms with bank loans. Success in the agriculture entrance exam means fast ROI with internship placement assistance.

How to Prepare for AIACAT 2026 Agriculture Entrance Exam?

1. Visit aiacat.com and register 
2. Pay the Fees and get free study material 
3. Use NCERT book for preparing 
4. Check the syllabus and get familiar with all the mentioned topics
5. Practice free mocks

To conclude, Agriculture courses after 12th science are available to pursue via the AIACAT agriculture entrance exam that offers stress-free admission to private universities with guaranteed placements. You have the list of top courses to choose from; pick the one that aligns with your interest and start your career in the field of agriculture.

Forensic science is a booming field of the 21st century with the demand for experts rising with each  passing year. Students who are passionate about this field must know there are many forensic science entrance tests but choosing the perfect one is the key to success. AIFSET (All India Forensic Science entrance test) is the best way to step in this field and build a fulfilling future. Here are top 5 reasons why online entrance exam for Forensic science Admission is the right choice. Continue reading.

1, Your Home Becomes Your Strength

Forget hot, crowded halls and inflexible schedules.That quiet corner where you grasp biology concepts best becomes your examination room. Parents notice easier entrance exam mornings, smiles that aren't forced, and grades that accurately show what you know, not what you learned while traveling. Stress decreases by 40%, and your hard work shows through.

2. One Purposeful Exam, Countless Doors

Paper forms translate to scattered efforts and wasted fees. AIFSET brings 180+ premier colleges – Gujarat Forensic University, NFSU Hyderabad, IFFS Pune, with one strategic effort. Admissions officers appreciate this singular commitment, fast-tracking passionate students instead of application flooders.

3. Perfect Harmony with Board Exam Chaos

March-May: Survival Mode. Flexible slots in AIFSET are a perfect fit. No sleep sacrifices for overnight travel. This student-centric approach honors your rhythm, allowing preparation to flourish without outside influences.

4. Merit Speaks When Geography Doesn't

Urban students are overwhelmed by proximity. AIFSET balances opportunity, Bhopal's hidden gem matches Bangalore's coaching luminaries. Colleges honor rural insights injecting new vitality into forensic science. Tier-2/3 toppers demonstrate merit knows no boundaries.

5. A Clear Path to Purposeful Careers

Generic tests yield generic futures. Forensic-specific online exams signal your calling. Admissions officers see genuine passion, fast-tracking you toward research labs, FSL internships, and CBI pathways. This intentional choice transforms "interested student" into "future forensic leader.

In short, Forensic excellence starts where smart work and preparation begins. Your future does not require an exam center, it requires AIFSET and the right university that aligns with your future goals. 

Ever wondered who designed instagram’s interface? A UI/UX designer did with zero-coding knowledge. These people get a package of 10+ lakh in companies like Instagram, Swiggy, Zoho without writing a single line of code. With no JEE coaching, engineering background or science stream mandate, you can become a highly paid professional doing a clean desk job. You can learn Figma and have a portfolio and start freelancing on Upwork in just 6 months, whereas your engineering friends will be caught up in placements.

Each month 95,000 learners are looking into UI/UX programmes since they understand one fact: businesses will not recruit based on degrees. Companies invest 50,000 crore every year to redesign applications and any startup requires the designer with the insight into the users. Commerce students naturally grasp business apps, Arts kids excel at visual creativity, and girls find a welcoming field with 45% female hires compared to just 25% in engineering.

The Secret of UI/UX Success after 12th

The process of getting into a UI/UX career is not as difficult as it appears. The first one is to download free Figma at figma.com and devote 30 minutes a day to redesigning the apps you use.Week 1, recreate Blinkit's home screen. Week 2, fix Swiggy's checkout flow. By Month 1, you'll have 5 solid projects ready for your portfolio. The basic skills can be mastered in as little as 120 hours: Figma prototyping (what 80 percent of jobs require), wireframing using Adobe XD, interviewing users, mapping app flows, and presenting your work like a professional.

Simulated projects bring your portfolio to life. Redesign the UPI flow of phonepe, enhance the investment dashboard of growth or develop a fitness application experience. These are not homeworks, but the very issues that companies hire to get solved. After that, post to Dribbble or Behance. A single good portfolio posting results in interview invitations by startups that are in need of new talent.

The AIDAT entrance exam makes entry perfect for Gen Z. It's 100% remote and you can give the exam from your phone, pc or laptop anywhere. Just 1 hour long with no negative marking, so attempt every question confidently. The creative test covers visual aptitude, basic design principles, and logical reasoning – all at 12th level difficulty. At ₹25,000, it includes bootcamp training, Figma certification, and placement assistance. Check AIDAT.COM right now for a full exam schedule.

Skills That Make 10 LPA Freshers Jobs

Forget complex coding. Firms desire designers capable of resolving the problems of users. Figma prototyping enables you to create apps by just making them interactive. Wireframing is a layout sketching prior to development. A user research reveals what is detested by customers about existing apps. Mobile-first layouts are important because 70% are using phones. Lastly, portfolio presentation is the sale of your work to clients.

The beauty? Free tools imply that anybody with a 30000 rupee laptop can start today. Continued practice every day and Month 4 has a job-ready portfolio. Priya of Commerce 12th repackaged the checkout at Zomato during a bootcamp, and is currently making 9.2 LPA at Swiggy. Arjun, an Arts student developed 10 Upwork projects and pulled 11 LPA freelancing to US startups. Such cases are not unique cases, 85% are employed within 6 months.

The Gen Z Loves UI/UX (No Traditional College Needed)

The 4-year degrees and work have tradition, whereas the 6-month bootcamps are faster. They instruct practical projects when colleges teach theory. With 10 Figma projects, freelancing will increase ₹50,000 every month at Upwork. US clients pay 3x more. The conferences of UX India, which are held in Bangalore, allow you to connect with hiring managers at Flipkart during coffee.

Business pupils perceive payment and cash boards instinctively. Kids in arts introduce visual magic of story telling. JEE dropouts change professions with ease. Girls shun the life of hostels as they join tech. Small-town students who have access to the internet compete with the other students of the world. The industry favours hustle over blood.

Perfect fit students (This Is Your Calling)

If you love drawing, hate math, and enjoy apps, UI/UX becomes your superpower. Bangalore and Pune locals land internships easily. Freelance dreamers earn dollars from Day 1. Parents worried about engineering love the ₹5-7 lakh Year 1 average. No more "what will you do after 12th" family pressure.

Who Should not Pursue UI/UX Design?

• Hardcore coders are to be diligent to AI/ML. 
• Students who require heavy scholarships are at least 25000. 
• Conservatives desiring 4-year-degree may feel cheated.
• Students who have no interest in psychology 
• Candidates preferring a monotonous job 

So, dear design aspirants, ₹10 LPA plus jobs are waiting to employ creative minds of 12th pass with proper design degree and/or skills. No JEE. No coding. Just Figma + daily practice. Algorithms are forced into the brain of your engineering classmate and you deliver features of the app to startups around the world. Different work but same pay. Choose your path wisely. 

Call on toll free number for free career counseling @08035018542 

Searching for the best computer science courses after 12th? You have come to the right place. B.Tech Computer Science Engineering is a top choice in India for high-demand tech jobs. With 1.5 million+ jobs expected by 2026, B.E./B.Tech in Computer Science is gaining all  the traction it must in software development, AI, and cybersecurity. This article discusses top computer science courses, JEE Main/Advanced entrance exams, and NIRF-ranked colleges such as IIT Madras, IIT Delhi and some private colleges like LPU for 2026 admission.

Why Choose Computer Science Courses After 12th?

Computer Science courses after 12th ensure future-proof job options with an average starting salary of ₹8-15 LPA. B.Tech Computer Science is the best option with a 4-year syllabus that includes programming, algorithms, data structures, and AI/ML. The latest trending courses are B.Tech AI & Data Science, B.Tech Cyber Security, B.Tech IT, Electronics & Communication Engineering (ECE), and Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EEE) from AICTE-approved universities.

What is the Eligibility for Computer Science Courses?

With just 50-60% in 12th PCM + entrance exams score one can gain admission at the top university offering trending courses in CS field. 

Best Computer Science Courses List After 12th (2026)

1. B.E./B.Tech Computer Science Engineering 

Duration: 4 years

Entrance Exams: JEE, BITSAT, VITEEE, GCSET

Top Colleges: IIT Madras (Rank 1), IIT Delhi (Rank 2), IIT Bombay (Rank 3), BITS Pilani, VIT

Fees: ₹2-20L total; Placements

2. B.Tech Information Technology (IT)

Duration: 4 years

Entrance Exams: JEE Main, GCSET, state CETs, university exams

Top Colleges: NIT Trichy, IIT Kharagpur, Manipal Institute

Specialization: Cloud computing, web development

3. B.Tech Artificial Intelligence & Data Science

Latest Trend: 300% enrollment increase

Entrance Exams: JEE Main, GCSET, CUET

Top Colleges: IIT Hyderabad, IIIT Hyderabad, Amity University, APG

4. B.Tech Cyber Security

Booming Demand: 1M jobs by 2026 Entrance exams: JEE Main, GCSET

Top Colleges: Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Lovely Professional University 

5. B.Tech Electronics & Communication Engineering (ECE) 

Duration: 4 years 

Entrance Exams: JEE Main/Advanced, GCSET 

Top Colleges: IIT Kanpur, NIT Surathkal, APG Shimla

6. B.Tech Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EE) 

Duration:4 years

 Entrance Exams: JEE Main, BITS, GCSET

Top Colleges: IIT Roorkee, NIT Warangal, VGU

Recent Trending Computer Science Specialization 2026.

1. B.Tech AI ML Google, Microsoft spree recruiting.
2. B.Tech Data Science -12L avg package.
3. B.Tech Cyber Security -Govt jobs boom.
4. B.Tech Cloud computing- AWS/Azure demand.

Top Computer Science Admission Tips

1. Research: look for courses, get familiar with the current trend and requirements of the field
2. Decide college: Make your mind whether you want to go to IIT or any top private institute offering real-time skills
3. Take Entrance test: choose JEE for government college admission, and GCSET for top private universities
4. Enroll for counseling: Select the desired college as per your score
5. Admission fee: complete your provisional admission by paying the fees. 

The 12th courses such as B.Tech CSE have been rated the number one engineering course by India with 95% placement. Begin your IIT, NIT, and good private university preparation with JEE 2026. Get your share in India 10 lakh crore IT market.

Not sure whether you belong in computer science classes after 12th? 

Based on your strengths, here’s what you can choose:

1. When you love logical problem-solving and like coding/mathematics and 8-15LPA technology jobs, then B.Tech Computer Science Engineering is the best choice. B.Tech AI/Data science suits those pattern lovers who view research/ML opportunities. 
2. B.Tech Cyber Security is a good pick to ethical hackers who are concerned with security. 
3. Choose ECE when hardware/networks appeal to you more than pure software. 

In conclusion, the field of computer science is at its prime. The blooming job opportunities are not just a fad but a calling for all passionate students who wish to build a lucrative career and live fulfilling lives. So, be wise and choose the right course, career path, college and entrance exam. All the best!

Cyber forensics is a thrilling career path with millions of extraordinary cases and astonishing reveals. The case of digital fingerprints theft that leads to a 1,000 crore bank heist or tracking a ransomware assault that puts a complete metropolis on its knees are some staggering cases in the day-to-day life of cyber forensics officers. If this career is your dream, an MSc degree in Computer Science is all that you need. Not the JEE, not the NEET, none of the additional engineering, just some skills are what you need! The Cyber forensics eligibility 2026 currently accepts MSc Computer science, IT, Cyber Security graduates directly in the 15-30 lakh government positions in CBI, CFSL, and state FSL labs.

India lost approximately ₹20,000 crore to cyber frauds in 2025 (I4C/NCRP data), with cumulative losses reaching ₹52,000 crore from 2020-2025. Government agencies urgently need thousands of cyber forensic experts as cybercrime cases surged 3x year-on-year. Your database and Python skills, as well as your research thesis, would be ideal in the fields of digital evidence analysis, malware reverse engineering, and blockchain tracing. This is not a theory but there were 847 MSc graduates who applied this same roadmap last year to get the CBI Cyber Cell and CFSL Delhi jobs with a first year salary of 18 lakh.

Why is Cyber Forensics a Good Career Option for an MSc Computer Science Graduate?

The computer science field is brimming with highly skilled people which  is why salary hikes have become nominal. On the other hand, Cyber forensics is an expanding field needing experts who can decode crypto frauds and investigate corporate data breaches. Your MSc electives in machine learning? Perfect for classifying malware families. Database management coursework? Essential for reconstructing blockchain transactions. Even your final year project analyzing network traffic becomes your CBI interview weapon..

The actual magic then comes in the form of providing evidence that is court admissible and can convict cyber criminals. Think of it: you are being called to a high profile case and you are asked to testify against a major drug cartel and your analysis of the RAM dump used recovered stolen 500 crores of cryptocurrency. How fun would that be? Cyber forensics is not a mere job but a revolutionary field that is transforming digital security in India.

Government employment security +15 lakh initial salary + Foreign training (FBI, Interpol courses) = career every BTech graduate is envisioning. This is why knowing what career path to  choose after which degree is a MUST.

Cyber Forensics Eligibility 2026

CFSL, CBI, and CUE guidelines make it crystal clear that your postgraduate degree is enough:

Master's Degrees That Qualify Instantly:

• MSc Computer Science (your exact qualification)
• MSc Computer Applications
• MSc Information Technology
• MSc Physics (Electronics specialization)
• MSc Cyber Security
• Minimum: 60% marks from UGC-approved university
• Age: Under 32 years (5-year relaxation for govt exams)

What Disqualifies You:

• BTech/BE only (undergraduate degree)
• BCA/BSc IT (3-year programs)
• Standalone online certifications

Hidden Advantage: Your MSc thesis supervisor can provide a recommendation letter that gives you a 20% edge in FSL technical interviews. Keep that project report handy!

Should you Choose MSC computer science over MSC Cyber Forensics? 

If you are confused about whether to go with MSc Computer Science or MSc Cyber Forensics, the simple truth is that MSc Computer science is absolutely not the solution when you are totally and truly passionate about cyber forensics. Cyber forensics requires specialised knowledge and skills such as restoring lost evidence, learning such tools as Autopsy and EnCase, as well as the knowledge of chain-of- custody regulations in a court. An overall MSc CS will do the trick: algorithms, web development, and databases will give you a nice background, but you will still have to invest in additional PG Diplomas or master the field by self-learning to match up with MSc Cyber Forensics graduates who go directly to CBI/FSL.

On the other hand MSc Cyber Forensics puts you down a one-way street. It equips you perfectly to work in digital evidence analysis and witness in court, but executes your IT flexibility. Startup, Google, and Amazon are seeking full-stack engineers and AI specialists more than cyber forensic experts. With this degree, you might earn around 8-12 lakh in the private IT sector while your MSc CS colleagues earn 25 lakh packages. Cyber forensics translates to 90% government labs with slow promotions yet worth-it hikes, whereas IT translates to visible growth in the private sector.

The smart move? Do MSc Computer science first then add cyber forensics later if you aren’t sure you will stay in the digital security field for long. This leaves the two doors open. Finish your MSc computer science degree, take a good 10-15 lakh IT job on the spot and then do a 6-month course in forensic diplomas via AIFSET from top forensic science university to qualify for jobs in CBI/FSL. It is your CS base and you have a safety net- come back to IT when you want or go into forensics when you are ready.

Must Master Cyber Forensics Tools

How to transform from MSc Student into a job-ready cyber forensic expert in 90 days.

Phase 1 (Days 1-30): Foundational Skills.

Start with Autopsy (free forensic suite) to recover deleted WhatsApp chats, Excel sheets from corrupted USBs. Master Wireshark packet analysis – trace hackers through IP chains. Practice file carving to extract 50+ file types from disk images. By Day 30, you'll handle basic cybercrime evidence like a pro.

Phase 2 (Days 31-60): Professional Tools
Download EnCase and FTK demo versions. Learn registry analysis, timeline reconstruction, Windows artifact extraction. Practice mobile forensics with Oxygen Forensic extract banking apps, Snapchat evidence. Week 6 focuses on memory forensics using Volatility Framework to pull ransomware encryption keys straight from RAM dumps.

Phase 3 (Days 61-90): Live Case Mastery

Practice 50 cybercrime scenarios: Bank fraud rebuilding, ransomware decryption tutorial, corporate email attack detective work. Efficient chain of custody records - forty percent of evidence to courts is rejected because of mishandling. SIM CBI interviews on your MSc research applications in forensics.

Daily Rhythm: 4 hours tools to practise with, 2 hours theory, 1 hour case study. 7 hours of total work make you MSc grad, to forensic expert.

Full 5-Year Pay Development Plan.

Year 1: 10-15 lakh (State FSL entry-level)

Year 3: 20-28 lakh (CBI/CERT-In specialist)

Year 5: 30-42 lakh (Senior Cyber Forensic Officer)

Lifetime Perks include government housing, lifetime medical, pension, FBI/Interpol training programmes.

When to do a Cyber Forensic Course?

2026 is the right time to do either BSC, MSC or certificate course in cyber forensic, because of:

• Bank frauds: 1.25 lakh crore loss (2025).
• Ransomware: 3x attack growth
• Cryptocurrency frauds: 8,000 crores have disappeared.
• Installation of 5G: 10 times cyber attack area.
• Government Response: National Cyber Forensic Strategy 2026 requires the mandate of 20,000 new forensic experts around the country.

Which Course is the Best After 12th Science?

The first thing most Indian students consider after Class 12 is IT or Computer Science. Although these are good options, the reality is that the IT sector is getting very crowded. The competition is extremely intense every year with lakhs of students graduating with such skills. This is the reason why a more future oriented and un-saturated career such as Cyber Forensics can be a wiser choice.

Cyber forensics might seem complex and uninteresting, yet, in the actual sense, it is among the most fascinating fields in the technological world. You do not need to sit and write the same code on a daily basis but you work on real cyber crime cases. You research internet frauds, banking frauds, cyber attacks, data loss, Internet identity frauds, and internet evidence. There is a lot that is so outrageous that question arises as to how developed and dangerous technology has become.

This profession provides an adrenaline rush on a regular basis due to the uniqueness of each case. You reason like a detective, not a programmer only. You are the ones who trace digital footprints, investigate gadgets, reclaim lost information, and contribute to finding the truth of cyber crimes. It is valuable and effective work because it contributes to the direct protection of people, corporations, and even a country.

Online payments, online services, and use of social media are increasing cyber crimes in India. Due to this reason, there has been an increasing number of trained cyber forensic professionals in cyber cells, law enforcement agencies, banks, IT firms, and private security companies. There is also still a limited number of professionals, which renders this sphere less saturated and more successful.

For students planning long-term careers, even after MSc Computer Science, cyber forensics gives a strong specialization. It helps you stand out, earn better opportunities, and build a career that is challenging, stable, and future-proof.

How to Pursue MSC Cyber Forensic? 

 If you are a 12th pass science student or a Bsc graduate, you are eligible to pursue Msc cyber forensics course. Here are the steps you need to take:

• Take national-level entrance test (AIFSET  2026)
• Enrol for counseling and select the top university
• Pay the provisional admission fee
• Submit the documents and start your classes 

Pursuing this degree via the AIFSET entrance test is the best decision because it cut-short your top universities research time and helps you get admission easily without much admission hassle. AIFSET also offers free career counseling which helps you decide whether this field is right for you. 

Choose Excitement Over Saturation

IT fields overflow with coders. Cyber forensics stays thrilling with every fraud story more unreal than the last. Technology advancement created cyber monsters; you become the hunter. So, 12th Science students ditch the crowded IT rat-race, cyber forensics courses after 12th offer lucrative careers, daily adrenaline, and lifelong impact.

A government job of 15 lakh & more awaits, and the India cybercrime wave that has crashed requires you- the MSc-equipped digital detective. So, apply for the cyber forensic expert job roles after equipping yourself with the skills and certificates, and land a stable government job in 2026. 

I had an opportunity to interact with Sir Mark Tully, and each conversation reinforced why he remained one of the most morally anchored voices in journalism. During one such interaction in Goa in 2019, Tully spoke candidly about India’s declining position on the global press freedom index and what he saw as the troubling silence of the Prime Minister when atrocities are committed in the country. 

He argued that when such incidents occur, the Prime Minister must speak out decisively, adding that silence distorts political debate and shifts public attention from governance failures to manufactured sensations. Tully was particularly critical of the lack of serious discussion on administrative reforms, noting that there is little public accountability for how government programmes are implemented on the ground. He stressed that governments must be prepared to face journalistic scrutiny, describing criticism by the press as invaluable to democracy, and warned that attempts to control the media are dangerous, calling the steady decline in India’s press freedom ranking deeply alarming.

Reflecting on governance, Tully observed that despite visible policy initiatives, administrative functioning remains pervaded by a lingering colonial mindset. He cited examples from rural India, where welfare schemes are often misdirected, such as Below Poverty Line cards being issued to those who least need them, while genuine beneficiaries are ignored, and complaints to block-level officials are routinely dismissed or met with hostility. For Tully, rural India remained central to understanding the country’s real governance challenges, as corruption, nepotism, and systemic failures are most visible at the grassroots. He repeatedly emphasised that journalism must venture beyond urban narratives to document these realities.

Recounting the personal risks he faced as a reporter, Tully shared an incident from his early career while covering riots in Faisalabad, where he returned to a burning site to file his story, was briefly detained, and overheard Indian journalists discussing his situation before they helped secure his release, allowing him to complete the report. The episode, like much of his career, underscored his belief that truthful reporting often demands courage, persistence, and an unwavering commitment to bearing witness.

Early Life

Mark Tully, the legendary BBC journalist often described as the “voice of India”, has passed away, leaving behind a body of work that shaped how the world listened to, argued with, and understood India for more than four decades. For generations of listeners, his measured baritone on the BBC World Service was not merely reporting India—it was interpreting its contradictions with empathy, scepticism, and rare moral clarity.

Born in Kolkata in 1935, the same year the Government of India Act set in motion the final phase of British withdrawal, Tully’s life mirrored the arc of the country he would one day chronicle. Son of a senior colonial-era business executive, he grew up insulated by the privileges and prejudices of the fading Raj. A childhood incident—being slapped by his nanny for learning to count in Hindi—became emblematic of the distance colonial society enforced between itself and India. Tully later referred to himself, half-ironically, as a “relic of the Raj,” fully aware of the contradiction he embodied.

Yet history has a way of reclaiming its own. When Tully returned to India in the early 1960s as Assistant Representative at the BBC’s New Delhi bureau, he encountered a nation that no longer belonged to the empire but to uncertainty, ambition, and democratic churn. Carving a space for the BBC in an airwave landscape dominated by Akashvani and Radio Ceylon was no small task. What distinguished Tully was not speed or sensationalism, but patience—listening longer, asking harder questions, and refusing to simplify India for foreign consumption.

Under his stewardship, the BBC reported on India’s most defining moments: the 1965 and 1971 wars, the birth of Bangladesh, the Emergency of 1975, Punjab’s insurgency, and Operation Blue Star. His journalism was not detached; it was deeply contextual, often uncomfortable, and fiercely independent. During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, when most agencies fled, Tully and colleague Satish Jacob reconstructed the conflict from Delhi airport interviews—an exercise in journalistic ingenuity that later revealed the shadowy movements of Murtaza Bhutto.

Legends followed him. During the Emergency, an alleged broadcast nearly landed him in jail on Indira Gandhi’s orders—until I K Gujral discovered the report was fiction. For 22 years as BBC’s India Bureau Chief, Tully became an institution unto himself. After radio, he turned to documentaries and books, most notably India’s Unending Journey, continuing his lifelong interrogation of power, faith, and democracy.

Knighted in 2002 and awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2005, Sir Mark Tully remained a familiar presence at the Press Club of India—curious, accessible, and always listening. He arrived as an outsider. He stayed long enough to become indispensable. And in doing so, Mark Tully did what few correspondents ever manage: he stopped reporting India from a distance and began speaking with it.

India’s higher education has carried a quiet contradiction for decades.We promised mass access and global competitiveness in the same breath, but we continued to run universities on a timetable-and-classroom logic designed for a smaller, more uniform learner population.

The UGC (Minimum Standards of Instruction for the Grant of Undergraduate Degree and Postgraduate Degree) Regulations, 2025 effectively updates that operating system—without shouting—by shifting the sector from rigid, single-track journeys to stackable, flexible,credit-based learning lives.Placed alongside the National Credit Framework ecosystem and theemerging practice of blended learning and multi-assessment, the 2025 direction is not incremental reform. It is a new design philosophy: higher education as a portfolio of capabilities, not a single linear credential. The young learner today does not want only “a degree”; they want a credible pathway to a job, a career pivot, an enterprise, a second skill stack,and—most importantly—a sense that learning can keep pace with life.What follows is a pro-student, pro-placements, pro-entrepreneurship reading of the five major “game changers” now made possible at scale: two admissions a year; open choice of discipline; dual degrees including online pathways; up to 50% credits as skills/vocation/apprenticeship; and a decisive movement toward continuous, authentic assessment beyond written exams. These are not five separate reforms. They are five parts of one larger shift: the university becoming a platform where learning, work, and capability development meet.

The Second Intake Revolution: Ending the “Lost Year” Penalty Two admissions a year—July/August and January/February—may look like a calendar adjustment, but it is, in reality, an equity reform. India has a large pool of “near entrants”: students who are qualified and motivated, yet miss admission windows because of a medical crisis at home, a financial disruption, a delayed result, a migration, or a caregiving obligation. In the old system, missing one deadline often meant losing one full year, and the “lost year” frequently became a lost Learner.Biannual admissions convert that leakage into enrolment. They also change the psychology of aspiration. A student who misses an intake no longer feels “I failed” but “I will enter in the next cycle.” In several contexts, universities have already begun aligning processes with this logic; Gujarat University’s reported second-phase admissions and the idea of direct entry into the second semester signal how institutions can operationalise the principle.The deeper opportunity is even more consequential. Two intakes normalize work-integrated entry. A learner can spend six months in an apprenticeship, a skilling term, or a structured internship, and still enter the degree pathway in January without losing academic rhythm. When the university begins to recognise that learning happens in seasons—sometimes in classrooms, sometimes in workplaces—it becomes far more attractive to first-generation learners and working learners who cannot afford “education without earnings.”Discipline Is No Longer Destiny: Freedom to Choose, with Bridge-to-Choice UGC 2025 takes a bold position that Indian education has needed for a long time: the subjects you studied in Class 12 should not imprison your future. If a learner clears the relevant entrance examination, they can enter an undergraduate discipline irrespective of their school subject combination, with the institution empowered to provide bridge courses to address gaps. The same spirit extends to postgraduate entry as well: learners can move across domains, provided they meet entrance requirements and complete any necessary foundational support.This is pro-student, but it is also pro-economy. The job market is reorganising around skill clusters, not traditional departments. It is increasingly normal for careers to sit at intersections: data plus domain knowledge; design plus business; psychology plus HR analytics; law plus technology; sustainability plus finance; communication plus digital strategy. In such a world, forcing learners to stay “within lane” is not academic purity; it is employability sabotage.
There is also a deeply Indian reason this matters. Many learners discover their real interests late, often after exposure to the world of work or after encountering the right mentor. A student who chose science in school under family pressure may genuinely belong to media and communication; a commerce student may find their calling in product design or public policy. The new flexibility makes the university a place where such discovery is possible without social penalty.The institution-level implementation cue is clear: build a flexible major–minor architecture and a meaningful common core. A learner should be able to hold a primary identity—say, engineering or commerce—while building a formal secondary identity through a minor,a certificate, or a cross-faculty sequence. A common core that includes design thinking, financial literacy, and AI ethics is no longer “nice to have”; it is baseline competence for citizenship and work.The bridge-course mindset will decide whether this reform becomes liberating or merely procedural. If bridge courses become remedial and stigmatizing, the reform will underperform. If bridge courses are designed as launchpads—short, studio-like foundational modules that build confidence through applied learning—discipline mobility will become a genuine democratizer.

Dual Degrees: The Portfolio Learner Becomes Legitimate UGC 2025 formally recognises the possibility of pursuing two UG programmes simultaneously and two PG programmes simultaneously,within the flexibility frameworks notified by the Commission. This sits comfortably with the earlier logic that allowed two programmes across modes—one physical and one ODL/online, or even two ODL/online—subject to recognition, overlap rules, and compliance.At its best, dual-degree design solves a real market problem. Graduates frequently emerge with either domain knowledge without contemporary skills, or skills without domain anchoring. Dual learning allows breadth without abandoning depth. It also legitimises the “hybrid professional,” increasingly the most employable person in the room: the BA/BCom learner with data foundations; the BSc learner with UI/UX and product thinking; the engineer with entrepreneurship and management; the humanities learner with digital media and analytics.

Consider a realistic student in Kolkata or Raipur: enrolled in a conventional undergraduate programme, but also pursuing an online pathway in data analysis, digital marketing, or product design from a recognised provider. In three years, that learner’s transcript becomes a portfolio: one part disciplinary training, one part employability stack,and one part demonstrated work. The university stops producing “graduates,” and starts producing “profiles.” The foreign online degree possibility adds a further layer of opportunity: global exposure, benchmarking, and network effects. But it must be handled with adult caution. Recognition and regulatory alignment matter, and learners must be protected from non-recognised or non-transferable traps. The safest, most student-friendly pathway is not to discourage international online learning, but to build advising and due diligence so students choose credible, recognised options and understand how these credentials will be valued by employers and Institutions.

In other words, dual degrees can democratise global learning, but only if the university becomes a guide, not a bystander.

When 50% Credits Can Be Skills: The Degree Learns to Work One of the most transformative possibilities in UGC 2025 is the explicit permission to structure learning such that while a learner secures a minimum 50% of total credits in the discipline to earn a major, the remaining 50% may come from skill courses, apprenticeships, and multidisciplinary subjects. The regulations also emphasise integrating vocational education, training and skilling, and internships within UG/PG structures. This is not cosmetic. It dismantles an old hierarchy where skills were treated as “extra,” and signals a new reality: a degree is not only knowledge; it is capability. Once skills and work-based learning carry real credit weight, higher education becomes attractive to those who were previously ambivalent about universities—working learners who need flexibility, first-generation learners who demand employability value, and families who cannot afford years of education without visible Outcomes. This is precisely where the National Credit Framework logic becomes operational. If up to half the learning can be creditised across academic,vocational, skills, and experiential domains—recorded through appropriate credit banks and mapped to outcomes—then education and training stop competing. They begin to blend. The employability engine is simple but often missed: skills must be embedded inside the curriculum, not treated as a weekend add-on. When skills training, interdisciplinarity, organic learning, and multi-assessment work together, graduates become demonstrable problem-solvers rather than transcript-holders. A student who has completed a credit-bearing apprenticeship in a local industry cluster, a stackable micro-credential aligned to hiring needs, and a capstone that solves a real problem is not merely “qualified.” They are employable with evidence.

This shift also energises entrepreneurship. A skill minor in product Management or digital commerce can feed directly into venture building.

A vocational-credit sequence in sustainability auditing can become a service enterprise. A design-and-business blend can produce founders

who understand both creation and markets. When credits legitimise skill-building, the university begins to generate not only job seekers but

job creators.

Exams Make Way for Evidence: Continuous, Authentic, and Not Only Written

UGC 2025 decisively broadens evaluation beyond written examinations.It expands the units of evaluation to include seminars, presentations,class performance, fieldwork, and similar demonstrations, with weightage determined transparently by academic bodies. It mandates continuous evaluation alongside semester or year-end examinations and asks institutions to prioritise formative assessment.

The most important implication is cultural: assessment begins to shift from testing memory to validating capability. Many people fear that continuous and non-written assessment “lowers standards.” In reality, it often raises standards because it makes learning harder to fake. A written exam can be gamed; a portfolio of work, a live project, a lab demonstration, a reflective log of problem-solving, and a capstone cannot be replicated without real engagement. Multi-assessment, as an institutional practice, reduces the high-stakes pressure of single-shot exams and makes evaluation more inclusive for diverse learners. It also creates richer employability signals. Employers do not hire marks; they hire evidence of capability. When assessment includes performance-based tasks, inquiry-driven assignments,collaborative work, and reflective documentation, the transcript becomes a story of what the learner can actually do. Indian universities already offer hints of how this can work. Delhi University’s UGCF entrepreneurship track, for instance, speaks the language of venture building—idea validation, market research, prototype or MVP development—essentially treating entrepreneurship as assessable learning rather than as extracurricular theatre. That is exactly the shift India needs: assessment as proof of creation, not proof of recall.

A well-designed system will make e-portfolios and capstones mainstream. The e-portfolio becomes the learner’s public ledger: curated projects, fieldwork, presentations, prototypes, writing samples, and reflections. It is simultaneously an assessment tool and a placement asset. Done properly, it becomes the learner’s most powerful negotiation instrument in the job market.

The Missing Link: Blended Learning and a Project Ecology that Protects Equity

None of these reforms scale unless universities can deliver learning through a blended, flexible architecture. Blended learning is not a superficial “tech addition.” It is the cohesive integration of face-to-face and online modes through curriculum redesign—moving passive content delivery into flexible spaces and using in-person time for active,participative learning.

But India’s equity constraint is real. The digital divide is not a slogan; it is a structural barrier. If blended learning is designed around data-heavy, synchronous video models suited to high-resource environments,it will exclude precisely those learners higher education must include.This is why an “asynchronous-first” design philosophy matters. When content is accessible on low bandwidth, mobile-first platforms; when learning resources can be downloaded and revisited; when engagement is designed through thoughtful discussion prompts and periodic high-impact in-person sessions—then blended learning becomes a tool of inclusion rather than exclusion.

A strong blended model also builds a project ecology. It frees campus time for studios, collaboration, fieldwork, and project-based learning. It encourages interdisciplinarity because real projects rarely respect departmental boundaries. It makes room for apprenticeships and internships because learning can be planned around work cycles. In short, blended learning is not merely a delivery mode; it is the infrastructure of flexibility.

The New Campus Engine: When Placements and Entrepreneurship Share One Wheel

UGC 2025 gives the policy space, but universities must build the institutional machinery. A key shift is to stop treating placement as a seasonal activity and begin treating it as a year-round academic engine. That means building a robust Collaboration and Placement Centre with a dual mandate: placements and entrepreneurship. In a developing economy, employability and enterprise creation are not separate missions; they are two sides of the same economic development coin. This is where industry engagement becomes more than MoUs and guest lectures. Partnerships must mature into structured pipelines: internship quotas, live projects, co-developed modules, mentorship, and recruitment alignment. When industry advisory boards inform curricula, when projects are sourced from real industry pain points, and when evaluation is built around authentic outcomes, placements stop being a last-semester scramble. They become the natural consequence of the learning model. India has already seen how institutional ecosystems can shape entrepreneurial outcomes. Incubation and innovation models associated with leading institutions—such as structured entrepreneurship and incubation ecosystems—show that when mentorship, networks, and real problem solving are institutionalised, venture creation rises. UGC 2025, through credit flexibility and authentic assessment, makes it possible to embed those ecosystems into mainstream degrees, not only into elite Islands. A More Humane, More Useful University UGC 2025 should be understood as a shift from degree delivery to capability development—multiple entry points, multiple pacing options, and multiple ways to prove competence. It is pro-student because it respects life realities. It is pro-placements because it legitimises skills, portfolios, apprenticeships, and industry-facing outcomes. It is pro- entrepreneurship because it makes projects and venture-building assessable within formal education.

The true “game changer” is not any single clause. It is the combined effect: a university that can admit more learners, let them build hybrid identities, let them earn skill credits meaningfully, and let them prove learning through authentic work. Done well, this is how India increases participation, reduces dropouts, improves graduate outcomes, and creates a generation that is not only educated, but employable, entrepreneurial, and future-ready.

An astounding feature of India's higher education is that it ranks among the biggest in the world, with a plethora of colleges, a few hundred universities, and an annual output of millions of graduates. Nevertheless, such a vast setup is confronted with a critical issue: why is it that not even one Indian university, despite its magnitude, finds a regular place among the worlds top, ranked institutions?

That question is, in fact, more poignant if we actually recall that this same land was a world centre of learning some two millennia ago. Universities like Nalanda and Takshashila were not only India’s pride but part of the world’s shared intellectual heritage. Today, it seems the roles have been reversed since Indian students have been going abroad for studies in increasing numbers, Indian universities have been continuously falling behind in global rankings.

At the heart of the problem, there is a university system in India that is not strong in research culture, that is not well funded, that lacks academic freedom and that is not globally oriented. It is quite true that India is a major contributor to the world's research papers, but their citation impact of these papers is much lower than that of leading countries. The main reasons are: very limited spreading of funds, no high tech facilities, very few opportunities, and overburdening of the teaching faculty. If researchers are not given sufficient time and resources, production of high, quality work is very unlikely.

Institutions such as the IITs churn out brilliant engineers, but if they fail to massively integrate disciplines like medicine, law, social sciences, and public policy, they won't be able to meet the global standards. At the same time, the top universities in the world are dependent on interdisciplinary ecosystems that incubate creativity and innovation. India's system, however, remains confined to silos.

Governance and autonomy issues are also major impediments. A large number of Indian universities are so deeply caught up in bureaucratic controls and policy limitations that they almost cannot make quick, autonomous decisions. Meanwhile, leading global universities attract top talent because of their flexibility and freedom.

Equally concerning is the near absence of foreign faculty on Indian campuses. Visa rules, salary caps, and the red tape of the bureaucracy are some of the things that prevent talented people from all over the world from coming to India. Consequently, Indian higher education institutions do not have the international mix that is one of the factors directly affecting the global rankings of universities.

Yet, there is still some small hope at the end of the tunnel. The rise of a handful of private universities, such as Ashoka, O.P. Jindal, and Amrita, show that Indian universities can really compete at the global level if they are given proper autonomy and the right facilities. A major aspect of their fast progression has been their freedom to form partnerships abroad.

In essence, the main question should not be why India is losing ground but what great leap it can take by 2047. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has set broad directions by focusing on multidisciplinary education, research, and granting more autonomy to institutions. However, policies by themselves do not suffice. India should take bold steps in making research a high priority, training professors, forming partnerships abroad, and structurally upgrading its universities.

If India successfully tackles the above challenge, then it will not only be an economic giant but also a world intellectual leader by 2047. On the other hand, if the slow pace continues, the rest of the world will advance, and India will keep questioning: why are our universities not among the best?st global academic legacy.

The long-running debate over India’s entrance examination system appears to be reaching a decisive turning point. The central government’s proposed SAT-based admission model is not just a move towards phasing out major national-level exams like NEET, JEE, and CUET—it is an attempt to reshape the entire education ecosystem under a new framework. If implemented, this could be considered the biggest reform in Indian higher education in decades.

The goal of this new system is pretty straightforward: to lessen student stress, limit the coaching culture dependency, and bring school education back to the main focus. This method is in line with the essence of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which has always highlighted school- based assessment and conceptual learning.

Will This Model Alleviate Student Burden?

Scheduling the SAT twice in the Class 11 proposal seems like a fair compromise. Besides one more chance to better their scores, students, when their Class 12 board results are combined, could see the admission process gradually becoming more integrated, transparent, and school centric.

In the past, the whole pressure of competitive examinations has been on after Class 12. By distributing this burden over two years, the new system could significantly reduce mental stress among students.

Can the Coaching Culture Really Be Curbed?

India's coaching industry has practically evolved into an education system parallel to the formal one. Kota and Hyderabad, Delhi, and Patna are cities that draw hundreds of thousands of students every year.

Higher stress, financial issues, and the steady stream of news about student suicides have regularly exposed the flaws of this system

Measures in the new framework like cutting down coaching hours, not allowing students under 16 years to attend, and school related exams can reduce the influence of coaching centres. Such a change would be welcomed by society and parents alike.

A Transformative Step for Rural and Marginalised Students

The biggest challenge in Indian education has always been equal opportunity. When coaching is expensive and access to big cities is limited, rural and economically weaker students are naturally left behind.

The new system could significantly narrow this gap. NCERT-based assessments, in-school preparation, and fair percentile-based allocation could make the admission process more inclusive.

Is Uniformity Across State Boards Possible?

This is perhaps the most critical challenge. India's state boards vary greatly in their syllabi, assessment patterns, and difficulty standards. In case the SAT syllabus is based on NCERT, state boards will need to overhaul their curricula to keep the students at the same level.

The change will be possible only if the states are empowered with a major role and given sufficient time to execute the plan.

What Do Experts Say?Many experts are of the opinion that this model can lighten the students' stress load, however, they also regard syllabus alignment as the biggest problem. They see it as a great chance for students from rural areas and tell teachers to start preparing for the change now.

Some educators feel the system could help end rote learning, but they also stress the importance of uniformity across state boards. In their view, this reform could improve mental health, offer financial relief, and enhance teaching quality.However, they also suggest pilot projects first to full, scale implementation.

Educators' optimistic responses notwithstanding, they also show that they are cautious about the challenges of execution.

The Bigger Picture

The main purpose of the new admission system is fundamentally good and it can bring about a number of benefits, such as student stress reduction, school education getting its due, and decreasing reliance on coaching institutes.

However, this change is far more than simply a matter of an examination, it demands a fundamental re-thinking of the way students are taught, how the teachers will be prepared, and the whole administrative machinery of education. The model will only be viable and sustainable if the government opts for the phased implementation, first through pilot projects, and later in partnership with the states.

The choice of 2027 as the deadline is certainly a bold move, however, it could very well be the beginning of a new era for the Indian education system.

When scientists first saw a Platypus in 1799, they named it a hoax. Duck bill on a beaver body with venomous spurs? Absurd. Yet this evolutionary odd ball has survived 110 million years - through asteroid strikes and ice ages that killed giants. Secret? Perfect niche mastery. It preys when it's blind, by just using electroreceptors, swims where predators can't follow and combines reptile-mammal characteristics no one else has. That’s exactly what a small university dominating global rankings is– a Platypus.

Your small university or tier-2/tier-3 college in Lucknow, Coimbatore or Jaipur has similar skepticism. Less funding than IITs. Smaller faculty pools. No global brand. But the Platypus Effect is the proof of small wins through ruthless specialisation.

Global Rankings Don't Reward Size, They Reward These 5 Metrics

QS World University Rankings 2025 (1,500+ institutions): 40% academic reputation 20% citations per faculty 20% faculty-student ratio. Times Higher Education 2025: Teaching quality 29.5%, weight heavily on research impact. NIRF India 2025: Teaching resources (30 points), Research Productivity (30 points), Graduate outcomes (20 points).

So, how do small universities climb the rankings in the world? The truth is that all three measure current output and not historical prestige or what your university has achieved earlier. NIRF 2025 data shocked everyone because 42 Universities crashed India's top 100, mostly from ranks 51-200. A jump in score of 3.99 = 40 rank position gained. Small universities are faster when they work on focusing exactly like a platypus would usually do.

Small Universities Must Become a Platypus

We all know about Phineas and Ferbs, and you are surely aware of how their pet platypus kept being their lucky charm, right? Perry was a detective in the show who was thought to be a quiet animal but did things no one expected. That’s exactly what these creatures did in the real world! 

Have you ever thought how could this species defy the law of nature and survive? Experts believed these creatures couldn’t last longer in this evolving world but Platypus Perry is a dopey looking pet that somehow outsmarts supervillains every day. Tier-2/3 colleges have Perry's agility advantage. You teach 80% of India's graduates in cities building real infrastructure and resources in defense, agriculture, manufacturing, not just Bengaluru’s IT unicorns.

UPES has climbed 250 QS positions owning energy engineering. Graphic Era University specialized in niches of hill states of tech. Madan Mohan Malaviya University (Gorakhpur) leaped NIRF bands by focused research. These aren't flukes, they're Platypus Effect Execution. 

How Can a University Improve its Ranking: 5-Steps to Take

Instead of accepting your fate of being an autonomous or local university and googling things like “how small can a university be,” start acting like a platypus and gradually become Perry the Platyus defying all the perceptions of growth, and achieve global recognition.  It is not an impossible task; you need to take just 5 fundamental steps:

1.  Pick Your Driver (Niche Dominance That Crushes Giants)

Forget about copying IIT curriculums. Search "university niche specialization success" - same story everywhere. Rural university? Own agri-biotech where there is no elite to bother? Industrial city? Rule advanced manufacturing. Tier-2 tech hub? Fintech, drones, cyber security.

UPES proves the math: Target 5 publications per department annually in your niche. Launch 1-2 research centers. Citations are on balloons within 18 months, pulling all the ranking metrics up. Giants spread thin across 50 disciplines. You go deep in 3-5 where you can actually win. This isn't theory, it's how small universities actually beat others in world rankings.

1. Smart Global Moves (International Clout Without Millions)

QS/THE international outlook = 10% of score. You beat lumbering giants here.

How? 

1. Email 10 professors worldwide doing adjacent niche work
2. Propose co-authored papers (they want Indian collaborators too)
3. Host 2-3 funded international PhDs in your research center
4. Your deal closes in 3 months. IITs take 2 years.

Result: International co-authorship metrics skyrocket across all systems

3. Faculty = Your Rocket Fuel (Research Productivity Blueprint)

NIRF data: Phd faculty share jumped 28% (2017) to 48% (2025) in climbing universities. Small unis make rockstars faster than tier 1 inherits them.

Execute:

• Biweekly journal clubs (acquaint students with research talk)
• Conference travel grants ($1K/each moves metrics)
• Writing groups + editing support (most papers die here)
• Publication bonuses (25K/paper works)
• HODs: Start by your top 3 researchers. One department's progress drives the institution.

4. Graduate Outcomes: Your Invisible Weapon

All rankings obsess over placements. Recruiters ask "Can they deliver Day 1?" not "IIT or tier-3?" Your local advantage dominates here. Map district-level hiring needs. Secure 5-10 employer pipelines for live projects and internships. Track alumni 3 years out, publish their success stories aggressively. Tier-2 placement rates hit 60-70% through relationships, boosting NIRF graduation outcomes (20 points) dramatically. 

5. Data Dashboard or Die

Assign two staff to track monthly NIRF score calculators, QS citation trajectories, 3-year alumni employment rates, and international paper pipelines. Calculate your exact NIRF/QS/THE scores today. Set department targets. Conduct quarterly reviews. Cambridge University of Kashmir's 2025 plan proves this math works.

Will Local Universities Get Rankings Even If Gen Z Skips Daily College?

Ranking disregards the number of students in the classroom - they are pursuing what students attain after getting their degrees. The 20 point graduation outcomes section of NIRF addresses median salary, PHD admissions, and employer response 3 years later. The QS employer reputation surveys also place one question to the hiring managers, which is whether they would re-hire their graduates again. Halls of lectures that are empty do not enroll.

Years ago physical attendance as a measure was killed. The Choice-Based Credit System created by NAAC already includes the exposure hours in the industry, online modules, and capstone projects as equals to the classroom time. Your student of mechanical engineering in Coimbatore who spends his mornings at a local plant of TVS and afternoons writing automation systems That is all academic credit according to the 2023 rules.

There is a latent advantage to the tier-3 colleges. Students are local residents who have to commute over short distances and are employed on part-time basis by local employers. The B.Tech final-year student who was working night shifts with the district pharma unit as he studied theory online? NAAC gives those hours of practice 3 times the credits on outcome-based learning.

Reorganize Gen Z reality

Introduction of "Work-Learn Degrees" that will have students attending partner companies 60 percent of the time, and campus 40 percent of the time. Local steel mills, garment factories, automobile parts, they must have good juniors at once. One semester of actual productive line work is equal to three years of textbook knowledge on the scores of employer perception.

District-level hiring maps beat national placement cells.. The graduate of your local civil engineering school doing the bridges on the state PWD has exponentially more NIRF weight on him than an attendee at a daily meeting. VCs: recruit one placement officer that will be familiar with all the owners of the factories within 50km. Publicize alumni wages on a per company basis, rather than percentage basis. Earnings information is more reputable than attendance certificates.

Gen Z skipping routine classes hands you outcome-based ranking dominance. Everyday college was no longer possible because employers began recruiting through GitHub profiles and LinkedIn projects. Construct the system that rewards them on what they actually accomplish. Rankings are after graduate success stories and not roll call sheets. 

What Deans, HODs, VCs of Local Universities Need To Do For Dominating Rankings?

HODs begin with the department meeting at 9 AM. Assign clear paper quotas by discipline - Computer Science gets five Scopus papers this year, Biotech wants to have four Q1 journals. Schedule weekly biweekly research huddles in which faculty share paper drafts and receive immediate feedback. Before lunch: One targeted email to a professor overseas who is working on related research. One department doing so generates institutional momentum. NIRF research scores jump 15-20 points if faculty are serious about it.

Deans declare money for research seed funding Monday afternoon. Launch dashboards for citations, international work and alumni placements by department. Faculty growth trumps new buildings for QS, THE and NIRF rankings. Recruiters hire graduates that deliver rather than campus architecture.

VCs dedicate 5% of the operating budget to research operations immediately. Personal one international partnership calls your position an opening door. Celebrate first publications through public assemblies and press releases. Visible ranking improvements come in 24 months through execution, not aspiration. NIRF 2025 showed 42 universities got into the top 100 through focused action.

Rankings are for doers, not dreamers. HODs create momentum. Deans are engine builders of research. VCs deliver results. Small universities move upward by acting Monday morning.

How to Apply for World Rankings (As Small/Local University) (Do This NOW)

Stop waiting for "prestige." Rankings reward action. Download QS Stars rating system (perfect for small universities) - they rate niche excellence even if you're unranked. Submit THE Impact Rankings (1,500+ small universities qualify)—your agri-tech center scores high. NIRF registration opens up in March - upload teaching metrics, research output, even starting from zero. ARWU (Shanghai Rankings) accepts research-focused submissions using publication records only.

Week 1 action: Assign two staff to calculate some existing NIRF/QS scores using the public methodology documents. 

Week 2: Sign up for QS Stars + THE Impact. 

Week 3: Launch niche research center 5 paper target 

Small universities witness between 20 - 40 jumps in positions Year 2 when they treat rankings as operations not dreams. And universities searching "how small universities apply QS rankings," same steps are to be followed everywhere.

Your River Is Waiting, Dive-in Or Let Others Rule It

Gladwell proved that underdogs win 64% with adapted strategy. NIRF 2025's fastest climbers? Tier-2/3 universities. Nazarbayev University gained World Recognition from the same focus. 2025 saw small universities jump when they were focused. 2026 is execution time.

The Platypus Effect isn't theory. It's biology. It's rankings math. It's UPES jumping 250 QS positions. It's 42 NIRF universities are in the top 100.

Leaders googling “how small universities dominate global rankings” are seeking for hope and you are now holding the playbook. So, stop apologizing for being small or local. Rule your river. Execute without mercy. Rankings will follow! 

Rankings ke piche mt bhago, kabil bano aur rankings apke piche bhagengi! (Rancho, 3 idiots)

Walk into any Indian university today and you can sense two strong currents in the air. One is excitement. Artificial intelligence, automation and new digital tools are expanding what students can build, design and publish—often in weeks, not years. The other is anxiety. Job markets are uncertain, business cycles are unpredictable, and many roles are being redesigned faster than degrees can update themselves.

In that tension sits the most urgent question for higher education: what is a university preparing a student for, really? If the answer is only “a job,” the institution is already behind the curve. But if the answer is “a life of value creation under uncertainty,” then the university’s core mandate changes. It must teach people how to innovate—not occasionally, not as a hobby, and not only in engineering and management, but across disciplines and across the entire functioning of

the university.

That is why the idea of an “innovation university” matters. It is not a new centre with a new logo. It is a campus-wide operating system—leadership, culture, incentives, assessment, resources and partnerships—designed to make new ideas routine and execution normal.

From “Entrepreneurial University” to “Engaged University”: An Indian Upgrade

Globally, innovation in universities is often framed through the lens of commercialization: patents, licensing and high-tech spin-offs. That “entrepreneurial university” model has value, but in much of India the deeper opportunity lies elsewhere. The more relevant shift is toward an “engaged university”—one that still participates in economic growth, but stays rooted in regional problem-solving, sustainability and community partnership.

This is not a philosophical preference; it is a pragmatic reading of India’s innovation terrain. Many of the country’s most urgent innovation needs are not only breakthroughs in labs, but solutions that work at scale in real conditions—affordable healthcare delivery, climate resilience, learning outcomes, safety, skilling, MSME productivity, and governance services that reach the last mile.

In such contexts, universities can act as protected “shelters” where students, faculty, communities and NGOs co-create frugal and inclusive innovations—solutions designed to be affordable, adaptable and accessible.

When a university internalises this mission, it stops behaving like a “people factory” and starts behaving like an anchor institution: a reliable idea generator with the ability to change outcomes beyond the campus walls.

Innovation Is Not an Event. It Is a System.

Many campuses already host hackathons, startup weekends and innovation festivals. They create noise, photographs and short-term energy. But without a system, the energy dissipates after the event. The document you shared makes the central point clearly: innovation succeeds when universities build mutually reinforcing enablers, not isolated activities.

That is the logic behind the 10Square Model, which frames innovation culture as ten interacting levers that together turn a campus into a “cradle of new ventures.” The lesson is not to chase ten separate projects, but to design a connected ecosystem where one reform amplifies the next.

The Model for Future Universities

The model explicitly warns against checklist thinking: the power lies in systemic interaction. Consider one practical example from the same framework. Leadership may publicly encourage risk-taking, but that message remains rhetorical if assessment continues to reward only memory and compliance. The moment a university changes evaluation to give credit for prototypes, pitches and documented learning from failure, the culture becomes real.

In innovation, what gets measured gets done. Leadership: The First Campus Innovation Tool Innovation dies first in fear—fear of being judged, fear of failing, fear of “wasting time” on something that will not be graded. Your document makes a direct link between positive, participative leadership and the psychological safety that allows students and faculty to pursue bold ideas.

This is where many Indian institutions can act immediately without waiting for new buildings or large budgets. Leadership can normalise experimentation by making it visible and safe—by celebrating attempts, rewarding learning, and treating failure as data rather than disgrace.

Universities that do this are not lowering standards; they are changing the standard from “perfect answers” to “credible problem-solving.” 

Admissions and Branding: Recruit Innovators, Not Only Toppers

Most universities market programmes. Innovation universities market problems worth solving. That is a subtle but decisive shift in admissions and public communication. Instead of presenting only infrastructure and placements, campuses can showcase real challenges sourced from local industry, civic bodies, hospitals, schools and NGOs—then show how student teams worked on them.

This approach also changes admissions logic. An innovation-oriented admissions track can recognise portfolios, projects, hackathon participation, creative work and community problem-solving evidence—not as “extra-curricular,” but as valid indicators of future value creation.

Scholarships become a strategic tool in this ecosystem. The document highlights a reality that Indian families understand deeply: the biggest barrier to pursuing entrepreneurship is often financial risk. Targeted entrepreneurship scholarships create a “runway” that de-risks early venture work, while also providing “smart capital” through networks, mentorship and credibility.

Curriculum: Make Innovation a Graduate Attribute, Not an Elective

Most institutions treat innovation as a course students may opt into if they have spare time. The innovation university treats it as a graduate attribute—something every student should practise, regardless of discipline.

The practical implication is straightforward. Every programme can be designed with a staged innovation pathway: early grounding in innovation methods, then discipline-based studios, then live problem labs, and finally a capstone project that produces something tangible—a prototype, a policy design, a service redesign, a validated venture idea, or an impact solution with measurable outcomes.

Interdisciplinary design is non-negotiable. Breakthrough ideas often emerge at intersections, and structured cross-major challenges create stronger ventures and more adaptable innovators. India already has institutional references for how this can scale. University-linked incubators such as IIT Bombay’s Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE) demonstrate what happens when research, mentoring and venture support sit close to the student

journey.

The point for other universities is not to copy an IIT model wholesale, but to replicate the principle: make pathways visible, support consistent, and outcomes count.

Pedagogy: Shift from “Coverage” to “Creation”

Innovation cannot be taught only through lectures. It is learned through building—by stepping into messy problems, listening to users, testing ideas, and iterating quickly. Your document uses a powerful phrase for this: “organic learning.” It describes a shift away from lecture-hall transmission toward experiential discovery, where students engage directly with complex, unstructured real-world problems and learn the foundational entrepreneurial act of identifying and understanding a problem worth solving.

This is particularly relevant for Indian campuses because it aligns naturally with the country’s real needs. A municipal ward, a district hospital, a government school cluster, an MSME association, a farmer collective, a tourism cluster, a women’s self-help group—each can

become a learning partner.

In such settings, students learn to operate under constraints, build frugal prototypes, and measure what actually changes. The broader claim in the document is that such learning environments stimulate autonomy, intrinsic motivation and diverse perspectives, which are key conditions for creativity. In other words, the pedagogy is not “practical training” in a narrow sense; it is a direct route to innovation capacity.

Evaluation: If You Grade Only Exams, You Will Get Only Exams

Assessment is where the university’s true priorities become visible. If exams dominate, innovation becomes extracurricular—even if the institution runs events and builds centres. Your document’s “Multi Assessment” approach argues for assessment methods that can capture dynamic skills like creativity, risk-taking and practical problem-solving, which traditional exams and essays measure poorly.

It recommends authentic assessment through realistic tasks such as investor pitches, marketing plans, working prototypes, portfolios, public demonstrations, and structured peer and self-assessment. The deeper point is cultural: when venture creation itself earns academic

credit, students understand that innovation is not a side hustle. It is legitimate academic work.

For Indian universities, this is one of the most direct levers to pull because it does not require permission from the future. It requires courage in the present: to redesign rubrics and to trust documented learning and real outcomes.

The Innovation Policy Tailwind Is Already Here

Indian higher education does not have to invent a policy justification for this shift. The National Innovation and Startup Policy 2019 is explicit about the gap: “innovation is still not the epicenter of education,” and HEIs must enable a cultural and attitudinal shift so that innovation and startup culture becomes a primary fulcrum of higher education.

Similarly, the Ministry of Education’s Institution’s Innovation Councils (IIC) framework spells out what many campuses need operationally: conduct innovation and entrepreneurship activities, identify and reward innovations, organise interactions with entrepreneurs and investors, and create mentor pools for student innovators.

In other words, universities that move now are not acting “outside the system.” They are acting in alignment with the direction the system is already encouraging.

Technology and the Digital Campus: The “Central Nervous System” of Innovation

The innovation university is not only about new courses. It is also about the infrastructure of collaboration. Your document describes technology integration as the “central nervous system” of a scalable ecosystem—enabling virtual incubators, collaboration tools and modern venture development. This matters because innovation is team sport. Students need shared workspaces, version control for ideas, rapid feedback loops, access to digital resources, and platforms that connect them to mentors and industry. When digital systems are absent or fragmented, innovation becomes slow and elite. When they are available, innovation becomes routine and inclusive.

Campus Operations as a Living Lab: Innovation That Starts at Home

A university that wants an innovation culture cannot run its own operations like a bureaucracy. The campus itself can become a living lab—especially through sustainability and service redesign.

The document points to green infrastructure as a pathway to turn campuses into living laboratories—renewables, circular waste systems, biodiversity and measurable resource efficiency—while inspiring eco-preneurship. It also suggests “innovation operations projects” where student teams improve energy, water, waste, transport, queue systems, library usage, alumni engagement and grievance redressal, with improvements measured and iterated.

This is a powerful cultural signal. When students see their university practising innovation in its own daily functioning, they stop treating innovation as theatre and start treating it as normal work.

Linking Learners to Economy and Society: The Innovation Corridor

The engaged university’s ambition is to connect learning with the economy and society in sustained ways. The document describes this as building an “innovation corridor” through problem-solving internships, MSME clinics run by faculty-student teams, co-created projects with NGOs and government departments, and pipelines that connect prototypes to incubators, investors and markets.

India’s strongest campus ecosystems show what happens when this corridor becomes an institutional habit. IIT Madras, for instance, announced in December 2025 that its incubation cell had incubated 511 startups, crossing the 500 milestone with a combined valuation of over ₹53,000 crore and more than 11,000 direct jobs, illustrating the economic impact of sustained support structures. At IIT Bombay, SINE launched an incubator-linked deep-tech VC fund in December 2025, explicitly designed to provide early-stage risk capital to deep-tech startups emerging from academic and research institutions.

These examples are not meant to intimidate non-IIT campuses. They are meant to clarify the mechanism: consistent mentoring, structured pathways, supportive policy, and credible financing options turn student ambition into durable outcomes.

A Final Word: The Campus Must Change Before the World Forces It To

The heart of the argument in your document is simple and hard to ignore: innovation is not a festival. It is a habit. And habits are built through what a campus rewards daily—what it teaches, how it evaluates, how it mentors, how it funds risk, and how it connects students to real problems in society.

India’s universities can either remain reactive, updating courses after industries have already moved on, or they can become the country’s most reliable “future factory,” where every learner learns to build, test, rethink and deliver value. The institutions that make this shift will not only improve placements. They will produce citizens and professionals who can design solutions under uncertainty, create enterprises and services, strengthen communities, and make the economy more resilient. In a time when change is constant and certainty is rare, that may be the

most practical definition of education itself.

The author is the Chief Mentor of Edinbox and works as a Director with the Techno India group of Kolkata, along with being the Principal Adviser of the Kolkata based university of the group.