Panjab university; a review from a botanist

A progressive culture is lacking which is often hidden behind the mask of politics of money muscle and power, what students would roam around in Mercedes and BMWs in the university. What sort of academic brilliance would they bring.

Course structure is demanding and hectic, it gets worse because of poor higher education research from the University itself, the course is a 5 year integrated Bsc-Msc (Hons. School). Lab work is focused upon a lot, a lot of time is also wasted on the lab work which can be done earlier. The exam pattern consist of semester wise exam of 80 marks and between a semester mid semester exams are also held.

Because its a research based degree the focus is much more on academic study and lab work. The university itself or the department itself doesn't provide any internship whatsoever, you have to apply it yourself at various institutions to gain experience in lab work and publishing few reviews or research papers.

Events range from culture poetic evenings to full fledgled stand up comedy festivals where students perform their own material. 5 annual functions are there which consist of various sort of activities ranging from flash mob to photography competition.

Because it is a government funded university, the fee structure is quite minimal and anyone can afford university if they get in. A five year course in sciences costs at most 50,000 which is what soem students are forced to pay for one semester in many private institutions.

I know post matric scholarship awarded by the university to neeedy students belonging to scheduled castes and BPL (below poverty line) families. Some other government funded scholarships are also released about which departments need to be consulted.

Panjab university has one of the best sport facilities and is often rewarded for it, we have huge ground for football and one for cricket, we also have a track of 1600 meters and various basketball courts and badminton courts. The swimming pool is good activity in the summers.

Seniors are helpful, especially the ones pursuing their research work or PhD. They give guidance related to getting at better institutes and the importance of struggle of research and its broad scopes and varieties.

The procedure was tedious, I had to take an exam called PU-CET (UG) and I took the option of taking biology, physics and chemistry. Out of that test percentile based score was declared and later for the cumulative department wise merit list, score of the PU-CET as well as of 12th were considered.

Some of the faculty members are top notch scientists, and the best of their fields. However due to internal politics a substantial number of below par professors are also there who demotivate students and take the interest away.