University of North Bengal (abbreviated as NBU) is a public state collegiate major research university in North Bengal region of West Bengal, which is located in Raja Rammohanpur, Siliguri, Darjeeling district, in the Indian state of West Bengal. A second campus is in Danguajhar, Jalpaiguri in Jalpaiguri district and a third campus is in Salt Lake, Kolkata also in West Bengal. The university was established in 1962 to fill growing manpower needs in the six North Bengal districts and the neighbouring state of Sikkim. North Bengal University offers degrees in undergraduate, post-graduate taught-research, doctorate and post doctoral programs.
History
The University of North Bengal was established by Act of the Legislature of West Bengal in 1962. It was the first university in the region. It served predominantly rural areas in six districts: Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Maldah, Uttar Dinajpur and Dakshin Dinajpur.
The university has an annual enrollment of more than 36,000 undergraduate and more than 1,500 postgraduate students and scholars. Students come from North Bengal mainly from hills and plain areas.
North Bengal University also provide distance education in MA English, Philosophy, Bangla etc.
The Vice-chancellor of the University of North Bengal is the chief executive officer of the university. In 2018 Subiresh Bhattacharya was appointed as Vice-chancellor of the university. In September 2022, followed Bhattacharya arrest, Om Prakash Mishra was appointed interim VC. At present since from July 2023 Prof. Dr. Rathin Bandyopadhyay is serving as position of Vice chancellor of this institution.
List of All Vice-Chancellors
B. N. Dasgupta, 1 June 1962 – 31 May 1966
A. C. Roy, 1 June 1966 – 31 May 1970
P. C. Mukherjee, 1 June 1970-7 Nov 1974
Amlan Dutta, 8 Nov 1974-20 Nov 1977
Prasad Kr. Ghosh, 21 Nov 1977-18 April 1982
S. N. Sen (Acting), 19 April 1982-9 Sept 1982
H. Bhowmik (Acting), 10 Sept 1982-14 Sept 1982
D. B. Dutta, 15 Sept 1982-31 Aug 1988
K. N Chatterjee, 1 Sept 1988-31 Dec 1995
R. G. Mukherjee, 1 Jan 1996-31 Dec 1999
Pijush Kanti Saha, 1 Jan 2000-31 Dec 2007
A. Basumajumdar, 1 Jan 2009-31 Mar 2012
Samir Kumar Das, 1 April 2012-10 Feb 2014
Somnath Ghosh, 11 Feb 2014-10 Feb 2018
Subires Bhattacharyya, 22 Feb 2018-28 Sept 2022
Om Prakash Mishra (Interim), 28 Sept 2022-21 May 2023
Sanchari Roy Mukherjee (Acting), 22 May 2023 – 16 July 2023
Rathin Bandyopadhyay(Interim), 17 July 2023-4 Oct 2023
C M Ravindran(Interim), 5 Oct 2023-Incumbent
Faculties and Departments
University of North Bengal has 30 departments organized into two faculty councils.
The university offers affiliation to research and academic centres on and off-campus.
Centre For Studies
University Science & Instrumentation Centre
Computer Centre
Centre for Development Studies
Centre for High Energy & Cosmic Ray
Centre for Remote Sensing Application
Centre for Tea Management
Centre for Mass Communication
Centre for Himalayan Studies
Centre for Women's Studies
Center for Social Research
Centre for Studies in Local Language and Culture
Centre for Tourism and Hotel Management
Centre for Marketing Management
Centre for Ambedkar Studies
Centre for Innovative Studies
North Bengal University Research Centre on Diplomacy and War
Affiliations
The university has several affiliated colleges spread over four districts Alipurduar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, and one sub-division Islampur of North Dinajpur district of North Bengal.
The University of North Bengal offers three or Four years (B.A./B.Sc./B.Com.) undergraduate degrees and five years B.A. LLB degree on its Law School. It also offers two-year M.A., M.Com., M.B.A., M.Sc., M.C.A., M.Pharm, two-years MPhil and PhD degrees.
The Akshaya Kumar Maitreya Heritage Museum incorporating the Raja Rajaram Museum Collection was established in the University of North Bengal in February 1965. The museum is now a repository for sculpture, coins, paintings, and manuscripts, among other things, related to the history of North Bengal. It is also a regional museum and is one of the few university museums in India. It collects, preserves and studies archaeological relics discovered regionally.