Bangladesh Agricultural University

Bangladesh Agricultural University

বাকৃবি
Motto	Knowledge, Efficiency, Moral Character
Type	Public university
Established	18 August 1961
Endowment	Tk. 1.394 billion for 2013–14
Chancellor	President Abdul Hamid
Vice-Chancellor	Ali Akbar
Administrative staff	About 2,700
Students	~5400
Undergraduates	~4300
Postgraduates	~1150
Doctoral students	~50
Location	Mymensingh, Bangladesh
Campus	Rural, 1261 acre active area
Colours	Blue and gold
Nickname	BAU
Website	bau.edu.bd

Bangladesh Agricultural University (Bengali: বাংলাদেশ কৃষি বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় Bangladesh Krishi Bishshobiddalôe) or BAU was established as the only university of its kind in Bangladesh in 1961. The scheme for BAU was finalised on 8 June 1961 and its ordinance was promulgated on 18 August 1961.^[1] It started functioning with the College of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science at Mymensingh as its nucleus. The university has six faculties and 43 departments covering all aspects of agricultural education and research.

BAU was the second highest budgeted public university in Bangladesh for the year 2013–2014. It is ranked number one university of Bangladesh according to the webomrtrix university ranking 2017.^[2][3] BAU's research in agriculture has made it well recognised across Asia. It also have a very low teacher-student ratio.

Location

The campus, with an area of 4.85 square kilometres (1.87 sq mi), is in scenic rural surroundings on the western bank of the old Brahmaputra River, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south of the district town of Mymensingh and 120 kilometres (75 mi) north of Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. The campus is made up of academic, administrative and residential buildings and experimental farms, gardens and other related facilities.

Two national research institutes, Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA)^[4] and Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI)^[5] are housed in this campus.

War of liberation

During the days of the war of liberation in 1971, the teachers, students, officers and employees of the university responded to the call of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to join the war of liberation. The vice-chancellor Q.M.F. Rahim declared: "From now on this university will be named as 'Swadhin Bangladesh Krishi Bishwabidyalaya' [Independent Bangladesh Agricultural University]." Teachers, students, officers and employees of BAU joined the war, and the university lost 18 members – one teacher, eleven students and six employees.

Three halls of student residence have been named after fighters who lost their lives in the war of liberation: Shahid Shamsul Huq Hall, Shahid Nazmul Ahsan Hall and Shahid Jamal Hossain Hall.

Administration

Partial list of the vice-chancellors of the university:

• (1st) M Osman Ghani (2 September 1961 – 1963)^[6]
• S.D. Chaudhuri (1963 – 1973)^[7]
• Quazi Mohammad Fazlur Rahim (January 1971 – July 1971 and January 1972 – November 1973)^[8]
• Mosleh Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury (24 November 1973 – October 1980)^[9]
• AKM Aminul Haque (1980 – 1988)^[10]
• Kamaluddin Ahmad^[11]
• Mohammad Hossain (14 November 1996 – 5 February 2000)
• (18th) M Musharraf Hossain Mian (2006 – )^[12]
• Md. Akhtar Hossain ( – October 2008)^[13]
• MA Sattar Mandal (15 November 2008 –)^[14][15]
• (22nd) Rafiqul Haque (11 August 2011 – 8 April 2015)^[16][17][18]
• (23rd) Ali Akbar (24 May 2015 – present)^[19]

Faculty and departments

Institutes

Graduate Training Institute (GTI)

The Graduate Training Institute is the first institute of BAU, established in 1976 with the financial assistance of FAO/UNDP to train officers working in agriculture and rural development sector in the country. The GTI performs the third function of the university: extension and community service. The motive behind establishing GTI in BAU campus was to make links between teaching, research and extension. Through GTI, the BAU teachers get an opportunity to interact with field-level officers working throughout the country. More than 500 teachers working in BAU are the trainers of GTI.

The institute has a 74-bed dormitory, suitable for running two residential training courses simultaneously. It offers non-residential training to postgraduate students, officers, employees and teachers of BAU. GTI has two modern PC labs for organizing IT-related training courses.

• The institute runs about 50–60 short non-residential training courses for teachers, students and other employees of BAUper year.
• GTI also organizes tailor-made training courses for Govt and Non-Govt organizations as per demand of these organizations.
• The institute organized 15 international training courses in the field of agriculture.
• GTI was awarded the President Gold Medal in 1981.

Foundation Training for University Teachers

In 2007 the institute introduced "Foundation Training for Public University Teachers" with the financial support from University Grants Commission of Bangladesh. Till December 2017, 19 courses on Foundation Training for University Teachers have been completed; 443 young teachers from 30 public universities have attended in these courses. The course included modules like (1) Teaching Methods & Techniques, Learning Assessment, Curriculum & Syllabus, (2) Research Methods & Project Management, (3) Scientific Report Writing, (4) Statistical Methods for Research & Data Analysis, (5) Administration and Office Management, (6) Global and Local Development issues, (7) IT skills, and co-curricular activities.

Foundation Training for University Officers

GTI organizes Foundation Training course for newly recruited officers of public universities in Bangladesh. The institute conducted 11 such courses, each with 25-30 participants since 2010.

Library

BAU central library has a collection of over 192,978 volumes and 2,000 periodicals. The number of journals is 151. The library has copies of MS and PhD theses. Besides the central library, the Faculty of Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology has its own library which contains reference books and journals in the field of Agricultural Economics.

Admissions

Training

• BAU runs a course on Information and Communication Technology at the postgraduate level. The Ministry of Science and Information & Communication Technology of Bangladesh sponsors the programme. A one-year course with a total 36 credits has to be completed to obtain a certificate of postgraduate diploma in Information and Communication Technology (PGD-in-ICT). Any graduate having no third class/division at any academic level can apply to this course.
• A course, "Foundation Training for University Teachers," is operated by BAU to train newly recruited teachers (lecturers and assistant professors) of public universities of the country. The course spans eight weeks of intensive training and is approved by the UGC (University Grants Commission). In its fifth batch, 19 teachers from Dhaka University, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Islamic University, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Sylhet Agricultural University, Noakhali Science & Technology University, and Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University have attended the program.
• GTI started "Foundation Training for University Officers." The first course spanned one month, starting in 2009. Twenty-six participants came from 10 public universities of Bangladesh. University Grants Commission sponsors the course.
• Bangladesh Agricultural University Extension Centre (BAUEC) operates agricultural extension and village development activities in 22 villages of Mymensingh Sadar through 45 cooperatives. Vegetable cultivation schemes are running in 40 primary schools, high schools, madrasas and orphanages under Mymensingh Sadar, Trishal, Gouripur and Phulpur upazilla. Over 8,000 farmers have attended the programs of BAUEC.

Research

BAU conducts two main streams of research — degree research and project research — the former being supervised by the teachers for postgraduate students at M.S. and PhD levels while the problem-solving research projects are conducted with sponsorship accorded either by the university or external funding agencies. The Committee for Advanced Studies and Research (C.A.S.R.) is responsible for co-ordinating both streams.

For co-ordination and management of research projects, BAU Research System (BAURES) was established in 1984. Since its establishment, BAURES has completed 322 research projects and has 112 ongoing projects. The ongoing research projects are funded by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Department for International Development (DfID) of UK, Norwegian Agency for International Development (NORAD), International Foundation for Science (IFS), etc.

Publications

The Journal of the Bangladesh Agricultural University (ISSN 1810-3030) is published in June and December on behalf of the Bangladesh Agricultural University Research System (BAURES). Original research papers, review articles and short communications are published.

Infrastructure

• 2 administrative buildings
• 6 faculty complexes
• 13 halls for students
• three-storied central library
• modern auditorium (Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin Auditorium, 2,000 seats)
• conference hall
• central laboratory
• Research field
• gymnasium
• stadium
• sports complex
• healthcare centre (free care service for students, university staff and their families)
• project complex
• 657 units of residential facilities for teachers, officers and employees
• TSC
• Botanical garden
• Fish museum & Biodiversity centre
• Agriculture museum
• GTI complex
• Computer lab & wifi zone
• Horticulture farm
• Agriculture university school &college
• Farmer auditorium
• Community centre
• Guest house
• Central mosque
• Bank & ATM booth
• KR market

Halls of residence (student dormitories)

Transportation

The university is three hours by bus from Dhaka, the capital. Inter-city trains take around four hours. The bus terminal and the train station are 2 and 3 kilometres (1.2 and 1.9 mi), respectively, from BAU campus.

The university has its own buses which operate in the morning and evening for the students who live off campus. The buses cover the major roads and areas, especially the town hall, Zilla School corner, Notun Bazar, rail station, Patgodam, Shombhugunj bridge, and Keotkhali. Sometimes, they cover Jubli Ghat and Kali Bari road.

Bilateral collaborations

USAID, through a contract with the Texas A&M University, provides to the university support in the form of advisory services, fellowships and equipment. Development support was made available through two IDA credit agreements signed between the government and the World Bank in 1964 and 1966. Over the years the university has received research support from international sources including USAID, International Development Association, International Development Research Centre, UNICEF, Ford Foundation, International Labour Organization, DANIDA, Canadian International Development Agency, and IAEA.

The university receives funding support from DFID, FAO, IRRI, CIRDAP,^[20] IMI,^[21] European Union, United States Department of Agriculture, Global Environment Facility and the Ghent University through bi- and multilateral research projects.

The university signed five memoranda of understanding (MOU) with the Texas A&M University, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey,^[22] Florida A&M, Brooklyn College and Research Foundation of the City University of New York, and Ghent University of Belgium.

The university has linkage programs with national organisations like Rural Development Academy (RDA), Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre (BPATC), and NARS organisations in the fields of research, training and extension.

Gallery

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  Bangladesh Agricultural University
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  A mosque in the BAU residential area
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  Monument depicting the list of the martyrs of the Liberation War of Bangladesh
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  Faculty building
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  Agricultural university college
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  Courtyard of College of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science

References

• BAU latest news
• List of publications on the official BAU website
• BAU Admission test information

See also

• Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University(HSTU)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bangladesh Agricultural University.

• Official BAU website
• Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture
• Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute
• University Grants Commission of Bangladesh
• Hussain, Muhammed (2012). "Bangladesh Agricultural University". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.

Coordinates: 24°43′19″N 90°25′36″E / 24.7220°N 90.4267°E / 24.7220; 90.4267