
The expectations of stakeholders at large are diverse and demanding. The PES University strives to offer the best learning experience to the students through an updated & flexible curriculum supported by advanced laboratory infrastructure & learning resources, and multiple modes of learning opportunities delivered through committed & experienced faculty. Higher education is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary, experiential and highly competitive.
To turn out competent graduates with deep domain knowledge, technical and life-skills through enrichment of curriculum with emerging paradigms and enhancement of teaching-learning process Attainment of graduate attributes and inculcation of professionalism are essential requirements of Higher Education. Critical and creative thinking, problem solving, team-working, effective communication and empathy are necessary life-skills for success. To stay competent and relevant, attitude for lifelong learning and aptitude for knowledge upgradation and upskilling are required. PES University believes in providing an optimum mix of these factors through contemporary curriculum and effective pedagogy.
The performance of students in academics, technical contests, competitive examinations, progression to higher studies, and placements has been improving. This has made improvement in the academic reputation of PES University that is reflected in the higher cut-off marks for admissions to various programmes. The laudable performance of our students during their internships in premier institutions/ industry has resulted in many of them securing admissions to graduate programmes with financial support in top tier foreign institutions/ Universities. The student progression to higher studies/ placement has been steadily increasing with an increase in the median salary. In addition, PES University has been consistently ranked among the top 100 institutions in the country by NIRF.
Curricular reforms: The curriculum of all programmes is periodically audited for its relevance, and updated considering the perspectives of various stakeholders. The main focus of the curriculum revamp has been student-centric to provide flexibility and experiential learning. The introduction of experiential learning components improved the student competency. To earn the required credits through multiple avenues such as mini project credits, Semester Abroad Programme, MOOCs, etc., facilitates the students to undergo a variety of learning experiences. Domain based electives are offered to facilitate specialization in specific streams, which help students choose different career options. Experiential learning is promoted through incorporation of design, mini and capstone projects in the curriculum with higher weightage. The students of PES University have an opportunity to visit industry or research institutes where they can interact, learn and expose themselves to the industry requirement as a part of the curriculum. In PES University, an experiential learning and hackathon is a part of curriculum and all students are exposed to various problems and problem solving methods used.
Infrastructure: PES University continuously augments the learning infrastructure both in classrooms and laboratories to complement the enriched curriculum and effective delivery. PES University established many centers with high end facilities to conduct research. Cybersecurity Laboratory, Data Analytics Laboratory, VLSI Design Laboratory, Instrumentation Facility, Electric Vehicle Engineering, Aerospace Engineering Laboratory, etc., are some examples of specialized state-of-the-art facilities used by students. All classrooms and labs are ICT-enabled to provide unlimited digital connection for learning.
Pedagogical interventions: Participative learning is promoted through various interventions such as activity-based learning and group discussions. Blended classroom pedagogy has been successfully adopted for self-learning and intellectual interactions. Disruptive learning methods are also practiced in the debates, trial-moots, etc. Effective use of recording studios for e-content creation empowers faculty to offer online courses. Challenging assignments are designed by faculty for project-based learning and assessment in many courses. This fosters problem solving, team working, peer learning and time management skills in the students.
The following are some of the highlights of our success in the last five years:
On-campus placements has seen a steady increase in the number of offers, recruiters and pay packages:
Number of recruiters: 617
Maximum pay package: Rs 150 lakh per annum
Problems Encountered and Resources Required
The following challenges emerged during the implementation of the strategies for curricular reforms and teaching-learning initiatives.
Innovative methodology conceived by PES University for multidisciplinary research involving students and faculty addressing global challenges.
Generation of new knowledge is an essential outcome of a Higher Education Institution. PES University believes that ‘Quality Education’ and ‘Research & Development’ are mutually non-exclusive. Scientific inquiry and systematic exploration by students and faculty are essential traits for developing solutions to complex problems. Conducive research ambience with enthusiastic researchers, seed grants, state-of-the-art research infrastructure, access to premium online resources, and opportunities for collaboration is a prerequisite for research excellence. Intellectual exchanges with industry and academic peers across the globe empower researchers to take up challenging research questions.
CORI will be responsible for the all-round development from the initial stages until the prototyping of the product. It will undertake activities like brainstorming of ideas, conceptualization, research and product prototyping.
In the twenty-first century, the world is witnessing unexpected challenges that require concerted research efforts involving transdisciplinary approaches to offer solutions. Indian Higher Education Institutions face a fierce competition both from within the country and abroad for attracting meritorious students and talented faculty. Publications and partnering with International research teams to address some of the global challenges provides higher visibility, which in turn helps in improving global rankings and recognitions. The new generation students aspire to become knowledge-creators by becoming active participants in research projects even during their under-graduate studies. CORI helps in creating a research environment for faculty to carry out research and students to gain practical experience thereby supporting industry for technology development in the country.
Creation of research facilities: PES University has been continuously investing in creating and upgrading research infrastructure spanning across different domains. Crucible of Research and Innovation (CORI) was established in 2010 to carry out multidisciplinary research. The engineers at this unique entity hail from some of the most prestigious government organizations in the area of space technology and defense among others. Industry experts and scientists from around the world strengthen CORI’s range of expertise and skills. The goal is to help students evolve their expertise with a multi-disciplinary approach to meet the challenges faced by the industry in innovative ways. KAnOE – the Centre for Knowledge Analytics and Ontological Engineering – is a research center funded primarily by the World Bank through the Government of India – Ministry of Human Resources Development. With a focus on the unique area of combining analytics with ontological engineering, KAnOE aims to make a defining contribution to the field of knowledge management through knowledge analytics and ontological engineering.
PES University has fully funded and created the Centre for Information Security, Digital Forensics and Cyber Resilience (C-ISFCR), Center for Data Science and Applied Machine Learning(CDSAML), Center for Healthcare Research, etc, to support research activity.
Seed grants: Seed grants and manpower support are provided to researchers to initiate research in new areas.
Research lab internships: Students are encouraged to undertake internships in research laboratories, both on campus and outside campus, enabling them to acquire higher order thinking skills during their research pursuits. In addition, courses on research methodology and IPR are offered to students.
Conferences & Workshops: International and National Conferences/ workshops are organized enabling faculty and students to exchange their ideas and network with research experts from reputed academic institutions and corporates. Research Seminars of Ph.D. scholars serve as motivators for undergraduate and postgraduate students.
CORI, with its team of unprecedented scientists and researchers from many areas, generates ideas for research and works towards development of prototypes. The ideas will be funded by external parties/organizations. The research results will be used to fetch publications and patents.
Problems Encountered and Resources Required
The following challenges emerged during the implementation of the strategies for promotion of research.