New Delhi : Upcoming Plaksha University (https://plaksha.org/), driven by one of India’s largest collective philanthropic efforts, has received the ‘Letter of Intent’ from the Punjab Government under the Punjab Private Universities Policy 2010. The University will welcome its inaugural undergraduate batch in August 2021 in its 50-acre state-of-the-art independent campus in Mohali. As a testimony to its promise and potential impact, world-class international institutions such as UC Berkeley, Purdue University and SRI International (erstwhile Stanford Research Institute) have partnered with Plaksha even before its launch.
The idea behind the University first germinated in mid-2015 with global technology and business leaders getting together to reimagine higher education and research in technology for India and the world. It aims to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem that connects technology education with major ‘grand challenges’ of current times to create a new generation of catalytic leaders. The University collapses the traditional boundaries of engineering promotes interdisciplinary learning by introducing concepts of design and entrepreneurship in the curriculum as well as combining science and liberal arts subjects in the classroom. It further intends to incubate over 1,000 start-ups to strengthen India’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Backed by 80 technology and business leaders, Plaksha University is set to pioneer the transformation of technology education in India, with its own Academic Advisory Board of global academic leaders. The university also aims to start research centres around some big challenges that are relevant to India including urban mobility, sustainability, factories of the future, health and education. The vision is to build a Next Generation University at the intersection of technology, design and entrepreneurship to transform the world in the 21st Century.
Some of the luminaries backing the initiative include CP Gurnani, MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra; Gagan Hasteer, VP, Content Engineering, Netflix; Hitesh Oberoi, Co-promoter, MD & CEO, Info Edge (Naukri.com); Mohit Thukral, Founder and Managing Partner, Vivtera; Neeraj Aggarwal, Chairman – Asia Pacific, BCG; Pankaj Chaddah, Co-founder, Zomato; Pramod Bhasin, Chairman, Clix Capital; Sujeet Kumar, Co-founder, Udaan.com; Vineet Gupta, MD, Jamboree Education and Founder & Trustee, Ashoka University; Vineet Nayyar, Former Executive Vice Chairman, Tech Mahindra; Ashish Gupta, Founder, Benori Knowledge Solutions and Founder & Trustee, Ashoka University; Manas Fuloria, Co-founder and CEO, Nagarro ;Navin Chaddha, Managing Director, Mayfield Fund; Ursheet Parikh, Partner, Mayfield Fund, and Surendra Jain, Managing Director at WestBridge Capital India Advisors Private Limited, among others.
Sharing his views on the idea behind the initiative, Vineet Gupta, Founder & Trustee, Plaksha University and MD, Jamboree Education, said, “We are pleased to have received the ‘Letter of Intent’ from Punjab government and have moved one step forward in our journey of creating a world-class Indian University that will help address the biggest and most complex real-world challenges. At Plaksha, we aim to create an ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship where young bright minds will be nurtured by world-class global faculty and successful entrepreneurs and business leaders. It is our belief that the modern workplace requires skills that go beyond the siloed approach offered by a traditional engineering curriculum. A multi-disciplinary approach that offers academic flexibility and exposure to critical problems of our times will create a more relevant and impactful model of education in the time to come.”
The University will have 1000 students on the campus initially. By 2035 it aims to have 6000 students.
