SOLAN, India : Ten year old Himachal-based Shoolini University figures in the prestigious Times Higher Education (THE), the World’s leading agency for ranking Higher educational Institutions, shortlist for the ‘THE Awards Asia 2020’.

The ‘THE’ awards, dubbed as ‘Oscars of higher education’, celebrate the achievements of universities across the continent. These awards are given in the categories of Outstanding Leadership and Management Team, International Strategy of the Year, Teaching and Learning Strategy of the Year, Outstanding Support for Students and Technological Innovation of the Year.

Shoolini University has been shortlisted for the category of ‘Outstanding Support for Students’ for the implementation of its Skill Progression Through Rapid Intensive and Innovative Training (SPRINT) Programme with SIQANDAR.AI, a software developed for assessing and guiding students for soft skills and interviews.

“Our unique SPRINT programme is designed to provide students with the soft skills and communication competence required to be able to make through the most competitive job interviews. As a result, over the years, Shoolini University has emerged as a preferred University for employers in business, engineering as well as science domains. Last year, to provide one-on-one coaching to students of select subjects, we deployed Artificial Intelligence based interview coaching program called SIQANDAR.AI through AADDOO which is a pioneer in this field,” said Dr P K Khosla, Vice Chancellor of Shoolini University.

A shortlist of 8 universities is made for each category from hundreds of applications based on the contribution and impact of these Universities. A total of 60 universities from all over Asia were selected for this shortlist – of which 6 are from India.

The shortlist of Universities includes leading Universities from China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Hongkong. Dr Khosla said, “Shortlisting of Shoolini University by THE for these prestigious award highlights our efforts to be one of the best Universities in the world – when it comes to providing our students the outstanding support they need to succeed in their careers.”

Dr Khosla underlined the university’s focus on enhancing competence of students which is reflected in the high number and quality of campus placements at the University.