Ahmedabad University Launches the Writing Residency

The University’s Ahmedabad Writing Programme (AWP), which brings together writers, translators and publishing professionals on a common platform, has launched a two-week to one-month Writing Residency for writers writing in different languages. The residency aims to facilitate cultural exchanges and interactions among the writers through workshops, readings, and conversations about their creative process. The first iteration of the residency hosted two noted writers, Anukrti Upadhyay and Radhika Iyengar, who spoke about their writing and publishing experience, and also produced short literary pieces on Ahmedabad city. Anukrti writes fiction and poetry in both English and Hindi, and has published her writings in several publications. Radhika, a journalist and debut author, writes on various subjects including arts and culture, marginalised communities, history, and gender.

Sensitivity, Awareness, and Activism for Safeguarding Heritage

The creative economy, with its huge domino and multiplier effect, can create jobs, adding about 2.7 per cent to the GDP. This emerged from discussions among academics, researchers, and practitioners at the 5th International Conference on Heritage Management Education and Practice at Ahmedabad University. The conference discussed the impact of digital technologies and emerging economic trends in arts, crafts, heritage, and innovations resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Various economic and technological perspectives needed for adapting to the changing landscape were also examined.

Books Can Be Dangerous in a Positive Way

Books challenge our preconceptions, provoke our thoughts, encourage us to think critically and spark new ideas. They expose our minds to seek new possibilities and introduce us to diverse cultures, experiences, and perspectives. Books are dangerous in the sense that they hold the power to change our lives, that is, if we allow them to.

Ahmedabad University and SEWA Collaborate to Empower Communities for Better Health

Determined to create a bigger social impact in improving human and planetary health, Ahmedabad University's School of Public Health and the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) collaborated to establish the Sahyog Centre for Promoting Health. The institutions will combine their strengths in epidemiology, health promotion, research, training, community empowerment, and outreach to improve health locally, nationally, and globally, especially among the underprivileged.

The BxMx Advantage

Vice Chancellor Pankaj Chandra discusses the wider and deeper perspective that Ahmedabad University aims to create in its students through The BxMx Programme, a dual degree highly selective programme for very well-prepared students.

‘We want to focus on building public health and planetary health’

Kaumudi Joshipura, Dean of our recently announced School of Public Health, puts across her vision for the School in this interaction, expanding on how she plans multiple creative initiatives integrating research, education, and health promotion.

New Collaboration Builds Research, Skilling, and Consultancy for Technical Textiles and Composites

The Indian technical textiles industry is currently the fifth largest in the world. This exciting growth is driving innovation and industry expertise, building of a skilled labour force, and deeper opportunities for research and development. Ahmedabad University and Ahmedabad Textile Industry’s Research Association (ATIRA) have collaborated to address this need for relevant resources and infrastructure development in this domain.

ORIENTATION 2023: ‘Making the Ahmedabad Education Your Own’

Stand by the values of respecting diversity, leave a place better than before, and call out the wrong. Each of these will go a long way in shaping how you own your education, writes Vice Chancellor Pankaj Chandra, in this open letter to the incoming students.

Ahmedabad University and Karta Initiative - How the Collaboration is Making Quality Education Equitable

Ahmedabad University is participating in reducing barriers to higher education. We recognise how essential such education is in today’s environment. With the Karta Initiative, we provide to over 35 Karta Scholars the foundation they require to build their future.

Diverse Views, Diverse Cultures

What brings a national-level rifle shooter from Bangalore to Ahmedabad University? How does a student from Gangtok sense that Ahmedabad will soon become her second home? Incoming students of 2023 talk about what drew them to Ahmedabad University and the inclusive experiences the University has curated for them.

Seniors’ Advice Matters

The Class of 2027 receives some great advice from their seniors on how to negotiate University life, and the list includes everything from building skills through the Foundation Programme and planning their courses over the next four years to the yummiest food and the best hangouts on and off Campus.

Global Recognition for Ahmedabad University’s Innovative Learning Practices

Recently, Ahmedabad University’s unique learning initiatives were recognised by two globally acclaimed academic bodies – Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International) and Times Higher Education (THE). What are these innovative practices that are aimed at creating critical thinkers who understand the social, technological, and business context of 21st-century challenges?

Ahmedabad University’s Undergraduate Research Programme: Complementing Classroom Learning with Research Skills

Through its Undergraduate Research Programme, Ahmedabad University provides opportunities for students to deeply explore issues by working independently under the supervision of a faculty member or with faculty in their laboratory or on their research projects. This Programme prepares students for graduate school and provides exposure to a research-oriented career.

Getting Low-Cost Efficiency to Salt Pan Workers in Little Rann of Kutch

Faculty and students at the School of Engineering and Applied Science are deeply involved with the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in addressing various challenges salt pan workers face in the Rann of Kutch. One of these is devising a scientific method to improve groundwater identification and eliminate the manual digging of wells.

How an Ahmedabad Education Impacted this Social Entrepreneur

Through his for-profit Redicine Medsol, Ahmedabad Alumnus Raj Shah addresses the problem of patients who fail to take the right medicines at the correct times. In this interview with AACSB Insights of AACSB International, he traces much of his interest in social entrepreneurship to education at Ahmedabad University, where he learnt “discipline, happiness, strategy, design thinking, event management, negotiation, mind mapping, and systemic thinking”.

At Ahmedabad University’s Fabrication Workshop, a Culture of Doing

From mentoring students on design to assisting them in evaluating and procuring materials to build their projects, from engineering complex tools for the research labs to supporting start-ups in building products, the Fabrication Workshop is transforming into a Learning Factory.

Small-Scale and in the Line of Fire of Urbanisation and the Pandemic: A Story

Economics undergraduate at Amrut Mody School of Management Aashi Verma is interested in examining how small-scale workers are affected by rapid urbanisation, especially in the light of the pandemic. She worked with eminent journalist P Sainath’s People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI) for a story documenting Suhaagan Devi's daily life as a potter in Begamganj, a small town in Madhya Pradesh.

Modern Workspaces Need Employees with Adaptability, Agility, and Perspective

Mohit Gupta, Director, Career Development Centre at Ahmedabad University, engages with numerous talent acquisition managers from the industry regularly. “They are looking at T-shaped personalities in their workspaces today, and that’s how we groom students at Ahmedabad University,” he says.

How Ahmedabad University’s Stepwell Radio Helps the Community Tune into the Real World

Over the last three years, the student-run Stepwell Radio has developed as a multidisciplinary, cosmopolitan, and creative platform for community voices, addressing contemporary issues that transcend geographical boundaries.

Safety: Why it is an Essential Skill in Modern Workspaces

Understanding the significance of safety practices and stringently implementing these in everyday life is an essential life skill. In modern workspaces, these have become necessary obligatory requisites for personnel. Sunil Kale, Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Science, writes about how safety is critically linked to better productivity and quality of life.

The Circle of Giving

Happiness, better health, or social bonds? What is it that ‘giving’ triggers? Philosophers and students at Ahmedabad University unravel the circle of giving, associated emotions of gratitude and satisfaction, and why these are essential.

‘We Make a Life by What We Contribute’

Defining science, technology, and innovation as the cornerstones of national growth, internationally renowned technology leader and former Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan urged the Class of 2022 to work on people-centric technology and make a difference to society.

Redefining 21st Century Undergraduate Education: Interdisciplinarity and Ahmedabad University’s Foundation Programme

The world is changing, and with it, the requirements of the workspaces of tomorrow. Here is how Ahmedabad University is reimagining the classroom beyond the physical walls and focusing on the whole development of students.

Using Colour to Address a Primary Challenge of Education

Almost 300 students across Ahmedabad University joined hands with the University’s Fine Arts Club in a project titled Rang-De-Pathshala. The objective was to paint murals in a city government school to assist in teaching, kickstart hygiene maintenance, and beautify the institution that has rudimentary facilities but is crucial to providing no-cost learning.

Cutting Across Cultures for Learning

Mathis Maduit of the Rennes School of Business, France, is spending a term at Ahmedabad University and alongside discovering the city, its people, and its culture. Ahmedabad University’s student Dharmin Lungariya who had earlier spent a term at Rennes, exchanges notes with him on culture and learning initiatives in the Universities.

The Magic in Their Hands

How critical is a sighted practitioner to those seeking physiotherapy? People queuing up at the Blind People’s Association’s clinic have a story of trust to narrate. At Ahmedabad University's Physiotherapy College for the Visually Impaired, for students with varying degrees of vision, it is this trust that spurs them on to complete their education and build their financially independent space.

Diana Award for Green Warrior

She was only 15 when she founded an NGO in Bhavnagar, her hometown in Gujarat, India, mobilising over 100 community volunteers to plant and nurture tree saplings in the courtyard of a church. Last month, Ahmedabad Alumna Hasti Modi (BBA 2020) received the prestigious Diana Award for her relentless efforts in the field.