Government College University, Lahore

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2012)
Government College University, Lahore
Logo
Motto Courage To Know
Established 1864
Type Public
Chancellor Ahmad Mehmood
Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Muhammad Khaleeq-ur-Rahman
Academic staff 436[1]
Students 7,382[1]
Location Lahore, Pakistan Pakistan
Campus Urban
Mascot Ravians
Affiliations HEC
Website www.gcu.edu.pk

Government College University, Lahore (formerly Government College, abbreviated to GCU) is a co-ed public university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Although the college was granted university status by the Government of Pakistan in 2002, the word college is retained in its title for historical reasons and because of the wide recognition of the name Government College in the country.

GCU Tower

GCU is located in The Mall area of Lahore. It has four faculties – Science and Technology; Arts and Social Sciences; Languages, Islamic and Oriental Learning; and Engineering – within which there are 29 academic departments. There are four research centres and institutes associated with the university.[2] GCU currently has more than 7,000 students and over 400 faculty members.[1]

The university was ranked second amongst medium-sized multi-faculty universities by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan in 2012.[3] There are two Nobel Laureates amongst the university's alumni and former staff. Alumni of GCU are called Ravians which is derived from the name of the magazine "Ravi", published by the administration of the college; the magazine name is inspired by the Ravi River.

Contents

History [edit]

Government College, Lahore in the 1880s

Under the British Raj Government College was opened on 1 January 1864 in a portion of the Palace of Raja Dhyan Singh Haveli. The institution was affiliated with the University of Calcutta for examination. Along with the establishment of the college, Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner (professor of Arabic and Islamic Law at King's College in London) was nominated as principal of college. Later, he later was instrumental in the foundation of University of the Punjab, established in 1882. The first class consisted of nine students, all of whom matriculated from University of Calcutta. In April 1871, the college moved to its present site. Eric C. Dickinson became its Principal. He taught English at the Aligarh Muslim University.

In 1996, it received autonomous status; on 9 September 2002, it became a university.

Emblem [edit]

The Torch, as the crest of the university emblem, represents the light of knowledge. The motto "Courage to Know" represents the guiding principle of the student community. It is intended to develop courage among the students to fulfil their academic potential.

Academic departments [edit]

The university consists of the following faculties, centres and teaching departments:

  • Centers Chairs
  • Center for Advanced Studies in Physics (CASP)
  • High Tension Laboratory (now CASP) – established in 1954 by Dr. Rafi Muhammad Chaudhry to carry out research in Atomic and Nuclear Physics.

Faculty of Engineering

  • B.Sc. Engineering in Electronics & Telecommunications four-year degree programme and also offers M.Sc. Telecommunications two-year degree programme.
  • National Center of Mathematics – The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan has established the National Centre for Mathematics (NCM) at the GC University, Lahore for the advancement of Mathematical Sciences in Pakistan and to develop indigenous human resources and research capability in the field of Mathematics.
  • Human Resource Development Center (H.R.D.C) – The center has arranged in service teachers training programmes for the GCU faculty on academic and administrative topics.

Abdus Salam Chair in Physics [edit]

Main article: Abdus Salam Chair in Physics

The Abdus Salam Chair in Physics, named after the Pakistani theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate Abdus Salam, is a physics research institute of GCU. The institute became operational in March 2000 with the efforts of Ishfaq Ahmad, a lifelong friend of Salam. In 2009 the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) donated Salam's original Nobel certificate to the Salam Chair in Physics. The former director of ICTP Dr. Katepalli R. Sreenivasan visited Pakistan where he had gifted the original Nobel certificate to GCU alma mater. The certificate reads: "for their contributions to the theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles, including, inter-alia, the prediction of the weak neutral current".[4]

The institute has academic programmes that promote research activity in physics. Some of its achievements include: getting 52 research publications in international journals[citation needed]; producing 30 PhD and 90 M.Phil theses; the setting up of a Plasma Technology Lab; and contracting research grants from funding agencies and research centres such as the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL),[5] Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF)[6] and Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR)[citation needed].

Abdus Salam School for Mathematical Sciences (ASSMS) [edit]

Main article: Abdus Salam School of Mathematics

The Abdus Salam School of Mathematical Sciences (ASSMS) is one of the largest mathematical research institutes in Pakistan.[citation needed] The school was established in 2003 by the Government of Punjab under the aegis of Government College University.[7]

The aim of the School is to train professional scientists to pursue the study of scientific and technological problems by mathematical methods, and to undertake research in branches of mathematical sciences. Before the existence of ASSMS, Pakistani mathematicians opted to study abroad for postdoctoral fellowships, however an increasing number of M.Phil/PhD holders from foreign institutions are choosing ASSMS to pursue their postdoctoral fellowships.[citation needed]

The director of ASSMS, Dr. Alla Ditta Raza Choudary, has taken steps to provide encouragement to Pakistani students in schools and colleges. These include:

  • The faculty at the Abdus Salam School of Mathematical Sciences host training camps for students from schools and colleges. The participants of the camps are prepared for the national team of Pakistan to compete at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). In 2005, the national team of Pakistan took part for the first time in IMO. In 2007 Pakistan won the first medal at IMO and the second in 2009.
  • ASSMS has organised mathematics contests at the national level.

Institute of Industrial Bio-Technology [edit]

The Institute of Industrial Biotechnology GC University, Lahore, was established in April 2005. Prof Ikram-ul-Haq is the first head of the institute. The Vice Chancellor has consented to launch B.Sc., M.Sc, and M. Phil classes in Biotechnology and constitute a separate Board of Studies for the institute.

Postgraduate departments [edit]

  • Faculty of Arts
  • Faculty of Science
  • Geography
  • Economics
  • Botany
  • Banking & Finance
  • Entrepreneurship and SME Management
  • Industrial Chemistry
  • Financial Economics and Management
  • English
  • Computer Science / Information Technology
  • History
  • Industrial Bio-Technology
  • Management Studies
  • Mathematics
  • Persian
  • Physics
  • Philosophy and Inter Disciplinary Studies
  • Psychology & Clinical psychology
  • Political Science
  • Statistics
  • Telecommunication
  • Urdu
  • Zoology

Notable alumni [edit]

 This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability or notability policies. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources cited within this article showing they are notable and alumni or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (July 2011)
Main article: List of Ravians

Alumni of the University are called Ravians.

Politicians
Government officials
Army officers
Nuclear scientists
Nobel Laureate
Actors
Poets
Authors/writers/novelists
Journalism
Judiciary
Sportsmen
Musicians
Scholars
Other notable alumni

Others associated with the college [edit]

Question book-new.svg
 This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2011)
  • Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum – noted 20th century poet of Urdu, Punjabi and Persian
  • Prof Dr Saadat Saeed – Famous Poet and Writer
  • Syed Ali Hamza - Pieas Fellow and most talented guy of Nilore, Chirha town. He was the inventor of steam thermodynics and electromagnetism.

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b c "About GCU". Government College University, Lahore. Retrieved 18 August 2012. 
  2. ^ "GCU academic departments". Government College University, Lahore. Retrieved 18 August 2012. 
  3. ^ "HEC rankings". Higher Education Commission, Pakistan. Retrieved 20 November 2012. 
  4. ^ GCU houses Dr Abdus Salam’s Nobel prize
  5. ^ "Research Fellowships Awarded". Government College University, Lahore. Retrieved 2 October 2012. 
  6. ^ "Research Grants Awarded". Government College University, Lahore. Retrieved 2 October 2012. 
  7. ^ "About the Abdus Salam School of Mathematical Sciences". Government College University, Lahore. Retrieved 18 August 2012. 

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Government College University, Lahore

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Government_College_University,_Lahore&oldid=552431018"