Ashoka University

About

Ashoka University is a private research university located in Sonipat, Haryana, providing a liberal education in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. It was founded in 2014 and is based on the model of collective philanthropy, with 200+ founders across various industries.

The institution was named after the Mauryan emperor Ashoka. It was conceived as an idea after Sanjeev Bikhchandani and Ashish Dhawan approached Pramath Raj Sinha, a former dean of the Indian School of Business, for his assistance in setting up the university. The project was code-named Project Nobel, referring to the founders' aspiration to produce future Nobel Prize laureates. It was set up by a private limited company called "International Foundation For Research and Education". Initial discussions aimed to set up an institute of engineering and technology that could match the reputation of leading institutions in the field. Ashoka's founders signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science. The founders' list named 22 people, including Ashok Trivedi, Dilip Shanghvi, Nirmal Jain, Sanjeev Bikhchandani and Jerry Rao. The list later grew to 46. Ashoka later expanded its focus to provide education in the liberal arts, combining instruction in the natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. Trivedi fortified this decision by setting up the Trivedi Centre for Political Data (TCPD) in partnership with the University of Michigan. In 2020, Ashoka University established the Trivedi School of Biosciences with virologist Shahid Jameel as the first director of the centre.

Ashoka University's 25-acre (10 ha) original campus is in the Rajiv Gandhi Education City in Sonipat, Haryana. It was designed by the American architecture firm Perkins Eastman. In September 2021, the university laid the foundation stone for an adjacent 27-acre (11 ha) campus, with plans to increase its student capacity to 6,000 by 2027.

Ashoka University is supported by philanthropic donations. It also charges tuition and other student fees. There are no hierarchies present in the founding group in terms of decision-making. In addition to the chancellor, vice-chancellor and deans, Ashoka is guided by an academic council of academics and scholars. The council sets the university's academic standard, advising on matters of curriculum, faculty hiring, and research. The first chancellor was Andre Beteille, who served from 2014. The first vice-chancellor was Rudrangshu Mukherjee. In 2017 Beteille resigned, to be replaced by Mukherjee, and Pratap Bhanu Mehta was appointed vice-chancellor from July 2017. Mehta resigned in July 2019 and was replaced by Malabika Sarkar. Sarkar stepped down on 1 January 2023 and was replaced by Somak Raychaudhury. In March 2026, Somak Raychaudhury decided to step down as Vice Chancellor and not continue for a second term. Prof. Rishikesha T. Krishnan was appointed as the VC on 15 June 2026 and will be assuming office on 1 August 2026.

The university offers various programmes at undergraduate, post graduate, diploma, and PhD level in subjects such as economics, chemistry, english, and liberal studies.

The CMGGA programme is a collaboration between the Government of Haryana and Ashoka University. The associates are trained, after which they are posted in each of the 22 districts of Haryana for 12 months. During their tenure, they work with the district officials to drive changes at the grassroots levels.

Ashoka University has various specialised centres in areas such as translation, economics, climate change, etc.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.