The Vijnana Bhavana is a central instrumentation facility of the University of Mysore and house for major projects like Institution of Excellence (IOE), University with Potential for Excellence (UPE), Centre with Potential for Excellence in a Particular Area (CPEPA) and Department of Science and Technology- Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence (DST-PURSE).
The University of Mysore was identified as an “Institution of Excellence” by the Government of India in 2008 to create a “Centre of Excellence” in multidisciplinary research activities and foster overall development of the University. A grant of Rs.100 crores by Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India elevated the University to the status of Institution of Excellence in the thrust area of Bio-diversity, Bio-prospecting and Sustainable Development. This IOE program is multidisciplinary involving expertise from disciplines such as Anthropology, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Botany, Chemistry, Earth Science, Economics, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Physics, Zoology, Sericulture, Political Science and Sociology. The Institution of Excellence is a prime productive research and houses core instrumentation facility such as NMR, NGS, LCMS, XRD, SEM and animal cell culture facility at Vijnana Bhavana.
The University of Mysore has a long established tradition to carry out interdisciplinary and trans-border research involving several departments. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has sanctioned Rs.50 crores considering the University of Mysore as University with Potential for Excellence (UPE) in 2012, for a period of five years and extended it for one more year. In addition, the University has also received9.5 crores from UGC under the banner “Centre with Potential for Excellence in a Particular Area (CPEPA) for an interdisciplinary program involving selected science departments to work on Nano-science and Nanotechnology.
The University has projected a frontier areas of research in Materials Science on “Processing, Characterization & Applications of Advanced Functional Materials” as its Focused Area I and “Media and Social Development: A Case study of Karnataka” as its Focused Area II under UPE scheme. The following facilities were established under this scheme - High Performance Computing Environment (HPC), Adoption of Green Technology in the University Campus, Centre for Education of Visually Challenged - Drushtee, Multimedia Learning Resource Creation Centre (MLRCC), Earn While You Learn Scheme, Workshops, Conferences and Seminars, Centre for Proficiency Development, Up gradation of Printing and Publication Units, Books and Journals, Sports and Games, Strengthening of Department Laboratories, Hostels and E-governance.
The University has been identified as one of the top 20 Universities in Scientific publications and was awarded Rs.9 crores under DST-PURSE Scheme, and renewed for 2nd Phase in 2016 with an award of Rs.8.5 crores. DST-PURSE project includes two major components: “Strengthening capabilities and supporting networks by building physical infrastructure and creating an ambience for academic ecology” and “Development of molecules and materials for sustainable technology”. The facilities established under DST-PURSE houses Analytical and preparative HPLC, Gel permeation Chromatography, Mass Spectrometry, Cell sorter, Flow Cytometry, Gel-Doc, UV-visible, etc.
More than 25,000 researchers, students and eminent scientists have visited the facility from different States, Federal & International Academic Universities & Industries.
