Efforts on to set up non-profit university in Belagavi

The proposed Bhaskara University will be crowd-funded. Several committees have been set up to prepare a road map. They include committees for infrastructure development, finance, general advisory body

A group of academicians is trying to set up a crowd-funded, non-profit University in Belagavi that could carry out research and offer training in liberal arts and humanities, and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The university will be named after Bhaskara Acharya, a mathematician of ancient times, following a suggestion by Sri Siddheshwara swami of Vijayapura.

It will be a multi-subject institution and will function on modern pedagogic styles. It will have schools of various disciplines where students will get to choose from subjects under the transferable credit and lateral entry system.

Tamraparni Venkatesh, a mathematician who retired from Rani Channamma University and founded the Mathematical Sciences Institute, Belagavi (MSIB) is the convener of the proposed university.

”Bhaskara University will be very different from traditional universities. It will have schools for literary and historical studies, linguistics and translation, liberal arts, basic and applied sciences in STEM,” he said. “Under MSIB, we have begun a series of online and offline lectures on mathematics and sciences. Mathematicians of global fame, like number theorist Ken Ono, have delivered talks,” he said.

Several committees have been set up to prepare a road map. They include committees for infrastructure development, finance, general advisory body, and one to form an academic council and executive councils.

The infrastructure committee is identifying land and buildings required for the university. It is considering land grants, and donations in units of ₹10. The crowd-funding model will have options for Bhumi Daan, Anna Bhandara, and Grantha Bhandara for donation of land, money, food, or books.