Ehsan Fazili/Srinagar

In 20 years, the Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST), Awantipora, has secured a place among India’s top universities. It has been awarded a four-star grading by the Institution Innovation Council (IIC) for the last three consecutive years.

In recent years, the first Islamic university in J&K has transformed itself from a teaching institution to one focused on research and entrepreneurship.

Speaking with Awaz-the Voice, Prof Shakil Ahmad Romshoo, Vice Chancellor of the IUST, said, “We are promoting ideas of entrepreneurs and have so far received 120 innovative ideas out of which the Centre supported 20."

The IUST campus is spread across 205 acres on the slopes of the Wasturwan hills, overlooking the River Jhelum at Awantipora town, 28 km from Srinagar in the Pulwama district of South Kashmir.

VC Prof Shakeel Ahmad Romshoo in his office

The town is also famous for the centuries-old Sufi shrine, Syed Hassan Mantaqi.  It is named after King Avantivarman (855-883 CE).

“We are a fast-growing University. Today it offers 78 programmes, which is double of what it offered four years ago”, he said.

As such, he said the university's infrastructure has also been augmented to incredible levels, focusing on “community development”.

While many universities were struggling, the IUST has seen a 50 percent growth in admissions this year, Prof Romshoo says. 

This year, IUST has seen 1679 admissions into various programmes, a 50 percent growth from 1050 students admitted last year.

The Vice Chancellor pointed out that under NEP-2020, the IUST programmes have an emphasis on innovation and entrepreneurship among the youth through its Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development (CIED). 

The IUST campus

The IUST initiatives began with a funding of Rs 2 crore, which was raised to Rs 16 crore after three years, he said. Through its Kalam Academy of Skill Development and Training, the IUST has imparted skills and training for innovations and entrepreneurship for start-ups.

It has 77 patents  and 2391 publications to its credit.

Prof Ramhsoo says the core philosophy of this Centre (CIED) is to change the mindset of youth towards innovation and entrepreneurship, as the region faces a huge challenge of unemployment. “The Centre has developed an enabling eco-system for innovation and entrepreneurship by encompassing many units of the University.

"It specifically encourages budding entrepreneurs by infusing critical, lateral, and design thinking, thereby nurturing their ambitions and enabling new ventures through practical learning experience”, he said.

Prof Shakil Ahmad Romshoo took over as Vice Chancellor of IUST in August 2021.  He was associated with the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Kashmir. He was the Dean for Research of the university before moving to the IUST. 

A certificate of four star grading from the National Innovation council

With nearly 37 years of academic experience, he holds a Ph.D in Water Resources Engineering from the University of Tokyo, Japan, and an M.S. in Remote Sensing/GIS from the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok. He has held key positions like Scientist at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Tokyo, and Fellow at the Tata Energy and Research Institute (TERI), New Delhi.

Prof Romshoo is the recipient of several national and international awards, with his research focusing on hydrology, glaciology, and climate change. He has supervised 26 Ph D students and has published over 270 papers in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters.

Referring to research programmes, the Vice Chancellor informed that during the last four years, the University has to its credit 260 Ph D awards in various fields, against only 16 awards earlier.

“We are transforming it from teaching to a research university, and are among the top universities in the country”, Prof Romshoo said.

"The IUST has received a 4 Star IIC (Institutions Innovation Council) ranking for the last three consecutive years (2023-2025), while it was ranked at 3 Star in 2022, after the earlier ranking of 2 stars by the IIC.

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Apart from the main campus, the university has five different campuses, including one in Srinagar.