Siksha 'O' Anusandhan Deemed to be University in Bhubaneswar, located in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, has emerged today as one of the top institutions of higher education in the country within a period of 25 years.
Known for quality education and focused research, SOA-- as the university is known by its acronym, is home to about 14,000 students including from 15 countries who have been pursuing various courses.
The genesis of the SOA story dates back to the year 1996 when a teacher, with a burning desire to set up an institution of higher education of the highest caliber, launched an engineering college, known as Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER) in Bhubaneswar.
The seedling continued to blossom as eight other institutions dealing with different disciplines came up around it over the years. It was on July 17, 2007 that the Ministry of Education conferred on it the status of a Deemed to be University. Besides engineering and technology, the University has institutions imparting education in medical sciences, dental sciences, management sciences, pharmaceutical sciences, nursing, agricultural sciences, legal studies and hospitality and tourism management.
The university offers 23 Under Graduate and 68 Post Graduate, 15 Post Masters, Ph. D and Post Doctoral programs in different subjects. Five of SOA's engineering programs have been accredited by the National Board of Accreditation Board (NBA) while three have been accredited by Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) of USA.
The university was ranked 16th in University category; 27th in Engineering ; 18th Medical Science; 10th in Dental Science; 9th in Legal Studies and 45th in Research category by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) set up by the Ministry of Education, Government of India in 2022.
The university reached a huge milestone recently when National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), accredited it with the highest Grade A++ with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.88 out of 4.
SOA's vision is to become a leading institution of higher learning in its chosen area to prepare future generations through quality teaching and innovative research. Its mission is to churn out responsible, enlightened and productive citizens.
