| CATEGORY | SUB-CATEGORY | DEFINITION |
Excellence in Creating Employment & Entrepreneurship |
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Institutions that have established sustainable systems for building students' skills in line with industry and society's needs. These institutions enhance students' employability by collaborating with industry, providing experiential learning, and keeping their curricula updated. |
| Excellence in Research & Innovation | Institutions which have established a sustainable ecosystem for research, innovation and entrepreneurship to strengthen collaborations among institutions, organizations, and communities to leverage talent across institutions for research. | |
| Excellence in Globalization | Institutions which have established sustainable systems for integrating a international, intercultural or global dimensions on their campuses. They may demonstrate global partnerships, foreign campuses, joint initiatives, student-staff exchange programs and internationalization of their curriculum. |
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Excellence in Institutional Social Responsibility |
Institutions which have established a sustainable system for community engagement and for inculcating values of social responsibility in their students and faculty. These institutions must demonstrate multi-year activities that result in positive impact on the communities that they serve. |
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| Excellence in Financial Sustainability & Student Access | This award recognizes institutions that demonstrate robust financial health while actively fostering access to education through inclusive, sustainable, and innovative financing models. These institutions reduce financial barriers through scholarships, fee waivers, EMI options, income-share agreements, and partnerships with financial or EdTech platforms. Their commitment to affordability and responsible financial planning enables long-term stability and ensures education remains accessible to students from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. | |
| Excellence in AI & Digital Transformation in Student Success | This category recognizes institutions that use digital systems and AI-enabled tools to improve student outcomes. It focuses on how technology is used to track student performance, support interventions, improve retention and progression, and enhance employability and overall student experience. | |
| Excellence in AI & Digital Transformation in Teaching & Learning | This category recognizes institutions that have made significant progress in enhancing core infrastructure, capabilities and teaching practices, from curriculum design to content creation, classroom delivery, assessments, grading, student feedback & mentoring, analytics, faculty and inter-disciplinary collaboration and research using Artificial Intelligence. | |
| University of the Year | The award has two subcategories based on the number of years of establishment for both public and private institutions:
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This award category celebrates universities that have erected enduring ecosystems and showcased unyielding dedication to excellence throughout every facet of university administration. Demonstrating a holistic approach, these universities have embraced a comprehensive range of endeavors, from enriching faculty development and pioneering curriculum design to fostering global engagement, conducting impactful research, spearheading student employability initiatives, forging robust industry partnerships, and pioneering social responsibility initiatives. Their consistent and outstanding performance has led to remarkable outcomes, leaving an indelible mark on the landscape of Indian higher education. |
Lifetime Achievement Award (Jury Choice) |
This award recognizes leaders who have changed the course of the Indian education sector through their vision, work, and evangelism. This award celebrates individuals with at least 30 years of experience who have contributed significantly to policy, advocacy, research, or reform. | |
Personality of the Year Award (Jury Choice) |
This award recognizes leaders who have demonstrated thought leadership, delivered projects that have resulted in tangible outcomes and contributed to national level initiatives and worked in the higher education sector for 15 years. The participant nominated in this category should have taken initiative/ project and created impact in the last 1 year | |
Legendary Institution Builder Award (Jury Choice) |
This award recognizes leaders who have founded and built one or more educational institutions that have achieved long-term academic, research, or societal excellence. This award honors visionary leaders whose enduring commitment and leadership have shaped institutions that now serve as benchmarks in India’s education landscape. |
Please note:
- The award categories may be changed/modified/split/merged/increased or cancelled by the jury based on the number and quality of entries received in each category.
- If no participant in a category is found to be worthy of inclusion by the jury, the award category may be cancelled by the jury. The decision of the Jury in this regard will be final and non- contestable. The Awards management will not entertain any queries in this regard.
- Participants can submit multiple application forms for the same or different categories, provided it is for a different initiative/project.
- If multiple forms are received for the same initiative/project, only one form will be considered. The Jury will decide which entry will be considered for the awards.
For more details, please read the Terms & Conditions