Shahjalal University of Science and Technology


Shahjalal University of Science and Technology is a public research university based in Sylhet, Bangladesh. It is the 8th oldest university of the country and the first university to adopt American credit system. The university is known for its pioneering research and education in the physical sciences and engineering. In 2016, SUST ranked as the top research university in Bangladesh by Scopus-SCImago institution ranking. In 2017, the university had highest research expenditure among all universities in Bangladesh. Following the success of SUST, twelve more STEM universities have been established in the country by the Government of Bangladesh.

History

Shahjalal University of Science and Technology was established in 1986. The campus is located in Kumargaon, approximately six kilometers away from the heart of Sylhet City Centre. The university started its academic programme with three departments: physics, chemistry and economics. Renowned scientist and educator Dr. Sadruddin Ahmed Chowdhury was the first Vice-chancellor of the university. The first convocation of SUST was held on 29 April 1998 and the second convocation held on 6 December 2007 where the third convocation was held on 8 January 2020. At present, SUST has 7,662 students, 487 academic staffs and 772 administrative staffs; i.e. the university has 6.09 students per staff.
SUST is the first university in Bangladesh providing whole campus free Wi-fi access for students and staff. The university introduced an integrated honors course for the first time in Bangladesh and it introduced the semester system from the 1996-97 session. In 2019, Executive Committee of the National Economic Council allocated BDT 9.88 billion fund for 20 development projects of SUST.
The students of SUST invented and introduced the paperless 24/7 SMS Based Automated Registration of Admission Test procedure for the first time in Bangladesh. Interested students can complete the registration process through mobile phone messages. The contemporary government launched the system on 13 September 2009. For the invention, the University won an Ambillion Award in a competition of South Asian countries in 2010 and National Award for E-Content and ICT for Development Award 2010. Now, most of the public universities in Bangladesh have adopted this process of registration.

Academics

Admission

SUST enrolls undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate students. All applicants need to pass the admission test arranged by the specific schools under the authority of admission council, which is highly competitive. In 2018-19 session, SUST received 76,068 undergraduate applications only admitting 1,448; an acceptance rate of 1.90%. A total of 71,018 students vied for 1,703 seats at the university for the session 2019-2020.

Ranking and reputation

SUST gives high priority on research. In 2017, the university spent in research; the highest research expenditure among all universities in Bangladesh, almost double of the 2nd one.
In 2016, SUST ranked as the top research university in Bangladesh by Scopus-SCImago institution ranking. In 2019, it ranked 337th in Asia and 610th in the world among 3,471 higher educational institutions. SUST ranked at 445th for research and 493rd for innovation in the world. In 2015, Webometrics Ranking of World Universities ranked SUST as the top university of Bangladesh.
In 2018, the team from SUST became the world champion of NASA Space Apps Challenge among 1,395 local winning teams from around the world. In the International Theoretical Physics Olympiad 2019, seven teams from SUST got place among finalist 88 and achieved 15th spot in the world.

Conference

The biggest yearly conference of SUST is International Conference on Engineering Research, Innovation and Education . In ICERIE, several hundred universities attend from different parts of the world and present research papers in the different fields of applied sciences, architecture and engineering.
Other major conferences of SUST:
In 2019, SUST organized the first-ever International Convention of Vice-Chancellors in Bangladesh. In 1999, SUST hosted the 3rd International Conference on Computer and Information Technology. In addition to these, the academic departments host numerous conferences on respective fields regularly.

Collaboration

SUST has academic and research collaboration with following institutes:
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Carnival

Since 2011, SUST has arranged an annual three-day CSE Carnival. The carnival features a programming contest, software developing competition, and related events. In 2015, it involved 1,000 students in 145 teams from 46 universities.

Hult Prize

SUST organizes a program on its campus on behalf of Hult Prize Foundation. The Hult Prize On Campus Program brings Hult Prize directly to universities around the world. This international program allows student leaders to organize their own localized version of the Hult Prize on campus, using a turnkey tool kit and the support of dedicated staff at the Hult Prize Foundation.

Schools and departments

SUST is the first public university to introduce undergraduate programs in Software Engineering in Bangladesh. It is the second oldest in the country to introduce engineering education in the fields of Chemical, Computer Science, Industrial & Production, Petroleum & Mining. Also, the third oldest to introduce Architecture, Food Engineering & Tea Technology, Genetic engineering & Biotechnology programs in the country. In total, SUST has 28 departments under 7 schools:

School of Agriculture and Mineral Sciences

6 affiliated medical colleges:
SUST is the first and only university in Bangladesh to initiate the "Second Major Program" where a student can enroll in another department as the second major besides the first major. Currently, only three department CSE, EEE, Physics offer a second major degree. A student studying in this university has to sit for an aptitude test after his/her first year of study to be considered for the program as there are only a limited number of students can enroll in this program. Any students from the School of Applied Sciences & Technology, the School of Life Sciences, the School of Physical Sciences, the School of Agricultural & Mineral Sciences can sit for the test and they can so only after their first year of study in the university. A "Second Major" degree is awarded on completion of 24 to 36 credits of core courses from the respective department.

Affiliated colleges

In addition to the four colleges are affiliated with the School of Medical Sciences and engineering, the university has the following affiliated colleges:
There is a school which is in under SUST:
The research institutes of SUST are:
SUST Department of Architecture is the 3rd oldest public architecture school in Bangladesh. The Center for Research, Testing, and Consultancy focuses on research areas such as building planning and design, interior design, landscape development, urban planning and urban renewal, conservation of historical sites and monuments, architecture of Bengal region, sustainable design, low cost housing etc. according to regional context. The center has been widely working with the traditional house forms, settlement pattern, urban growth and architectural development of the region.

CRTC CSE

The CRTC program, Department of Computer Science & Engineering focuses on research areas such as Optical Character Recognition, Parallel Processing, Cluster Computer, CodeWitz, Asia Link Project, Cellular Phone & Computer Interfacing, Bangla Computerization, Natural Language Processing etc. The software house offers professional working environment to the students.

CRTC CEE

Civil and Environmental Engineering department established the center for research, testing and consultancy to provide research, testing and consultancy services in 2003. CRTC designed water treatment plant to remove high concentration of iron in ground water of Sylhet region, such a plant has been successfully operating in Hotels in Sylhet city. CTRC already planned and designed the structural and drainage systems of the Madina Garden City near Sylhet International Airport including EIA and recently has been working for Gazi Burhan Uddin Model City near Sylhet upashahar. CRTC has been performing all kinds of testing in the field of water, wastewater, cement, concrete, rod beam, soil, air, noise, etc. since 2003.

CRTC Physics

The CRTC program, Department of Physics has numbers of research groups have research activities in areas of Theoretical and Experimental Nuclear Physics, Nonlinear Optics, Thin film Magnetism, Neutron Scattering, Neutron Activation Analysis, Neutron Radiography, Defects in Solids, Semiconductor Physics, Condensed Matter Physics, Gravitational Physics and Celestial Mechanics and Theoretical Physics. In 2015, CRTC Physics invented low cost technology to detect cancer.

Initials

Campus

SUST has an urban campus area of 320 acres. Many visitors come to Sylhet visit the "Shahid Minar" of the university. The memorial stands on the top of a small hill and is surrounded by trees. Different cultural organizations arrange programs on the premises on local and national occasions. The Kilo Road is an entrance to SUST campus known for green vista. The first ever Bangladesh Mathematical Olympiad was held in Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in 2004.

Classes

SUST has an extensive core curriculum required of all undergraduates. SUST is the first university in Bangladesh to adopt American course credit systems for all departments. The syllabus are always updated frequently to maintain the global standard of education.

Library

SUST has a common Central Library with a collection of 180,000 volumes and 300 current periodical subscriptions for all academic departments. The library includes electronic copies of books, which can be accessed from any academic department through electronic local area networking. Per year around 2000 volumes are added in this library. The library building of SUST is known for its triangular shape. It has also a free internet browsing facility and rental library program. Additionally, there is also a departmental library in each academic department and hall library in each residential halls. The library has an Online Public Access Catalog.

International students

also welcomes foreign students. There is a significant number of international students, especially from Nepal. There are also some students in its affiliated medical college from India controlled Kashmir. Every year SUST receives applications from abroad. Most international students come from Nepal, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan, Japan, Afghanistan, Thailand, Malaysia, Palestine, China, Finland, and Myanmar.

Halls of residence

Currently, there are 5 halls of residence. A significant number of students reside privately near the university area of Sylhet metro.
;Halls of Residence
There are also well-decorated houses for the faculty members of SUST.
University authorities also run some private halls of residence outside the main campus especially for female students to guarantee housing for female students.
These Halls are:
The students of this university participate in sports for recreation and the finest athletes regularly compete in inter-university games like football, handball, volleyball, basketball etc. SUST has some varsity teams. There is a Cricket ground, a Football ground, a Basketball ground and well-equipped gymnasium adjacent to the university student health center. SUST is the only university to have Professional Cricket League and Professional Football League. Students organize both inter-department and inter-university tournaments every year. Girls and teachers also participate in several games.

University School

SUST has a university school of secondary level inside the campus for the children of staffs. The school also receives general students.

Photos of SUST

List of vice chancellors

  1. Sadruddin Ahmed Chowdhury
  2. Syed Mohib Uddin Ahmed
  3. Mohammad Habibur Rahman
  4. Md Saleh Uddin
  5. M Shafiqur Rahman
  6. Musleh Uddin Ahmed
  7. M Aminul Islam
  8. Md Saleh Uddin
  9. Md Elias Uddin Biswas
  10. Md Aminul Haque Bhuyan
  11. Farid Uddin Ahmed

    Awards

Suing student for Facebook post

SUST sued one of its student for alleged derogatory facebook post about a dead politician of the ruling party of Bangladesh. On Jun 13th 2020, a final year student of economics department posted a Facebook status after Bangladesh Awami League leader Mohammed Nasim. After that, SUST Registrar Mohd Ishfaqul Hussain filed a case with Jalalabad Police Station On behalf of the university. The case was filed under sections 25 and 29 of the Digital Security Act. When asked about how the university can sue a student for something which is personal and did not violate the proctorial rules, the VC Professor Farid Uddin Ahmed explained to Daily Star's journalist that the student has ruined the university's image.

Notable people