ICFAI FOUNDATION FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

From international tie-ups to poverty alleviation, and from business case studies to multidisciplinary research, IFHE is making its presence felt across higher education and research in business, engineering, architecture, law and social sciences.

Hyderabad based ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education (IFHE), a deemedto-be-university and the flagship of the ICFAI Group spread across India, is soaring higher and higher on the two things that matter most in higher education - academic standards and research achievements. The deemed university is also expanding judiciously by way of more departments. Recently, IFHE, which was until now more renowned for its constituents like ICFAI Business School, ICFAITech School, ICFAI Law School, and ICFAI School of Architecture, launched its School of Social Sciences. Hived off from its Department of Economics, the new ICFAI School of Social Sciences has 23 faculty members, all holding doctorate degrees in Economics, and would focus on teaching, practice, research and field action projects in the various social sciences. Noted economist and IFHE Chancellor Dr. Rangarajan, Vice Chancellor Dr. LS Ganesh, IBS Hyderabad’s Distinguished Professor Mahendra Dev and former VC and Advisor to ICFAI Group Prof. J Mahender Reddy were present on the occasion. The ICFAI School of Social Sciences would soon include disciplines like psychology, sociology and political science, and is likely to focus on emerging domains like sustainability, sustainable development goals, circular economy, social innovation and startups, as well as improve upon IFHE’s already thriving multidisciplinary research initiatives. IFHE’s constituent schools also continue to forge meaningful tieups with global institutions of repute. The ICFAI School of Architecture (ISArch) recently entered into a Memorandum of

Understanding (MoU) with the renowned Boston Architectural College (BAC) of Massachusetts, USA. This tie-up will enable both institutions to collaborate and exchange academic and research activities, including Joint Educational Programs and Projects, Exchange of Faculty, Administrative Staff & Scholars, Exchange of Materials, Publications & Information, and Joint Organization of Seminars, Workshops, Studios & Conferences. At the same time, IFHE faculty and researchers are keenly interested in projects for the upliftment of the economically challenged in India. A recent example was IFHE’s research collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Jointly, they will be conducting a study in the neighbouring Odisha state to support inclusive, gender-responsive and climateresilient diversification of cropping systems and livelihoods in three districts that are suffering due to high poverty levels, vulnerability to droughts, and limited access to irrigation infrastructure. ICFAI Business School (IBS), on its part continues to win awards and accolades for its world-class MBA/PGPM program across all its 9 campuses. It has maintained its international benchmark status in business case studies since its inception. IBS Hyderabad is ranked 5th best in the entire South Zone and recognized as 25th in the list of top 100 private business schools in India in a survey conducted by the Ministry of Education through the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). IBS Dehradun is also ranked 1st in Uttarakhand, and 17th in North India among the best B-Schools.