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The Department is actively involved in teaching, research and extension activities. It is engaged in providing regular courses in M.A./M.Sc., M.Phil. and Ph.D. The University Grants Commission has supported the Department of Geography under Special Assistance Programme (SAP) at DRS- III level for five years (2013-2018) with two thrust areas:

1. Environmental Resources and Sustainable Development in N.E. India
2. Population and Development in N.E. India

The teaching and research programmes of the Department have been reoriented as per the thrust areas identified under SAP. With a spirit of knowledge and information sharing, the Department has initiated inter-university collaborative work in the field of Climate Change and associated issues with Kagawa University, Japan.

Facility

Laboratory

The Department has two laboratories with modern sophisticated instruments:

1. Geoinformatics Laboratory: It has been established with funds provided by the DST under FIST, UGC under SAP and Govt. of Assam. This Lab is equipped with Remote Sensing, GIS and GPS facilities including instruments, softwares and spatial data.
2. Fluvial Geomorphology Laboratory: Being equipped with some modern instruments for soil and fluvio-geomorphological analysis this laboratory has been set up with support from UGC and Govt. of Assam.

Library

The Department library, though small, has a rich collection of valuable books, journals, reports, theses, etc. A good number of books have been added annually to the library stock and at present it has a stock of around 2200 books.

Internet

The department is equipped with Internet facility for the teachers, students, and research scholars.

Training

The Department provides short-term training programme/workshop in Geoinformatics (Remote Sensing, GPS and GIS)and Research Methodology for potential Researchers and College/University teachers.

Micro Weather Station

Under a Collaborative Research Programme (2006-11) between the Kyoto University, Japan and the Department of Geography, G.U. fifteen Automatic Rain Gauge stations have been set up at different places of Assam including one at the Dept. of Geography, G.U. in order to record the intensity and frequency of rainfall in the state.

Besides, five more Micro Automatic Weather Stations have been set up (2015) in different localities of Guwahati city with the support of Kagawa University, Japan, to record spatial variation in rainfall, temperature and humidity parameters.

Others

The Department has one conference room (30 capacity) and one seminar hall (100 capacity)

Scholarship/Fellowship

The Department of Geography being funded by UGC at SAP-DRS Level III, it receives five BSR fellowships for research scholars currently pursuing Ph.D. in the Department.

Activity

Prize Awarded

The Professor Hari Prasanna Das Memorial Award for the best Post Graduate in Geography under Gauhati University and the Dipali Borthakur Memorial Award for the best Post Graduate in Geography among the Universities of NE India as instituted by the NEIGS

Endowment Lectures

The Professor Hari Prasanna Das Memorial Lecture has been instituted in the Department in 2004 by NEIGS for holding of an annual lecture on every 4th June.

Clubs and Societies

The North East India Geographical Society (NEIGS) is housed at Department of Geography, Gauhati University. The main objective of the Society is to popularize geography education and research in NE India. It regularly brings out one Research Journal NORTH EASTERN GEOGRAPHER and Assamese magazine BHOUGOLIKA. The students of the Department also have a Post Graduate Students- Geographical Forum and publish the Geographical Horizon.

Departmental Publication

The Department regularly publishes one Newsletter (annually)and one Research Journal JOURNAL OF GEOGRAPHY on specific themes.

Placement Profile

There was a time when geographers' placement opportunities were basically confined to the arena of teaching. But the changing job market has provided opportunities for many to switchover to new areas in the service sector. These include sectors like banks, Telecommunication, Census, Department of Environment and Forest, Departments dealing with GIS and Remote Sensing Technology, Rural Development and Planning, and NGOs.

Established in 1948, the Department of Geography, Gauhati University is one of the oldest geography departments of the country. From a modest beginning the department has flourished to reach its present status because of the untiring efforts of the faculty members and the great potentiality possessed by this part of the country for geography education and research. India’s north east, the initial hinterland of the department, continued to be a terra incognita even after the country’s independence. This naturally posed before the department an intellectual challenge to unravel the marvels of the region’s nature and culture. Directed thus by the prevalent situation, curiosity and compulsion, the then faculties of the department decided to set a goal, rather a mission, towards understanding the geographical fabric of the region. Today, as we live in an increasingly interdependent world caught up in a global chain of events, the department redefines its mission to put it under the umbrella phrase- -Understanding Geography of the North-East in a New Global Order-- besides upholding the general academic standard of the discipline.

Department of Geography
Gauhati University, Guwahati 781014, Assam
Phone : +91-361-2570372
Email : geography@gauhati.ac.in
Web   : gauhati.ac.in/science/geography