Nalanda: Nalanda University has achieved a proud academic milestone after fifteen of its students successfully cleared the UGC-NET examination held in December 2025. The highly competitive national test is required for admission to PhD programmes and for becoming an assistant professor in universities across India. This success has brought national attention to the historic campus and highlighted its growing strength in research-based learning and higher education.
University officials said the results show the strong academic culture being built at Nalanda, where students are encouraged to think critically, conduct research and engage with different disciplines. The students who qualified belong to several schools, including ecology and environment studies, archaeology, management, languages, historical studies, and philosophy and religious studies. Their success shows how the university is supporting both traditional subjects and modern fields of study.
Among the achievers is Arka Mukherjee from the School of Ecology and Environment Studies, who qualified for both assistant professorship and PhD admission. Others qualified for PhD entry, including Shruti Suhani, Binamra Deb and Joel Guha from the School of Languages and Literature; Shambhawi Vardan and Abhilash Tripathi from Ecology and Environment Studies; Tiyasa Jena, Suyash Biyala and Md. Shahrukh Khan from Archaeology; Akangsha Basumatary from Historical Studies; Jagtap Prashant Jagannath and Pragati Prerna from Hindu Studies; Pradeep Kumar and Richa Sharma from Management Studies; and Khusi Kothari from the School of Buddhist Studies, Philosophy and Comparative Religions.
Vice Chancellor Professor Sachin Chaturvedi congratulated the students and said their success reflects the quality of teaching and mentoring at Nalanda University. He added that the university is planning special training and mentoring programmes to further support these scholars in their academic journey. According to him, their achievement will inspire other students and strengthen Nalanda’s role as a leading centre of higher learning in India.
