HOD Desk

It is a proud privilege and honour to welcome the viewers as Head of the Department of Geography, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, the first post graduate Department of Geography in the state of Rajasthan. The Department, as a unit of Faculty of Earth Sciences, is religiously committed to the vision and mission of the University to "provide knowledge and quality based education to the students by inculcating moral values, scientific temper and employing state of the art technologies while pursuing excellence towards creating manpower with high degree of intellectual, professional and cultural development to meet the national and global challenges".

The Department is presently offering UG, PG and Ph.D programs. Presently the PG program is following the Choice Based Credit System. Along with a sound understanding of the discipline, the curriculum has been so designed so as to introduce the students to applied aspects and techinal skills needed for research. Courses on digital cartography, satellite image interpretation and processing, geogpahical information system (GIS), SPSS software for quantitative analysis, project work for natural resource management using remote sensing and GIS are some of the courses aimed to enhance vocational skills at Master's level. The Department has adequate infrastructure - 02 well equipped GIS laboratories, Smart Class Room, state of the art Lecture Theatre, Departmental Library with approx. 1000 books and class rooms equipped with audio-visual teaching aids and other peripheral facilities like dedicated Wi-Fi, CCTV surveillance, power back up etc. The Department has been the nodal centre of IIRS Outreach Program since 2014 and has been facilitating the basic and advanced Ceritificate Courses on Geospatial Technology conducted   by Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS)-ISRO, Dehradun for all University students, scholars and faculty across disciplines. 

Student - centric approach is guiding force of the Department. Besides to regular teaching, several academic and extra-curricular activities are organized from time to time for the students and research scholars. These include educational tours, industry-academia collaborative workshops, technical trainings, sports and cultural events, celebration of commemorative days like Water Day, Women's Day, World Environment Day, GIS Day and so on.

During past two years trainings have been organised on variety of GPS/GNSS equipments, Total Station ; Web GIS ; image processing, GIS analysis, statistical softwares and platforms like Google Earth Engine, TNT Mips, QGIS, SPSS, IGiS , ArcGIS Pro etc. some of them in collaboration with industry partners like Scanpoint Geomatics Ltd., ESRI India, All Terra Solutions, Future Media etc. Educational tours have been organized to Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad; Regional Remote Sensing Centre -West, ISRO, Jodhpur; Ranthambore National Park; Bisalpur Dam; Rawatbhata Atomic Power Station to name a few. Students are provided opportunity to interact with leading experts in various fields. During recent past several dignitaries have visited the Department including Dr. Prithvish Nag, Former Surveyor General of India and Director, National Thematic Mapping Organization (NATMO); Dr. Prakash Chouhan, presently Director, National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), ISRO, Hyderabad; Dr. K. Mruthyunjay Reddy, Group Director, Facilities & Infrastructure Development Group (FIDG), NRSC; Sh. Ujjwal Gandhi, Spatial Thoughts ; Dr. Sandeep Goyal, Additional Project Director, MAP_IT, Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh, to name only a few.

In order to provide a safe and enabling learning environment to our students, the Department has instituted Parents'-Teachers' Association. Regular feedback is obtained from the parents regarding the curriculum, students' progress and further expectations for a wholesome learning experience. Post Graduate students are assigned 'Mentors' from amongst faculty members for day to day guidance and problem solving.

Students and scholars also get significant opportunities to participate in national/ international level initiatives which provide them wide exposure to realities of the world. In last 2-3 years our PG students and/or research scholars have participated in National Level 'COVID Vaccination Survey conducted by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India' ; Survey conducted by Centre for Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi on 'Media in India: Access, Practices, Concerns and Effects' ; and drive for E-Content development for school students of remote areas in Bihar state undertaken by US based NGO ' Turn the Bus'. 

Expanding its zone of responsibility and commitment beyond its students and scholars, the Department organizes several capacity building programs for faculty, researchers and government officials as well. A notable initiative is the national level Summer/ Winter Schools in Geospatial Science and Technology, a three week residential training program, organized in 2016, 2019 and 2022 under the aegis of National Geospatial Program (NGP) (earstwhile NRDMS), Department of Science & Technology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt. of India.

As a recognition of the efforts of the Department in the field of geospatial technology, it has been included among the premier institutions which have played a meaningful role in strengthening the geospatial ecosystem of the country, in the Document ' Academia' compiled by the Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India on the occassion of the United Nations 2nd World Geospatial Information Congress (UNWGIC) organized at Hyderabad in Oct. 2022. 

Prof. Seema Jalan