University of Gour Banga, Malda

The University of Gour Banga (UGB) is a public state university situated in English Bazar, Malda district, West Bengal, India. Established in 2008 by the Government of West Bengal under West Bengal Act XXVI of 2007, it was created to improve access to quality higher education in the less educationally developed districts of Malda, Uttar Dinajpur, and Dakshin Dinajpur. The university has territorial jurisdiction over these districts and affiliates 25 general degree colleges, with a combined enrollment of about 1.5 lakh students, excluding Raiganj University College. UGB itself runs 23 postgraduate departments across three faculties, with around 2,500 students enrolled. Prof. Surabhi Bandyopadhyay served as its first vice-chancellor, with Dr. Tapash Kumar Chattopadhyay as the first acting registrar. The university moved to its own campus near Rabindra Bhaban in 2011 and has since added on-campus hostel facilities for 300 students. It received a 'B' grade with a CGPA of 2.30 from NAAC in 2016. In 2024, five UGB researchers were listed among the world's top 2% of scientists by Stanford University. The university has also engaged in academic partnerships, such as a 2017 MoU with Karnataka Samskrit University, and has contributed to research in antimicrobial and cancer treatment studies.