New Delhi: With the growing need for developing alternative methods through specialised education to create a sustainable living, TERI University graduates today at their convocation ceremony, dedicated themselves to the importance of environmental protection and the need to maintain equity, ecological security, and the wealth of global natural resources.

TERI University held its Third Convocation ceremony today in which 9 students were conferred with doctoral degrees and 211 received master’s degree from the university. Present on the occasion were Mr Tajender Khanna, Hon’able Lt Governor, Delhi as the Chief Guest for the convocation along with Dr. R.K. Pachauri, Chancellor TERI University and Director-General, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, Dr. Kandeh Yumkella, Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Prof Bhavik R Bakshi, Vice Chancellor TERI University and Dr. Rajiv Seth, Registrar TERI University.

Commencing the convocation ceremony, Dr. R.K. Pachauri, Chancellor TERI University and Director-General TERI said, “The twenty-first century will undoubtedly represent a high point for human civilization in the development and utilization of knowledge on an unprecedented scale. We are living in a period of rapid change when skills and expertise in several fields are expanding across the globe while the depth and rigor of education needed to create them crosses new frontiers at a brisk rate. There is a unique opportunity today to produce leaders in various disciplines, who not only advance the content of specific professions but who are also sensitive to the importance of environmental protection and the need to maintain equity, ecological security, and the wealth of global natural resources.”

Accepting the Honorary Doctorate in Philosophy conferred upon him by TERI University, Mr Tajender Khanna in his address to the students said, “TERI has played a vanguard role globally by giving innovative solutions to global problems in the fields of energy, environment and current patterns of development, which are largely unsustainable. Today there is an urgent need of synthesis of economy, social forces and environment conservation that can be only brought about if students are sensitised and given knowledge about it. We have to trace back the issue of ecological imbalance, and here is where institutions like TERI University and its students will be role models to achieve sustainable global ecological balance”.

The guests of honour Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company and Dr. Kandeh Yumkella, Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), were also conferred an Honorary Doctorate in Philosophy by TERI University. Both the distinguished guests in their addresses lauded the role of TERI that has propelled and influenced the evolution of the University and hoped that the students who graduate from TERI University take the responsibility and duty to secure a sustainable future for generations ahead.

TERI University was set up in 1998 and was granted deemed-to-be-university status by the University Grants Commission in 1999. The university transcends the traditional teaching and its courses attract students from various fields like economics, geography, engineering that has allowed a concoction of various perspectives into the curriculum, which provides a holistic approach to their study. The University has partnered with several leading universities of USA, UK and Australia that has created a platform for an exchange of ideas, knowledge and research for both the faculty and students. Keeping the environmental challenges of the 21st century in mind, today the university offers 12 master’s level programmes – 7 M Sc, 2 MA, 1 M Tech and 2 MBA and 4 Doctoral Programmes.

TERI University is one of the ten universities worldwide selected by the MacArthur Foundation, headquartered in Chicago, to receive seed funding for its MA programme in Sustainable Development Practice, aiming to develop an international cadre of development professionals, well-equipped to tackle, beyond cultural boundaries and across sectoral divisions, the interwoven challenges of extreme poverty, disease, climate change and ecosystem vulnerability.

An exciting phase in the growth of the TERI University commenced exactly two years ago, when it moved to this new campus– built on a 2 acre plot that provides a setting which enhances learning and showcases the concept of modern green buildings. The campus is aesthetically designed with several features of passive solar design, energy-efficiency and water and waste management systems.

TERI University students undergo training and internships with government, multilateral and multinational agencies during as a part of academic curriculum. The university has a placement cell, as employment is considered as an integral part of the system. The cell taps government agencies like FAO, Dept. of Environment (Govt. of NCT, Delhi), multinational companies like ACC, Tata Power, Reliance Energy Ltd. and multilateral organisations like WWF, Action Aid International etc. for internships and employment programmes.