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Siksha 'O' Anusandhan Deemed to be University in Bhubaneswar, located in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, has emerged today as one of the top institutions of higher education in the country within a period of 25 years.

Known for quality education and focused research, SOA-- as the university is known by its acronym, is home to about 14,000 students including from 15 countries who have been pursuing various courses.

The genesis of the SOA story dates back to the year 1996 when a teacher, with a burning desire to set up an institution of higher education of the highest caliber, launched an engineering college, known as Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER) in Bhubaneswar.

The seedling continued to blossom as eight other institutions dealing with different disciplines came up around it over the years. It was on July 17, 2007 that the Ministry of Education conferred on it the status of a Deemed to be University. Besides engineering and technology, the University has institutions imparting education in medical sciences, dental sciences, management sciences, pharmaceutical sciences, nursing, agricultural sciences, legal studies and hospitality and tourism management.

The university offers 23 Under Graduate and 68 Post Graduate, 15 Post Masters, Ph. D and Post Doctoral programs in different subjects. Five of SOA's engineering programs have been accredited by the National Board of Accreditation Board (NBA) while three have been accredited by Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) of USA.

The university was ranked 16th in University category; 27th in Engineering ; 18th Medical Science; 10th in Dental Science; 9th in Legal Studies and 45th in Research category by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) set up by the Ministry of Education, Government of India in 2022.

The university reached a huge milestone recently when National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), accredited it with the highest Grade A++ with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.88 out of 4.

SOA's vision is to become a leading institution of higher learning in its chosen area to prepare future generations through quality teaching and innovative research. Its mission is to churn out responsible, enlightened and productive citizens.

Studying at SOA has been a memorable experience for students.

The city of Bhubaneswar is a melting pot of the ancient and modern with sky scrapers standing next to temples and monuments with a history of thousands of years. The buzz of modern life and the footprint of ancient history combine to make it a unique location.

SOA's sprawling 127 acres fully wi-fi campuses have a total built up area of nearly 5.5 lakh square meters, 197 e-enabled class rooms, 340 Post Graduate and Under Graduate labs, fully automated libraries with ample Print Learning Resources, 10 student activity centres and multiple ISP connectivity (more than 10 Gbps). It has one central library with a floor area of 11,617 square meters, nine institutional and 42 departmental libraries.

SOA has appreciable faculty-student ratio with the number of faculty with Ph.D or equivalent degrees accounting for more than 75 per cent of the teachers. Many faculty members are qualified from top-notch institutes of the country and abroad.

It provides immense scope for sporting activities for students as also facilities for practicing Yoga and indulge in other pursuits. The SOA Fortnightly Academic Lecture (SOAFAL) series, graced by an eminent personality from different walks of life every fortnight, has become one of the most attractive programs on offer. SOA also has a vibrant Alumni platform.

The university also runs the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, its faculty of medicine, which has emerged as one of the most important health care centres in eastern India.

Students at SOA are encouraged to engage in creative work and learn to serve people in need. SOA has 20 Student Clubs and Activity Centres to promote extra-curricular activities and explore hidden talent of the students to develop his or her personality. A large number of students work among slum children taking care of their education, nutrition and hygiene.

SOA provides scope for high-quality research and support to the researchers by creating a conducive environment for their projects.

The university follows a teaching-learning process grounded on outcome and project based learning which has been paying rich dividends as students have been receiving lucrative placement offers every year. Average placement of students is 90%.

It has 16 research centres and 58 research labs working in 26 identified thrust areas. These research centres include Centre of Excellence for Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences, Centre for Bio-Mechanical Sciences, Multi-disciplinary Research Centre, Centre for Nano Sciences and Nano Technology, Centre for Applied Mathematics, Centre for Rural and Tribal Development, Centre for Reproductive Health, National MEMS Design Centre, Centre for Bio-fuel and Bio-processing and Centre for Environment and Climate.

Some of the ongoing research work is supported by grants sanctioned by several external agencies including the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, Defense Research and Development Organisation, Science and Engineering Research Board, Life Science Research Board and Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

More than 1000 research scholars and around 1000 PG students are pursuing research in different emerging areas. Around 1500 SCOPUS indexed publications per year are credited to SOA.

Environment is one area where SOA aims to act big in the coming years. Being located in the coastal state of Odisha which has been facing the consequences of climate change, the university is willing to help and contribute towards reversing the situation. Odisha, in recent years, has emerged as one of the hottest states of the country encountering frequent cloudbursts, lightning strikes, very severe cyclonic storms, floods and drought.

The Centre for Environment and Climate monitors climatic conditions while taking up research work and predicting the possibility of lightning strikes all over Odisha state hours in advance on a daily basis by deploying lightning detectors in different places providing protection for farmers working in open fields.

Significantly, 13 of SOA's researchers had found place in Stanford University's prestigious world ranking of two per cent scientists which was drawn up on the basis of a subject-wise analysis.