| South Asian University | |
| Motto: | Knowledge without borders |
| President: | Prof. K. K. Aggarwal[1] |
| Vice-President: | S. K. Venugopal (acting)[2] |
| Students: | 800+ |
| Budget: | ₹448.13 crore (US$54.07 Million) [3] |
| Country: | India |
| Campus: | Urban |
| Affiliations: | Recognised by all SAARC Countries |
South Asian University (SAU) is an international university sponsored by the eight Member States of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The eight countries are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The university started admitting students in 2010 at a temporary campus at Akbar Bhawan, India. Since February 2023, the University is running on its permanent campus at Maidan Garhi in South Delhi, India,[4] next to Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).[5]
At the 13th SAARC Summit held in Dhaka in November 2005, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh proposed the establishment of a South Asian University to provide world-class facilities and professional faculty to students and researchers from SAARC member countries.[5] The "Inter-governmental Agreement for the Establishment of the South Asian University" was signed at the 14th SAARC Summit. The SAARC member states also decided that the university would be established in India.[5] Professor G.K. Chadha, Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council member and former vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, was formally appointed the CEO of the project and first President.[6]
India provides the majority of funds, around, for the foundation of the University, which is around 79 per cent of the total cost of the full establishment of the University until 2014. As of 2018, Pakistan had cleared most of its dues payable.[7] As of 2023, all the member countries other than India have defaulted on paying the dues.[8]
The first academic session of the university started in August 2010, with two post-graduate academic programmes in Economics and Computer Science., SAU offered Master's and MPhil/PhD programs in Applied Mathematics, Biotechnology, Computer Science, Economics, International Relations, Legal Studies and Sociology.[9] The degrees of the university are recognized by all the member nations of the SAARC according to an inter-governmental agreement signed by the foreign ministers of the eight SAARC member states.[10]
South Asian University predominantly attracts students from the eight SAARC countries, although students from other continents also attend. There is a country quota system for the admission of students. SAU conducts admission tests annually at various centres in eight countries.
In July of 2024 the institution was involved in controversy in which PhD scholar was forced to apologize and his supervisor resigned following a controversy over the scholar's doctoral research proposal on Kashmir ethnography and politics.[11] The proposal cited Noam Chomsky's criticism of the National Democratic Alliance government.[11] A show-cause notice was issued to the scholar, and a disciplinary inquiry was launched against the supervisor, Sasanka Perera, who subsequently resigned.[11]
The campus of South Asian University is at Maidan Garhi, adjacent to IGNOU and Asola Wildlife Sanctuary. The Master Layout Plan of this 100-acre campus houses faculty buildings, hostels, playgrounds, residential apartments and a club. The construction was completed by 2022-23.[12]
The founding President of the university, G. K. Chadha, died on 1 March 2014.[13] On 3 November 2014, Dr. Kavita Sharma took charge as the President of the university.[14] She retired in November 2019.[15] A.V.S. Ramesh Chandra was appointed as acting President. He was followed by Ranjan Kumar Mohanty, who is the last acting President. Currently, on 27 December 2023, Prof. K. K. Agrawal took charge as the President of the University for the next four years.[16]
The decision-making bodies of South Asian University comprise the Governing Board,[17] the Executive Council, the Academic Council, and the Finance Committee.