Jawaharlal Nehru University is the foremost university in India and a world-renowned centre for teaching and research. Ranked number one in India by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with a Grade Point of 3.91 (on a scale of 4), JNU was ranked no 3 among all universities in India by the National Institutional Ranking Framework, Government of India, in 2016 and no 2 in 2017. JNU also received the Best University Award from the President of India in 2017. Still a young university, established by an act of Parliament in 1966, the strength, energy, and reputation of Jawaharlal Nehru University result from the vision that ideas are a field for adventure, experimentation, and unceasing quest, and that diversity of opinions are the basis for intellectual exploration. JNU is the place for the intellectually restless, the insatiably curious, and the mentally rigorous, giving them the space to grow amidst the calmness of an oasis, a green lung within the hustle and bustle, and the crowds of the capital city of India.

JNU has attempted to avoid the narrowly conceived Department structure of traditional universities, instead of bringing allied disciplines together in a few broad and inclusive entities called Schools, under whose interactive ambit are placed the more specialised units known as Centres. There are also Special Centres that are outside even the broad structures of School but may grow further.