Royal University of Bhutan
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འབྲུག་རྒྱལ་འཛིན་གཙུག་ལག་སློབ་སྡེ་ | |
 | |
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Established | 2003 |
| Chancellor | King of Bhutan |
| Vice-Chancellor | Chewang Rinzin |
| Location | , |
| Nickname | RUB |
| Website | http://www.rub.edu.bt/ |
The Royal University of Bhutan (Dzongkha: འབྲུག་རྒྱལ་འཛིན་གཙུག་ལག་སློབ་སྡེ་; Wylie: 'brug rgyal-'dzin gtsug-lag-slob-sde),[1] founded on June 2, 2003, by a royal decree, is the national university of Bhutan. It is the first and the oldest university in Bhutan.
The university was established to consolidate the management of tertiary education in Bhutan. It is a decentralized university with nine constituent colleges and two affiliated college[2] spread across the kingdom. The principle which influenced the development of a university system was the government's priority for equitable development. The colleges of the university are:
- College of Natural Resources (CNR) in Lobesa, Punakha[3]
- College of Science and Technology (CST) in Rinchhending, Phuntsholing[4]
- Gaeddu College of Business Studies (GCBS) in Gedu, Chukha[5]
- College of Language and Culture Studies (CLCS) in Taktse, Trongsa.[6]
- Jigme Namgyel Engineering College (JNEC) in Dewathang, Samdrup Jongkhar[7]
- Paro College of Education (PCE) in Paro[8]
- Royal Thimphu College (RTC) in Ngabiphu, Thimphu (affiliated college) [9]
- Norbuling Righter College, paro (affiliated college)
- Samtse College of Education (SCE) in Samtse[10]
- Sherubtse College in Kanglung, Trashigang[11]
- Gyalpozhing College of Information Technology in Chamjekha, Thimphu[12]
The university maintains a connection with other universities which include the University of New Brunswick in Canada, Naropa University and the School for International Training in the United States, the University of Salzburg in Austria, and the University of Delhi in India, in the areas of research, student exchange and internship programs for students and faculty.
Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the fifth king of Bhutan, is the chancellor. His Majesty The King appointed Chewang Rinzin as the Vice Chancellor of the Royal University of Bhutan on 20 December 2024.[13]
The Centre for Bhutan Studies (CBS) in Thimphu, originally slated to become a member institution of the university, has retained its autonomous status.
Administration
Based on the distributed model with campuses of the colleges forming the core element of the university, the office of the vice-chancellor at the center is responsible for central coordination while the constituent member colleges look after academic functions of teaching and research within their respective colleges. Located at Mothithang, Thimphu, the office of the vice-chancellor consists of the departments of registry, academic affairs, planning and resources, and research and external relations.
The twofold objective of the university as stated in the royal charter (RUB 2003, p. 3)[14] is to develop and provide programmes of study at tertiary education level, of relevance and good quality which will fulfill the needs of the country for an educated and skilled population; and to promote and conduct research, to contribute to the creation of knowledge in an international context and to promote the transfer of knowledge of relevance to Bhutan.
