Poll: India's best Science colleges

The results of the 14th India Today annual survey of the top colleges in India were declared last week. The poll ranked 1,500 colleges in the streams of science, arts, commerce, medicine, engineering and law on the five parameters of:

• Reputation of college
• Quality of academic input
• Student care
• Infrastructure
• Job prospects

Based on these and other factual and perceptual ratings, the best institutes were determined and ranked. While many continued to rule the rankings, there were some new entrants as well.

Here we look at the top 10 Science colleges and why they got there...

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Established in February 1881, St Stephen's is the oldest and one of the best recognised institutions in Delhi. While Loyola College, Chennai ruled the rankings for the last five year's, St Stephen's finally managed to edge its way into the top spot.

The college attracts the country's best students thanks not only to its reputation for quality education but also because of its courses, infrastructure and faculty.

Its science course includes bachelor's programmes in mathematics, chemistry and physics (with an honours programme) as well as master's programmes in operations research, maths, chemistry and physics.

Some famous names that have studied at St Stephen's are include Kapil Sibal, Salman Khurshid and Shashi Tharoor.

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Loyola slid down the rankings for the first time in five years to land at number 2.

Founded in July 1927, the college has established for itself an enviable reputation of excellence in education, one that many others in the country aspire for but few have achieved.

The college runs two shifts (one government aided and the other student-funded) offering comprehensive, intergrated courses in zoology, chemistry, physics, maths, plant biology, statistics, computer application, computer science and visual communication.

One of the many aspects that sets this college apart is its focus on research activities, that is supported by its Entomology Research Institute and Loyola Institute of Frontier Energy (LIFE) among other initiatives.

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Moving up two spots from last year is Presidency College, which is well-established as one of the leading colleges for undergraduate studies in science.

Established as Hindoo College in 1817, it was renamed and brought under the Kolkata government in 1855. Today, the college offers intergrated undergrad programmes in botany, chemistry, biochemistry, geology, maths, physics, physiology, statistics and physics that are suppoted by robust infrastructure that include an experimental garden, libraries and lab facilities.

Accredited by the NAAC as an A+ insitution, its alumni include Amartya Sen and Satyajiy Ray.

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Celebrating is 140th year, St Xavier's has a rich history of academic excellence. Staying put at fourth place, the college is as well-recognised for its dedication to academic excellence as it is for its college fest Malhar.

The college offers integrated undergrad courses in chemistry, zoology, microbiology, life sciences, botany, geology, physics, maths and statistics that are supported by robust lab facilities and faculty. The college also supports research in botany and chemistry through its established on-campus research facilities.

Zubin Mehta, Ismail Merchant, Zakir Hussain and Sunil Gavaskar are just some of the well-known names that have studied here.

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Sliding two spots to number 5 is St Xavier's, Kolkata. Established in 1834 and the first autonomous college under Calcutta University, SXC has to its credit a long history of academic excellence.

The college offers integrated undergraduate courses in physics, chemistry, maths, computer science, statistics and microbiology and master's programmes in microbiology, computer science, biotechnology and physics.

Some of its alumni include such illustrious names as Rabindranath Tagore, Jyoti Basu and Sourav Ganguly.

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Fergusson, celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, moved up two slots to number 6.

With over 5,500 students on campus, the college offers a comprehensive undergrad programme spanning 13 subjects many of which are also offered at the master's level with research support extended for PhD studies as well.

The college is well known for its association with Indian politics, having produced a number of ministers and even two prime ministers -- PV Narsimha Rao and VP Singh.

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Established in 1969, Christ College has earned the reputation of a trusted institution thanks to its continued focus on quality education.

The college has over 1,700 students enrolled in its science stream that offers integrated programmes in physics, maths, chemistry, biology and electronics. The courses are ably supported by a robust campus and infrastructure, and well-rounded faculty, just some of the reasons why it makes its debut in the top 10 this year.

It is the first college in Karnataka to be accredited by the NAAC and is currently rated as an A+ institution.

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One of the premier women's colleges in the country, Miranda House moves from 12th spot to number 8 this year.

Established in 1948, the college has over 2,500 students on campus and offers eight integrated programmes in the science undergrad stream.

Many of the college's alumni have gone on to illustrious careers in diverse fields, some of whom include author Anita Desai, artist Anjolie Ela Menon, historian Romila Thapar and actress Nandita Das.

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Also making its debut in the top 10 is Delhi's Hans Raj College.

A fairly young college (established in 1948) it is one of Delhi University's largest constituent colleges, offering 10 integrated programmes under its undergraduate science stream.

Some of the college's notable alumni inlcude actor Shah Rukh Khan, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap and journalist Vinod Dua.

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And rounding off the list is St Xavier's, Ahmedabad which dropped one spot to land at number 10.

The college offers bachelor's and master's programmes in science that are supproted by full-fledged departments in biology, chemistry, computer sciences, maths, biochem, physics and statistics.

While this institution might be slightly less known than its counterparts in Mumbai and Kolkata, it too has to its credit a number of former students who have gone on to national and international fame.

Some of these include, billiards champion Geet Sethi, danseuse Mallika Sarabhai and industrialist Sanjay Lalbhai.

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