Jadavpur University is a premier educational institute in India. It is one of the few universities in Kolkata to have two distinct campuses, one in Jadavpur and the other in Bidhan Nagar(Salt Lake).

The Salt Lake campus has five engineering departments and a cricket field which is maintained by the Cricket Association of Bengal. The academic departments in Jadavpur University is organised under three faculties, Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Engineering and Technology and Faculty of Science.

Each faculty is placed under the leadership of Dean while each department is placed under the adminstrative control of respective Head of Departments. The Head of theDepartments function under the policies framed by the Board of Studies. The chief academic and administrative officer of the University is the Vice Chancellor who is elected from the professors for a fixed period. The Governor of the state of West Bengal is the ex-officio Chancellor of the University. The Engineering faculty had the semester system and few years back the arts and the science faculties followed the footsteps of the engineering faculty instead of the old annual system.

The history of the University dates back to the colonial period. In 1906, a group of Bengali intellectuals Rabindranath Tagore, Aurobindo Ghosh, Raja Subodh Chandra Mullick and Brajendra Kishore Roychowdhury decided to step up an institution that would offer education to the masses and as well as a mark of protest for the partition of Bengal. The National Council of Education was set up with Rash Behari Ghosh as the first President.

In the post independence period the West Bengal State Legislature along with the Government of India enacted the Jadavpur University Act which gave full autonomy to the University. Since then 24th December is observed as the Convocation Day. The Emblem of the University is a three flamed lamp encompassed by lotus petals. The Lamp stands for Knowledge and the three flames symbolises Intellectual Training, Cultivation of Emotions and Imaginations and Spirirtual Development. The lotus petals at the base represent Fine Arts and Culture.The motto of the University is `To know is to Grow`.

The Faculty of Arts consists of twelve departments. They are Department of Bengali, Department of Comparative Literature, Department of Economics, Department of English, Department of Film Studies, Department of History, Department of International Relations, Department of Library & Information Science, Department of Philosophy Department of Physical Education,Department of Sanskrit and the Department of Sociology.

The Faculty of Engineering and Technology dates back to the erstwhile National Council of Education. There are sixteen departments which are spread in both the campus. They are Department of Architecture, Department of Chemical Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering,Department of Computer Science & Engineering,Department of Construction Technology,Department of Electrical Engineering,Department of Electronics & Tele-Communication Engineering,Department of Food Technology & Bio-Chemical Engineering,Department of Instrumentation and Electronics Engineering,Department of Mechanical Engineering,Department of Metallurgical Engineering,Department of Pharmaceutical Technology,Department of Power Engineering,Department of Production Engineering,Department of Printing Technology,Department of Information Technology and the Adult Continuing Education and Extension Department.

The Faculty of Science in Jadavpur University was created in 1956 with six departments which includes Department of Chemistry, Department of Physics, Department of Mathematics, Department of Geological Science, Department of Instrumentation Science and the Department of Life Science and Bio-Technology.

The University has several research centres which are as follows, Centre for Ambedkar Studies ,Centre for Marxian Studies ,Centre for Refugee Studies,Centre for European Studies,Centre of Indology,Centre for Knowledge Based Systems,Centre for Human Settlement Planning,Centre for Energy-Efficient Built Environment,Centre for Microprocessor Applications for Training, Education and Research,Centre for Surface Sciences,Centre for Cognitive Science,Computer Aided Design Centre,Centre for Mobile Computing & Communication,Centre for Quality Management System,Condensed Matter Physics Research Centre,IC Design and Fabrication Centre,Laser Materials Processing Programme,Nuclear and Particle Physics Research Centre,Plasma Studies Centre and Relativity and Cosmology Research Centre.

The School of advanced studies in Jadavpur University are: School of Archeological Dating, School of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, School of Education Technology, School of Energy Studies, School of Environmental Studies School of Industrial Pollution & Control,School of International Relations & Strategic Studies,School of Illumination Science, Engineering & Design,School of Languages,School of Laser Science & Engineering,School of Material Science & Technology,School of Media Communication & Culture, School of Bio-Sciences and Engineering, School of Cultural Texts and Records,School of Oceanographic Studies, School of Water Resource Studies, School of Women`s Studies and the School of Natural Product Studies.

The social life of the university is also very exciting which revolves around canteen, common rooms and student activities. The university hosts one of the oldest cultural festivals in Eastern India, "Sanskriti" whose curtain raiser takes place in the Salt Lake campus.

One of the distinguished faculty members of the University was Amartya Sen. Shankha Ghosh, Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Paritosh Sen, Buddhadev Bose and Alokeranjan Dasgupta are the other distinguished faculty members. Notable personalities now famous in different spheres of life have graduated from this university.