BRAC University is a private university in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Established in 2001, BRAC University is a modern institution that was set up with the aim of serving the Dhaka region, seeking solutions to challenges imposed by extreme poverty. The university prides itself on its three core values: “fostering knowledge creation”, “upholding human values” and “promoting sustainable development”.
The BRAC University experience is also unique in that it is the only institution in Bangladesh to include a compulsory residential semester. New undergraduates stay at a specially designed campus in Savar, which offers a holistic curriculum designed to cultivate soft skills and confidence.
Most of the university’s activity takes places at BRAC University New Campus, a five acre space capable of accommodating up to 15,000 students. The main campus building is a state-of-the-art affair: designed by the award-winning Singapore architectural firm WOHA Designs, it boasts a 700-seat auditorium, a park and a rooftop playground.
New Campus was designed with green energy and biodiversity in mind, and almost half the land area is reserved for green space and water reservoirs.
The university has a community of almost 10,000 students, around a 10th of whom are postgraduates. Teaching and examinations are undertaken in English, and the institution is accredited by the University Grants Commission. More than 7,000 students had graduated from its doors by 2020.
Undergraduate and postgraduate courses are organised across four core schools of learning: business, law, public health, and engineering and computer science. Taught subjects within these schools include architecture, economics and social sciences, English and humanities, mathematics and natural sciences.
In 2016, the university partnered with the Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech), Japan, to build Bangladesh’s first experimental university-made nano-satellite. The satellite was launched into space on 3 June 2017 at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 to the International Space Station.
Student life is full and varied, with extracurricular activities ranging from drama to debating, photography to outdoor adventure clubs.