Faculties and institutions of University of Peradeniya
# Faculties and institutions of University of Peradeniya

The University of Peradeniya, in Sri Lanka, is composed of nine undergraduate faculties of study. These faculties contain 79 departments in total. In addition, the university has two postgraduate institutions and six affiliated centres.

## History

Under the pioneering work of Sir Ivor Jennings, University of Ceylon was established in 1942. At the beginning, it had only three present day faculties, namely; Faculty of Arts and Oriental Studies, Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Science. A Faculty of Law also functioned separately. Since then, five other faculties have been added to the university at different times. Latest addition is the Faculty of Allied Health Science which was established in 2005. It drew much attention of the media as well as the professionals of health sector due to circumstances regarding its establishment. Department of Law operate within the faculty of Arts.

## Faculties of Study

### Faculty of Agriculture

A faculty of Agriculture was established in the University of Ceylon in-order to meet the requirements of manpower for research and development of the agricultural industry in Sri Lanka. At the beginning, it functioned as the Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Science, together with departments of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science. It was only by 1973, it became a separate faculty in the University of Peradeniya. The faculty offers two undergraduate degree programs; B.Sc. in Agricultural Technology and Management and B.Sc. in Food Science and Technology. The first one is offered since 2006, replacing the traditional degree, B.Sc. in Agriculture and the latter one since 2004. Faculty of Agriculture has several sub campuses except the main campus located in Peradeniya. Agricultural Farm School is situated in Kundasale, Sri Lanka, 25 kilometers away from the faculty. Another sub campus is located in Mahailuppallama, in the North Central province of Sri Lanka. The faculty maintains two residential facilities for the students in the Mahailuppallama campus.

**Departments in the Faculty of Agriculture**

* Department of Agricultural Biology
* Department of Agricultural Economics and Business Management
* Department of Agricultural Engineering
* Department of Agricultural Extension
* Department of Animal Science
* Department of Crop Science
* Department of Food Science and Technology
* Department of Soil Science

### Faculty of Arts

Consisting of 16 academic departments of study, several institutions and a museum, Faculty of Arts is considered to be the largest faculty in University of Peradeniya. It was established with the establishment of University of Ceylon in 1942. Initially, it functioned as faculties of Arts and Oriental Studies. It had seven departments; Classics, Economics, English, Geography, History, Oriental Languages, and Philosophy. The Department of Oriental Languages was divided in 1943 into the four separate departments of Sinhalese, Tamil, Pali and Sanskrit. Academic disciplines, Law and Arabic were added in 1945, Sociology, Education and Modern Languages in 1949, Archaeology in 1959 and Buddhist Philosophy in 1964. Latest additions are Fine Arts in 2001 and Management Studies in 2002. Student enrolment in the faculty is around 3000 at present.

**Departments in the Faculty of Arts**

* Department of Archaeology
* Department of Arabic & Islamic Civilization
* Department of Classical Language
* Department of Economics
* Department of English & French
* Department of Education
* Department of Fine Arts
* Department of Geography
* Department of History
* Department of Management
* Department of Pali & Buddhist Studies
* Department of Philosophy & Psychology
* Department of Political Science
* Department of Sinhala
* Department of Sociology
* Department of Tamil & Hindu

The Department of Education conducts only postgraduate programs leading to a Diploma in Education, MA and M.Phil. degrees, while all other departments of study have both undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs

### Faculty of Dental Sciences

The faculty of Dental Sciences was established as the Dental School of University of Ceylon in 1943. A part of the faculty was moved to Peradeniya in 1954. It became a department of the faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya with its establishment in Peradeniya, in 1961. In 1980, the Dental School was departmentalized into 5 departments, and in October 1986 it achieved Faculty status. Two other departments were added to the faculty in 1990 and 1997. Faculty underwent a massive change with the opening of new faculty building and Teaching Hospital on 12 June 1998.

**Departments of the Faculty of Dental Sciences**

* Department of Basic Sciences
* Division of Pharmacology
* Department Oral Surgery/Cleft Care
* Department of Oral Medicine & Periodontology
* Department of Prosthetic Dentistry
* Department of Microbiology
* Department of Radiology
* Department of Oral Pathology
* Department of Restorative Dentistry
* Department of Community Dental Health

### Faculty of Engineering

Faculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya is the oldest engineering faculty in Sri Lanka, established on 1 July 1950. It offers full-time Undergraduate Courses leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science in engineering (BSc.Eng.) and postgraduate degrees; Master of Science in Engineering (MSc.Eng.), Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). Faculty of Engineering is the host for the largest theatre in the university, E.O.E. Pereira memorial theatre.

**Departments of the Faculty of Engineering**

* Department of Chemical and Process Engineering
* Department of Civil Engineering
* Department of Computer Engineering
* Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
* Department of Engineering Mathematics
* Department of Mechanical Engineering
* Department of Production Engineering

### Faculty of Medicine

Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya is the second medical school in Sri Lanka, established in 1966.

**Departments of the Faculty of Medicine**

* Department of Anatomy
* Department of Surgery
* Department of Biochemistry
* Department of Paediatrics
* Department of Physiology
* Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
* Department of Pharmacology
* Department of Psychiatry
* Department of Parasitology
* Department of Anaesthesiology
* Department of Microbiology
* Nuclear Medicine Unit
* Department of Pathology
* Department of Forensic Medicine
* Medical Education Unit
* Department of Community Medicine
* Department of Medicine

### Faculty of Science

Faculty of Science was established in 1961. At the beginning it had only the departments of Botany, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics and Zoology. Admission of the students to the first batch took place in the 1961/62 academic year. Prior to that, the faculty was located in Colombo. Faculty offers general and special Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) Degrees and several postgraduate degrees.

**Departments of the Faculty of Science**

* Department of Botany
* Department of Chemistry
* Department of Geology
* Department of Mathematics
* Department of Molecular Biology and Bio-technology
* Department of Physics
* Department of Statistics and Computer Science
* Department of Zoology

### Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science was established in 1947, along with the faculty of Agriculture. Establishment of both faculties was approved by the Ministry of Education, on 5 April 1947. It was moved to Peradeniya in 1954. In 1973, the Department of Veterinary Science was upgraded to a School of Veterinary Science within a Faculty of Medical, Dental and Veterinary Sciences. By 1980, it received the full faculty status. Faculty was officially opened on 27 March 1980 with Professor S.T. Fernando as its first dean.

**Departments of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science**

* Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences
* Department of Veterinary Pathobiology
* Department of Public Health & Pharmacology
* Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences
* Department of Farm Animal Health and Production

### Faculty of Allied Health Sciences

Faculty of Allied Health Sciences is the 1st new addition to the university in 55 years, after the establishment of Faculty of Engineering. But this has drawn much attention of the media as well as the professionals of health sector due to circumstances regarding its establishment. And the controversy has not yet been settled.

**Departments of the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences**

   * Department of Medical Laboratory Science
   * Department of Nursing
   * Department of Physiotherapy
   * Department of Pharmacy
   * Department of Radiography/Radiotherapy

## Post-graduate Institutes

University of Peradeniya has two postgraduate institutions.

### Post-graduate Institute of Science

Post-graduate Institute of Science (PGIS) is a national institute established by the Ministry of Higher Education, Sri Lanka in 1996.

### Post-graduate Institute of Agriculture

Post-graduate Institute of Agriculture (PGIA) was established in 1975. It offers four postgraduate degrees in total, namely, M.Sc., M.Phil., MBA and Ph.D. in agriculture. PGIA's Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree program was initiated in 1998 and is the first such Programme offered in Sri Lanka outside Colombo, and the third to be offered by a public university in the country.

## Institutions in University of Peradeniya

* Centre for the Study of Human Rights
* Internet and Communication Services Unit
* Information Technology Center
* Centre for Distance and Continuing Education
* Center for Environmental Studies

### Institutions affiliated to the Faculty of Agriculture

* Agricultural Biotechnology Centre (AgBC) - This is the only Agricultural Biotechnology Centre of the country,
* Agriculture Education Unit (AEU)
* Agribusiness Centre (AbC)

### Senerath Paranavitana Teaching and Research Museum

Senerath Paranavitana Teaching and Research Museum is an affiliated institution to the Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Arts. It was established in 1960.

