FLAME University, Pune

About College:

The FLAME University is located in the education hub of Pune in Maharashtra. It is one of the newer universities in India, established only in 2015. This university has been established with the clear mandate to promote liberal education, for which it considers itself, one of the pioneers in India. This is clearly understood by the name this university was first born with- the FLAME Foundation for Liberal and Management Education. The university defines liberal education as a mode of study which involves a multi- disciplinary approach. A critical thought process, team collaboration, leadership and self- reflection are hallmarks of the same. The FLAME University may be divided into its four constituent schools. These are the- FLAME School of Liberal Education, FLAME School of Business, FLAME School of Communication and the FLAME School of Fine & Performing Arts. 

The university itself has been recognized by the UGC (University Grants Commission). The courses have also been accredited by the NBA (National Board of Accreditation). It is also a member of the CFA University Affiliation Program. The campus of the FLAME University covers over sixty acres of land in Pune. This campus is a particularly renowned thanks to its architectural design by the renowned B.V. Doshi, who is a winner of the Pritzker Prize, often considered the Nobel for architects. The Flame University has also quickly risen up the rankings across the platforms. The Careers 360 magazine has placed it at the 31^st rank within the management education category. 

Courses are available here at the FLAME University at both the UG as well as PG levels. The university has made a radical departure from the usual norm of pigeonholing students to traditional streams of arts, commerce and the sciences. This prevents cross- discipline fertilization. Students also do not get a complete picture of their areas of specialization until after choosing. So, the FLAME University has three courses at the undergrad level, but with a number of common subjects in the first two years. The degrees are awarded in B.A., BSc. and in BBA. The said BBA may also be taken up with a Communications Management specialization. During the summers, a number of immersion papers need to be taken up by students from across the disciplines. These are the subjects in the areas such as in- Critical Thinking, Film Appreciation, Environmental Studies, Literature, Organic Farming and few more. 

The philosophy of the liberal education gets built further by the optional fourth year after the end of the three- year programmes. Inter- disciplinary research and scholarship, are most encouraged at this level. Likewise, at the master’s level too, the MBA course is available. It can also be pursued in the specialization of Communications Management. There are also some programmes here for working professionals, seeking a skill upgrade. For this, there is the FLAME Investment Lab (FIL). Here research is done in several areas, but with focus on- economics, business, history, psychology, philosophy, finance, mathematics and in political science. Several MDPs (Management Development Programmes) have also been conducted on campus. Some of the popular areas in which these have been held in are- Communication through Storytelling, Analytics for Strategic Decision Making, Wealth Planning & Management, Supply Chain Analytics & Risk Management, Mergers & Acquisitions, plus some more. 

The FLAME University has also been extremely proactive in sealing agreements with foreign universities. This helps in research collaboration, facilitating exchange programmes and generating consulting assignments. Such partners of this university are located all over the world, in the countries of USA, Canada, France, Germany and the UK. Some leading names in it include- University of Oxford, Quest University, King’s University College, York University, DHBW, IESEG School of Management, Yale University, Boston University, Babson University, Wellesley College and the Indian University. There is also a renowned Writing Centre on campus. The library here, known as the Vivekananda Library, is one of the best stocked within the region. Besides the physical books on display, it also provides digital access to en number of international academic journals for research and academic purposes.

Research forms a key ingredient at the FLAME University. For this purpose, there are several centres of excellence on campus. These are here, for the areas of- Mathematical Modelling, Case Development, South & Southeast Asia Studies, Organizational Growth & Excellence, Public Policy, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Earth & Environment and for Experimental Social Sciences. Several conferences are also held on campus, periodically organized by these respective relevant centres. The students and faculty members have both got their works published across platforms. The placements have also kept pace, doing better year on year. Several training modules have also been designed to help the students in this regard, to be more employable. Some of the top participating companies in recent seasons have been the likes of- Deloitte, Gallup, Kantar, Blue Dart, Zee Entertainment, CRISIL, ENAM Group, India bulls, ICICI Lombard, RBL Bank, Karvy, Ambuja Cement, Info Edge India, SKF, ITC Hotels, Zomato, D Mart and many more.