Welcome to the Department of Statistics, Sardar Patel University.
The department was established in 1961 with the M.Sc. Statistics programme and a single faculty member, Prof. S. R. Patel. In 1964, Prof. S. M. Shah joined as the first Head of the Department and laid a strong foundation for its academic and research growth. The department was strengthened in three core areas of research—Statistical Inference, Design of Experiments, and Survey Sampling—which cater respectively to data analysis, data modelling, and data collection.
In 2005, the department expanded by introducing a second master’s programme, Master in Quality and Productivity Management (MQPM), which is now known as M.Sc. in Quality and Productivity Management (M.Sc. QPM). Prof. Ashok Shanubhogue made significant efforts to secure grants from the Department of Science and Technology (DST-FIST), leading to the establishment of a well-equipped computer laboratory. This facility enabled students to develop strong statistical computing skills and receive training in software such as SPSS, MINITAB, MATLAB, Oracle, and others. Currently, students are trained in R programming, Python, and SAS. The department’s research initiatives have also been reinforced through two consecutive five-year UGC SAP-DRS (I) and DRS (II) schemes.
As an integral part of the M.Sc. Statistics programme, two add-on Certificate Courses—Certificate in Biostatistics and Certificate in Financial Statistics—are offered. These courses provide fourth-semester students with the opportunity to become eligible for dual career pathways in both clinical and financial sectors.
In 2017, the department introduced a third master’s programme, M.Sc. Applied Statistics, with the objective of enhancing employability in industries and corporate sectors.
Continuing its commitment to academic advancement, the department launched the Ph.D. programme in Applied Statistics in 2023, further strengthening its research profile and providing advanced opportunities for scholars to contribute to emerging areas of statistical science.
Further expanding its academic portfolio, the department introduced two Postgraduate Diploma programmes in 2024:
• PG Diploma in Data Science
• PG Diploma in Quality and Productivity Management
These programmes are designed to provide industry-oriented training, focusing on practical skills, data-driven decision-making, and professional competence aligned with current market demands.
All three M.Sc. programmes include compulsory project work, ensuring hands-on experience in applying statistical methods across diverse domains. These real-time projects help students sharpen their analytical, computational, and problem-solving skills, thereby enhancing their employability in a competitive global environment.
Several students from the M.Sc. (QPM) programme have become entrepreneurs and established successful ventures. Others have advanced as biostatisticians in reputed national and multinational pharmaceutical companies. Many alumni have also developed distinguished academic careers as faculty members in institutes of national importance.
Our vision is to establish an internationally accredited and globally respected centre for statistical science that contributes to societal enrichment by developing ethical, dependable, and socially sensitive statisticians committed to excellence.
To realize this vision, the department remains dedicated to its mission:
(i) To attain academic excellence by continuously updating and expanding knowledge through teaching, research, and extension activities;
(ii) To bridge theory and practice through M.Sc. internship projects and corporate linkages for consultancy; and
(iii) To provide value-added quality education through innovation and continuous improvement.
Department added a third master level programme called M. Sc. Applied Statistics from the year 2017, in order to equip students with easy employability in Industries and Corporates.
All the three M. Sc. programmes of this department have compulsory project papers which make them gain hands-on experience with application of statistical methods in fields of their interest. This provides them real time opportunities to sharpen their statistical and computational skills and improve their chances of employability in this competitive world.
Few students of M.Sc. (QPM) programme have become entrepreneurs and founded their own businesses. Some of the students have risen to the position of biostatisticians in well-known small as well multinational pharmaceuticals. Numbers of students have developed themselves into successful faculties in institutes of national repute.
Our vision is to establish an internationally accredited and globally respected centre for statistical science that contributes to the societal enrichment by developing ethical, dependable and socially sensitive Statistician committed to excellence.
In order to make our vision a reality, department is continually on its mission to create skilled professionals in all possible fields, and is set to (i) attain academic excellence by updating and expanding horizon knowledge through teaching, research and extension activities, (ii) bring theory into practice through M. Sc. Internship Projects and corporate linkage for consultancy and (iii) provide value augmented quality education through innovations.