Aryabhatta Knowledge University (AKU) is a collegiate public state university located in Mithapur, Patna, in the Indian state of Bihar. The university is named after Aryabhatta, the ancient Indian mathematician and astronomer often regarded as the father of Indian mathematics.
| Name | Aryabhatta Knowledge University |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | AKU |
| Type | Collegiate public state university |
| Location | Mithapur, Patna, Bihar, India |
| Named after | Aryabhatta |
AKU functions as a collegiate university, with affiliated colleges across Bihar. As per the position in 2022–23, it is a statutory requirement for colleges in the state offering professional programmes — other than those in medical sciences and engineering — to be affiliated with the university. This affiliating role gives AKU a significant regulatory and academic position in the higher education landscape of Bihar.
The university hosts four constituent schools and centres:
By serving as the affiliating body for professional courses outside the medical and engineering streams, AKU plays a central role in standardising curricula and academic governance for a wide range of professional programmes in Bihar. The naming of the university after Aryabhatta links the institution symbolically to the long tradition of mathematical and astronomical scholarship associated with the region of ancient Magadha and Pataliputra.