The University lies in the campus-town of Pantnagar in Kichha Tehseel and in the district of Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand.

[2] Uttar Pradesh (UP), under chief-ministership of Govind Ballabh Pant, took the first step and in 1954 invited an Indo- American team headed by Dr. K. R. Damle, the Vice-President of ICAR, to consider an area around Tarai State farm in erstwhile Nainital district as a possible site for a rural university.

[4][5] Encouraged by favourable view of the Damle team, two senior government officials- H S Sandhu and A N Jha visited United States to look for collaborations with US Universities.

Dr. William Thompson, a team member on site at Pantnagar, shared that it was unusual for the project to start a university in a place with nothing All buildings and facilities had to be constructed in the jungle there.

D P Singh was named vice chancellor of the university with complete control over its affairs until a new board of directors was chosen.

[9] Pantnagar University soon became a significant force in the development and transfer of High Yielding Variety seeds and related technology.

The university campus is located at a distance of 250 km from Delhi in Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand.

University shuttle service, local rickshaws, auto-rickshaws and matador vans connect various parts of the campus.

[28][29] Pantnagar is a non-affiliating university and its academic activities are organized through its nine constituent colleges (faculties), which run large undergraduate (UG) programs.

[31] ∗ Counted in associated College** Participating faculty from various departments The university shifted from a trimester to a semester system in the 1980s to reduce the workload on students.

[37][38] As Uttarakhand has been declared an 'Organic state', the present thrust of research is on Organic farming and Biological pest control.

The university has developed a pregnancy diagnostic kit for cattle and its Salmonellosis vaccine for poultry is in advanced trials.

University organises informal continuing education programs for rural people for achieving better diffusion of innovation.

The university reaches out to a wider clientele through short term training programs at its campuses, Farmer Field Schools, Participatory technology development programs, radio and television broadcast, community radio based narrowcasting, print media, Farmer's fairs, and other innovative communication technologies.

The university maintains a State Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute and a network of 11 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (Farm Science Centres, KVKs) located in various districts.

The older hostels are named after important personalities of India: Mohandas K. Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Govind Ballabh Pant, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Rabindranath Tagore, Sarojini Naidu, Kasturba Gandhi, Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya, Chittaranjan Das (I and II) and Vivekananda with the exception of a hostel named Silver Jublee, which commemorates 25 years of the university.

The names of newly constructed bhawans are inspired from the various geographical regions of the Uttarakhand — Gangotri, Yamunotri, Shivalik, Mandakini, Bhagirathi, Alaknanda etc.

These societies organise popular fests, fairs, cultural nights, treasure hunts and competitions year round.

The Pantnagar Chapter of SPIC MACAY regularly organises classical music and dance concerts by renowned artistes.

The university National Cadet Corps (NCC) chapter organises basic military training and adventure sports for student-cadets.

The Remount & Veterinary (R&V) core is a Cavalry regiment of NCC, which trains students for professional equestrianism (horse riding).