With one foot steeped in history, tradition and tribal culture, the other in industry, commerce and space technology, Gujarat has a large number of institutes of learning, research and development, many of which have been rated among the finest in the subcontinent. From historic universities and institutions started by Maharajahs, the British colonial powers and Mahatma Gandhi to the modern techno parks that have brought the state to the threshold of the information technology era, the range of institutional effort in Gujarat has few equals in India.

The former princely city of Vadodara, the capital of one of the three premier 21 gun salute states in India, is well known for the M.S. University, named for the late Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad (1875 to 1939) whose name is associated with progressive administration and education. The Maharajah established institutions of higher learning, and first mooted the possibility of making Vadodara a university town in 1909 AD. The late His Highness Maharaja Sir Pratapsinh Gaekwad finally followed up with the government and the Maharaja Sayajirao University was established on 26th April 1949. An interesting aspect of this historic university is that it has achieved name and fame in diverse fields of arts, science and commerce studies, including subjects like fine arts and home science that are ignored by many other universities of India. The departments of the university introduce visitors to archaeological, zoological and geological research undertaken by the students and faculty, and exhibitions are held from time to time displaying the work of the fine art students. Some of India's finest artists are alumni of the MS university.

Another unique institute of Vadodara is the Railway staff training college, which is housed in the 1914 AD Pratap vilas palace at Lalbagh designed by Stevens and set in a multi-acre complex of landscaped lawns and gardens. The college was earlier sited at Dehradhun and moved to Vadodara in 1952 AD.

The college offers formal learning, seminars, workshops and tutorials in classrooms, some of which were once the living quarters of royalty7, has a huge library of books, journals and periodicals in English and Hindi, with computer aided reference facilities, audiovisual tapes and software. A unique aspect of the institute is the Model Room which has different types of stations and enables students to work on various kinds of signals, interlocking systems and other railway technologies. The college is now working on applying information technology for railway staff training.Among the many palaces that have been converted to colleges, one of the most impressive is the Vadia palace of Rajpipla near Vadodra. The fabulous palace complex, with its acres of grounds suitable for forestry plantations, has been converted to a Forest Ranger's college.
Anand, on the Vadodara-Ahmedabad highway, is the centre of the white revolution in Gujarat. The AMUL dairy project and Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) is perhaps the largest food products marketing organisation in all of India. What has been set up here is an apex body of more than a dozen milk cooperatives in Gujarat established to give remunerative returns to millions of livestock farmers from over 10, 000 village societies, without ignoring the needs of the customer in terms of quality and prices. Consumers by providing quality products which are good value for money. The sales turnover of cattle feed and milk products runns into millions. The advertisement campaign of Amul butter has set many records in the field of Advertising and Marketing.

The city of Ahmedabad has some of the best known educational institutions and research centres in all of India. One of the ultimate pedigrees for a management student is a post-graduation or fellowship from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, an autonomous institution set up in collaboration with the Government of Gujarat and the Indian Industry, with the lead taken by scientist Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, industrialists like Kasturbhai Lalbhai), and government representatives like Dr. Jivaraj Mehta.

The objective of the institution was to give a professional edge to business, industrial, social, education, agricultural, population and health management in India. Activities include teaching, research, training and consultancy. The IIM was a pioneer of case-management studies in India, in its early years collaborating with Harvard to set up its curriculum and standards, and the world renowned architect Louis Kahn was commissioned to create the right ambiance and spaces in keeping with the objective of the institution.

Other unique institutions of learning in Ahmedabad are the National institute of Design, a prestigious educational institute for industrial design, the Center for Environment Planning and Technology, one of the finest schools of architecture in south Asia, and MICA, which has fast risen to be a name in the field of communications. Among the many institutes of research in Ahmedabad are Physical research laboratory, Space application centre, ISRO, Ahmedabad Textile Industry's Research Assocation, Gandhi Labour Institute, National Institute of Occupational Health. Entrepreneurship Development Instititute of India, Institute for Plasma Research, Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Institute of Indology, Nehru Foundation for Developement and Centre for environment education, Sardar Patel Institute of Economic and Social Research, Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration, and Vikram A. Sarabhai Community Science Center. Among the many historic institutions of AJimedabad is the Gujarat Viclyapeeth founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1921 AD, which is an important centre of cultural studies in Gujarat.
South of Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar has a unique Institute for Marine salt research. The first arts college in Saurashtra was set up in the 1880s in Bhavnagar, and counts among its alumni Mahatma Gandhi. It is now called the Shamalclas arts college and Sir PP science institute.
West of Bhavnagar, Rajkot has many schools and colleges with historic associations. Rajkumar college was founded in 1868 AD by the rulers of Kathiawad in 1938 AD. The school has palatial gardens and lots of memorabilia of its princely alumni and British principals.
The craft rich district of Kutch has a number of organisations that are working to promote artisans, ensure their remuneration and market hancicrafted products that are high quality and good value for the consumer. Shrujan at Bhujodi and Kutch Vikas Sanghatan at Bhuj are two well known NGOs working towards this end in Kutch.