Indian Institute of Science Bangalore

Indian Institute of Science Bangalore

                                                                 

                                                                  http://www.iisc.ernet.in/

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) was founded in 1909 as a result of the joint efforts of Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, the Government of India, and the Maharaja of Mysore. In 1886, Jamsetji Tata conceived of a university of science that will work for the benefit of India, and in 1898 created an endowment for establishing such an institution. The Government of India then took up the effort, and, in consultation with scientists in England and in India, decided to locate the Institute in Bangalore, where the Maharaja of Mysore, Shri Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, donated 372 acres of land. The Institute was formally vested in 1909, the foundation stone was laid in 1911, and the first batch of students started their studies in the same year.

Over the 105 years since its establishment, IISc has become the premier institute for advanced scientific and technological research and education in India. Beginning with 2 departments and 21 students in 1911, today IISc has 39 departments, units, or centers, 3500 students, and about 500 academic and scientific staff, supported by 600 administrative personnel. Out of this population of students, about 2200 are in various PhD programs, almost 900 are enrolled for various Masters degrees, whereas about 400 are registered in the newly established, research oriented, four-year Bachelor of Science (Research) program, of which the first batch will graduate in 2015.

In the recent years, with new centers such as CiSTUP (The Centre of Infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation, and Urban Planning), the Divecha Centre for Climate Change, the Centre for Earth Sciences, the Centre for Neuro Science, the Centre for Excellence in Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE), and the Robert Bosch Centre for Cyber Physical Systems (RBCCPS), the Institute has vigorously promoted inter-disciplinary research. Indeed, CiSTUP, RBCCPS and a new Centre for Brain Research (funded by a large private endowment) are expected to conduct translational research in their respective areas, in order to better connect with industry and society.

With the recent construction of modern buildings, acquisition of new research facilities, and induction of a large number of new faculty members, the Institute can look forward to an era of high productivity, increasing impact, and rising prominence in the world.

Academics

Faculty - Science

The Faculty of Science comprises of three divisions consisting of Departments and Centres which include Biochemistry, Microbiology & cell Biology, Molecular Biophysics, Inorganic & Physical  Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Solid State & Structural Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics including Astronomy &   Astrophysics, Ecological Science and High Energy Physics. Academic programmes leading to Ph.D and M.Sc.(Engineering) by research are offered in the above departments.

The Integrated Ph.D. programme is designed to offer exciting opportunities to motivted and talented B.Sc. graduates with a keen sense of scientific enquiry for pursuing advanced research in frontier areas of Biological, Chemical and Physical Sciences leading to the Ph.D degree of the Institute.

The research students constitute the largest group(50%) on the campus and the Institute awards about 200 Ph.D and M.Sc.(Engg) degrees each year, which is probably the largest in any institution in India. The annual intake of research students is approximately 250 with several candidates sponsored from institutions and industries.

Admission to the research program of the Institute is based on career analysis and campus interview. Candidates are called for interview based on the entrance test of the Institute or any other test recognised by the Institute.

Faculty - Engineering

The Faculty of Engineering consists of Departments of Aerospace, Centre for Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences, Centre for Electronic Design Technology, Centre for Product Design and Manufacturing, Civil, Chemical, Computational and Data Sciences (CDS), Computer Science & Automation, Electrical, Electrical Communication, Management Studies, Materials Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Supercomputer Education & Research Centre.

Academic programmers leading to M.E. or M.Tech by course work and Ph.D. and M.Sc. (Engg.) by research are available in almost all the departments. An unique feature of the ME/M.Tech. programe at the institute is the credit system which allows a student to tailor the courses to suit his/her aptitude and interest. Every ME/M.Tech. program has a set of hard core courses specified as an essential requirement whereas the student can take rest of the credits from many courses available in his/her parent or other departments and also do a desertation work on the topic of his/her choice. These courses attract highly motivated accomplished students, in addition to several sponsored candidates from R & D labs./industries and also from educational institutions under the QIP programme. The flexible ME/M.Tech. programme has been recently introduced in a few departments which enables candidates from industry to take courses leading to ME/M.Tech. of the Institute, spread over a longer period than the regular programmes so that they can do ME/M.Tech. programmes while working at their industries.

Research programmes leading to M.Sc.(Engg.)/Ph.D. degrees are the main thrust in many departments. The programme has a limited amount of course work, essentially to prepare the student to carry out the research, but the main emphasis is on the thesis work. Excellent laboratory and computational facilities, an unique library, outstanding faculty with strong interests in both basic and applied sciences, make 'dream come true' kind of environment to students with strong interest and aptitude for research. These programmes attract students from all corners of the country, in addition to some international students.