Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore: A Top College for Basic Science Students

IISc Bangalore: The Dream of Aspiring Scientists

Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore was established in 1909 as a ‘Research Institute’ or ‘ the University of Research’ by Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata. It was conceptualized, thanks to the joint endeavors of Tatas, the Government of India, and the Government of Maharaja of Mysore. The IISc Bangalore University Grants Commission that was established in 1956, gave IIS Bangalore the status of Deemed University.

IISc Bangalore is one of the oldest colleges in the country. Over the years, it has accumulated immense research and teaching experience and offers state-of-the-art facilities and of course a beautiful campus. If a student is interested in basic sciences, IISc should be one of their top preferences for the following reasons.

Departments

 Courses Offered at IISc, Bangalore

• Master of Science in Chemical Engineering
• Master of Science in Civil Engineering
• Master of Science in Engineering – Centre for Earth Sciences
• Master of Science in Engineering – Mechanical Engineering
• Master of Science in Engineering – Centre for Product Design & Manufacturing
• Master of Science in Engineering – Centre for Sustainable Technologies
• Master of Science in Engineering – Super Computer Education & Research Centre
• Master of Science in Engineering – Management Studies
• Master of Science in Engineering – Instrumentation
• Master of Engineering in Aerospace Engineering
• Master of Engineering in Civil Engineering
• Master of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering
• Master of Engineering in Materials Engineering
• Master of Engineering in Computer Science & Engineering
• Master of Engineering in Electrical Communica-tion Engineer-ing
• Master of Engineering in Electrical Communica-tion Engineer-ing
• Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering
• Master of Engineering in Microelectronic Systems
• Master of Engineering in Signal Processing
• Master of Engineering in Systems Science & Automation
• M Tech in Electronics Design & Technology
• Master of Technology in Computational Science
• Master of Technology in Climate Science
• Master of Technology in Instrumentation
• Master of Technology in Transportation and Infrastructure Engineering
• Master of Design in Product Design & Engineering
• Doctor of Medicine in Biochemistry
• Doctor of Philosophy in Molecular Reproduction, Development and Genetics
• Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience

Entrance Exams

Here are the entrance exams accepted by various courses at IISC, Bangalore:

• For undergraduate BS program: KVPY-SA, KVPY-SB, KVPY-SX, IIT-JEE, AIEEE  and AIPMT
• For Research (Ph D/ M Sc (Engg) CSIR-UGC NET for JRF; UGC-NET for JRF;  DBT JRF;  ICMR JRF; or JEST ; or NBHM 2012; or IISc Entrance Test; or GATE.
• For External Registration Program (Ph D only) IISC Entrance exam, CSIR-UGC NET for JRF, UGC-NET for JRF, DBT JRF, ICMR JRF, GATE, NBHM.
• For Integrated PH. D programs, IISC Entrance exam is accepted.
• For Master of Management GATE and CAT score is accepted.
• For Master of Design (M Des) in Product Design & Engineering GATE and CEED scores is accepted.
• For Master of Engineering (ME) and Master of Technology (M Tech) valid GATE score only is accepted.
• IISc Entrance Test is conducted in Atmospheric Sciences, Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Ecological Sciences, Mathematics, Management Studies, and Materials Science subjects

Highlights of IISc, Bangalore

• IISc Bangalore is at the top of the NIRF India Rankings 2017 in the common overall category.
• It ranks 8th among world’s small universities-ranking from the UK’s Times Higher Education
• It also has a MoU with University of Queensland, University of Alberta, Queensland University of Technology and much more

Infrastructure & Facilities

The Library of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) Bangalore is considered to be one of the best technical and scientific libraries in India and is also popularly known as the JRD Tata Memorial Library. The spacious area of the library can easily accommodate more than 4,11,676 documents. The library has been known for using the latest integrated library management software LIBSYS.  Other important facilities include:

• Hostel
• Healthcare
• IT Services
• Cryogenic Facilities
• Photo copying and DTP Centres
• Book Shops
• Pharmacy
• Travel Agencies (Domestic & International Travel)
• Post Office
• Banks

 IISc Admissions Cutoff 2018

Admissions

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) offers courses at the undergraduate (UG), postgraduate (PG) and doctorate (PhD) level to aspirants. Programmes available at IISc Bangalore are in streams such as – Science, Design, Engineering and Management.

IISc offers admission purely on the basis of scores in various competitive exams. Students who get shortlisted for admission need to appear for the group discussion and interview round.

In order to get admission in courses offered at IISc Bangalore, candidates have to fill an online application form and communicate the same to the Chairman of International Relations Cell (IRC) latest by January 31 every year. Candidates whose applications get shortlisted, need to then appear for an interview round that is conducted either over phone or even by video conferencing.

Minimum Eligibility Criteria for UG & PG Courses

UG: Candidates can apply for UG level courses offered at IISc once they have cleared their Class 12 with at least 60% aggregate marks or equivalent grade. Also, students should have studied Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics as main subjects in Class 12.

PG: Candidates wanting to opt for MTech and management programmes should have a bachelor’s degree in Engineering/Technology. For MDes courses, students need to have a bachelor’s degree in architecture/design to take part in the admission process.

Note: It is advisable to go through the detailed eligibility criteria for all the courses offered at IISc Bangalore in their admission prospectus.

Indian Institute of Science: Notable Alumni

IISc has been home to alumni who have had noteworthy academic and industry positions around the globe. One of the most popular names include Dr. Vasudev Kalkunte Aatre, space scientist Thekkethil Kochandy Alex, ex-CEO of Cognizant Lakshmi Narayanan, computational geoscientist, climatologist and the director of the National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies, New Delhi Prashant Goswami, Indian Physicist Rajagopala Chidambaram and many more.

Fee structure

Placements

The Centre for Scientific and Industrial Consultancy (CSIC) along with the Society for Innovation and Development (SID) encourage joint interactions with the industry members. Also, the Centre for Continuing Education (CCE) provides an equal opportunity for working scientists and engineers to improve themselves academically.

Major Recruiters at  IISc, Bangalore are:

• Adobe
• Cisco
• Citrix
• Godrej
• Airbus
• Optum
• Walmart
• Oracle
• Samsung
• Microsoft
• Intel

Ranking

IISc has been ranked No. 1 in an article titled “Ranking of Indian engineering and technological institutes for their research performance during 1999–2008” that was recently published in the journal Current Science. Even worldwide, the institute is among the top 400 as per the Academic Ranking of World Universities.

IISC Bangalore has been within a rank of 76-100 according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities in Chemistry – 2010  and Academic Ranking of World Universities in Engineering/Technology and Computer Sciences – 2010.

College Events

IISC Bangalore is home to a myriad of interesting events throughout the year. One of the most popular ones is ‘Pravega’, an IISc UG community effort, which is a three-day extravaganza that exhibits the students’ love for engineering, science and the arts. The event also includes various games, workshops, quizzes and a cultural event that is the most important part of the grand affair.

The institution also has a dedicated IISc Open Day, which is primarily an annual outreach event organized by IISc that coincides with the National Science Day and Founder’s Day. Loads of students, parents and science enthusiasts visit the huge campus of IISc to experience the marvels of science first hand. Even labs of all departments across the college setup exciting science and technology demonstrations.

Commitment to Excellence

IISc offers a unique four-year program called the Bachelors in Science (B.S.). The curriculum is brilliantly designed and allows the students to specialize in subjects quite early, unlike a lot of other institutes. The college understands and respects students’ interests and passion. The courses are taught by an amazing faculty who are some of the top researchers in their field. Not only that, the professors in IISc have a reputation for being inspiring teachers, and extremely friendly and approachable mentors.  Hands-on sessions, fascinating demonstrations, state-of-the-art facilities are common during lectures here.

For the first three semesters, students have to study all the six specializations (Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Materials, Mathematics, Physics) as well as Humanities and Engineering. After that, they are free to pick the courses they want to learn more about. The exposure to humanities and social sciences helps students understand how science affects the society while engineering helps them understand how their contribution will be used to solve technical problems. It is a 4-year course as opposed to the general 3-yr B.Sc. course in India as the last year is spent on a research project. This shows the institute’s commitment towards preparing the students to be expert scientists.

World-Class Professors

IISc has some of the best professors, not only in the country but also in the world. Most of them are teaching there because they are passionate about research and teaching in India. Thanks to the expert faculty,  the students gain a lot of knowledge and get access to the teachers’ professional networks. These professors have contacts ranging from their classmates to their PhD. advisors, all accomplished people in the same field. Most professors encourage undergraduate research and are eager to come up with summer and winter projects. IISc also has a great brand image all over the world, and many students consistently secure admissions in prestigious MS and PhD. programs abroad.

Excellent Amenities

IISc also gives students access to advanced and well-equipped lab facilities. The library is huge and well stocked. IISc also regularly houses lectures and seminars by eminent people in the field. Many of these are collaborations with foreign universities and have seasoned professors coming in. Studying in the college gives the students access to all that knowledge as well as potential networking opportunities.

The Place to be for Aspiring Scientists

Many students want to do pure sciences to help the society, and IISc is certainly the place to be. The professors and their innovative projects are regularly covered in newspapers. From working on building anti-drones to improving security equipment to coming up with new, more effective antibiotics and other drugs, the scientists in IISc actively engage with the community around them. They use their science and technology skills to tackle the problems brought to them by various institutes and authorities.

IISc has some of the best minds in the country. All the students are passionate about pure sciences and incredibly smart. Peer learning forms a major component of academic life. The Masters and PhD. students, also take tutorials for the undergrads and interact with them and advise them about academics and co-curricular activities. IISc is one of the very few basic science institutes which, as they put it, ‘has a strong flavor of engineering’. That makes it one of the best environments for a budding scientist to work in.

So, all in all, if a student loves science and wants to explore, learn and make a difference in the society, IISc IISc Bangalore is a top college to choose.

IISc is one of the top colleges providing admissions through JEE Main. Read about more of the top colleges in this article. Also, keep following us here for more such articles.