The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bangalore city, in the Indian state of Karnataka.
The institute was established in 1909 with active support from Jamsetji Tata and Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV and thus is also locally known as the "Tata Institute".
It was granted the deemed to be university status in 1958 and the Institute of Eminence status in 2018.
In 2019, IISc launched its brand statement: "Discover and Innovate; Transform and Transcend; Serve and Lead"
Key Description:
Type: Public research university
Established: 1909; 111 years ago
Founders: Jamsetji Tata, Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV
Affiliation ACU; UGC; AIU, NAAC
Director Anurag Kumar
Academic Staff: 515
Administrative Staff: 354
Students: 3,842
Undergraduates: 453
Postgraduates: 947
Doctoral Students: 2,442
Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka, 560012, India
Campus: Urban
Website www.iis.ac.in
List of Directors:
- M. W. Travers, FRS, 1909–1914
- Sir A.G. Bourne, FRS, 1915–1921
- Sir Martin O. Forster, FRS, 1922–1933
- Sir C.V. Raman, FRS, 1933–1937
- Sir J.C. Ghosh, 1939–1948
- M. S. Thacker, 1949–1955
- S. Bhagavantam, 1957–1962
- S. Dhawan, 1962–1981
- D.K. Banerjee, 1971–1972
- S. Ramaseshan, 1981–1984
- C.N.R. Rao, FRS, 1984–1994
- G. Padmanaban, 1994–1998
- Goverdhan Mehta, FRS 1998–2005
- P. Balaram, 2005–2014
- Anurag Kumar, 2014–present
Campus:
The IISc campus is located in the north of Bengaluru, about 6 kilometers from Bangalore City Railway Station and Kempegowda Bus Station, on the way to Yeshwantpur. The Institute is about 35 kilometers from Kempegowda International Airport. A number of other research institutes, Raman Research Institute, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Wood Research Institute and Central Power Research Institute (CPRI), are close to IISc. Most of these institutes are connected to IISc by a regular shuttle bus service.
The campus houses more than 40 departments marked by routes such as the Gulmohar Marg, the Mahogany Marg, the Badami Marg, the Tala Marg, the Ashoka Marg, the Nilgiri Marg, the Silver Oak Marg, the Amra Marg and the Arjuna Marg. The Institute is fully residential and is spread over 400 acres of land in the heart of Bengaluru city.
The campus features six canteens (cafeterias), a gymkhana (gymnasium and sports complex), a football ground and a cricket ground, four dining messes (halls), one multi cuisine restaurant, nine men's and five women's hostels (dormitories), an air strip, a library, two shopping centers and residences of the faculty members and other staff, besides other amenities.
The IISc campus harbors both exotic and indigenous plant species with about 110 species of woody plants. The roads on the campus are named after the dominant avenue tree species.
The architecture of the main building, which today houses the administration and the Faculty Hall, is classical in style, fronted by a grey, handsome tower. In front of it stands the work of Gilbert Bayes, a monument erected in the memory of J. N. Tata.
At its feet is an inscription that serves to remind future generations of the generosity of Jamsetji Tata and the persistence with which he worked for the welfare of India. The building, as one of the prominent landmarks of Bengaluru, was designed by C. F. Stevens and Company of Bombay in 1912–13.
The buildings for the metallurgy and aerospace departments were designed by the German architect Otto Königsberger in 1940.
A second campus is in Challakere, on 1,500 acres (6.1 km2) lot of land. Infrastructure developed here includes the Talent Development Centre, Skill Development Centre funded by HAL under CSR Act, Solar Power Research Center and a Climate Observatory. The Centre for Sustainable Technologies has commenced its activities here under the project "C-BELT" i.e., the Centre for Bio-energy and Low-Carbon Technologies.
Ranking:
QS World University rankings ranked IISc second in the world in terms of citations per faculty, IISc was ranked 301–350 in the world by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings of 2020, the top institute in India, as well as 29th in the 2019 Asia ranking.
The QS World University Rankings of 2019 ranked IISc 170 in the world, as well as 51 in Asia and 10 among BRICS nations.[38] In 2019, it ranked 353rd among the universities around the world by SCImago Institutions Rankings.
The Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked it 401–500 in the world in 2019. It was ranked top university (1st place) in India by the National Institutional Ranking Framework university ranking for 2018 and 2019, and overall ranking for 2018.
Academic Divisions, Departments, And Centres:
| Division | Departments, Centres, and Units |
| Biological Sciences |
|
| Chemical Sciences |
|
| Physical and Mathematical Sciences |
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| Electrical, Electronic, and Computer Sciences |
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| Mechanical Sciences |
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| Interdisciplinary Research |
|
Academic Programs:
Doctoral Degree Programs: Research students constitute more than 70% of the students on the campus. PhD degrees offered in 40 different disciplines.
Research programs leading to doctoral degrees are the main thrust in many departments. The program 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.
The annual intake of research students is approximately 250 with several candidates sponsored from educational institutions and industries. The research students constitute the largest group (50%) on the campus.
The Integrated PhD program is designed to offer opportunities to 3-year BSc graduates for pursuing advanced research in areas of biological, chemical, mathematical, and physical Sciences, leading to the PhD degree.
Masters Degree Programs: Master's degrees offered by the institute are classified into two categories: degrees by coursework (MTech, M.Mgt., and M.Des.) and degrees by research [MTech (research)].
The two-year MTech program is available in almost all engineering departments. Most MTech programs have a set of hard core courses specified as an essential requirement whereas students can take rest of the credits from many courses available in their parent or other departments and also do a dissertation work on the topic of their choice.
The Department of Management Studies offers a Master of Management program exclusively for engineering graduates. The Center for Product Design and Manufacturing offers the Master of Design (M.Des.) course. Started in 1996, the M.Des. program is a two-year, full-time postgraduate program.
Bachelors Degree Programme: An undergraduate programme is of age limit where for students who had completed Class XII, during the Centenary Celebrations in 2009.
The first batch of students was admitted in 2011. The program offers a four-year Bachelor of Science (Research) and a five-year integrated Master of Science course in six disciplines: Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Material Science, Mathematics, and Physics.
The course aims at exposing the students to the inter-disciplinary nature in which scientific research is done in many upcoming fields.