IIT Bhubaneswar

The permanent IIT campus is being set up in Argul, in the outskirts of Bhubaneswar^[2]. A total of 935 acres of land has been allocated towards the self contained campus for 10,000 students and 1,100 faculty, making it the second largest of all IITs after the one at Kharagpur, and largest IIT in any metropolitan location. A science park is being set up as a part of this institution to support industry oriented research activities^[3].

 

Several other world class universities and research institutions are either present or being established in the vicinity, including NISER, XIMB, IIIT, one of the Indian government's proposed National Universities of international calibre^[4], an AIIMS-like medical institution, and the Institute of Physics. In fact NISER's campus is located only 2 km away from the IIT. Other major upcoming prominent institutions, such as Sri Sri University as well as the world's biggest academic institution, Vedanta University, will be in the neighboring places of Cuttack and Puri respectively^[5][6]. The proximity of these establishments is expected to stimulate academic excellence in IIT Bhubaneswar. A major advantage of this IIT is its location at Bhubaneswar, an emerging education hub, that is being promoted as an Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) by the government^[7]. A total of 40 km² of land has been allocated for the purpose, out of which about 60% will be devoted to research and development^[8]. An estimated INR 7.8 billion will be invested by the Indian government within the next few years in order to develop the institute.

The Orissa state government is constructing a four-lane expressway directly from National Highway No. 5 (a part of the Golden Quadrilateral) to this new IIT for increased connectivity. Furthermore, Khurda Rd railway station is merely 4 km away from the campus, and the Biju Patnaik airport is 25 km away. A new international airport is being constructed even closer to the IIT campus at a distance of 12 km. Thus, IIT Bhubaneswar is the best connected between all the upcoming IITs, and better than some existing ones.

 

Other advantages of IIT Bhubaneswar include the presence of major steel, power, petrochemical, and other heavy industries, major ports including the one at Paradip, as well as the emergence of Bhubaneswar as one of the IT hubs of the nation^[9]. Furthermore, within the vicinity are located major tourist attractions, including the Konark temple, Puri sea beach, Chilka lagoon, gorges, a waterfall, and other natural wonders.

In order to foster interdisciplinary research, IIT Bhubaneswar will not be organized into small academic units called departments. Instead, each unit in this institution will be a school. The IIT already has five functioning schools^[10]. Other schools will be set up subsequently.

This is one of the schools of IIT Bhubaneswar^[11]. It encompasses the following subject areas in physics, chemistry, mathematics and the biosciences,

As chemical and biochemical engineering is a priority research area in IIT Bhubaneswar, this is one of the school that is being established.

Topics of research addressed by this school include the following areas,

This school currently offers a Ph.D. degree.

The focus of this school is on an array of topics including,

This school admits students into a doctoral degree program.

This school is focussed on research in the following fields:

The school of infrastructure is currently admitting doctoral students.

This school is being set up to take advantage of Orissa's vast mineral wealth.

This school deals with the following research areas,

As of 2009, the School of Materials and Minerals Engineering is among the five schools that runs a Ph.D. program.

This future school intends to concentrate on studies in ocean sciences, environmental sciences and disaster management.

A very large central library is in the process of being developed. It will be open 24 hours each day.

In addition to permanent student residences, the institution is setting up a student counseling centre to assist students, and their parents/guardians and provide pertaining to accommodation, admissions and examinations. A training and placement center will function as a catalyst in the placement process of graduating students. It will arrange for campus interviews and will dedicate itself for helping the students gain suitable employment. IIT Bhubaneswar will also have a student welfare centre.

A well equipped healthcare facility for faculty and students is under construction.

IIT Bhubaneswar aims to establish itself as an internationally reputed institution of academic excellence. It engages in national and internationally funded sponsored research as well as industrial consultancy.

The institute currently has 60 faculty members and is actively recruiting many more from the current academic year. Additionally world class faculty members are being recruited aggressively. As an incentive faculty can join the institute with their own research scholars. The institution provides up to INR 500,000 start-up funds to each faculty to carry out their research^[12].

Faculty at the institute are strongly encouraged to engage in pure and applied research. As an incentive, IIT Bhubaneswar provides its faculty with money for international travel and memberships in national and international professional societies. Those who are well established in their fields receive an honorarium of INR 15,000 in addition to their salaries.

IIT Bhubaneswar plans to interact with the industry. It encourages its faculty to provide paid technical consulting services to various industries. As Orissa ranks among the top two states in India in receiving private investment, the state is poised for rapid industrial growth, creating a strong need for such partnership with research institutions.

The academic year is divided into two semesters, a spring semester and an autumn semester. Between these two regular semester, the academic year also includes a shorter summer quarter, during which some courses are offered. The institution follows the credit-based system of performance evaluation. The credits allocated to each course depends on the total number of contact hours, including lectures, tutorials and laboratory sessions. Each course is usually worth 3 credits. The typical course load per semester is 21-24 credits for undergraduate students.

As of 2009, IIT Bhubaneswar offers undergraduate degrees in three technical disciplines, and is undergoing rapid expansion into one of the leading IITs in India. Admission into these programs are highly competitive.

During the academic year 2009-2010, undergraduate programs leading to the following degrees are being offered,

• Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering
• Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering
• Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering.

Integrated 5 year programs for undergraduate students leading to M. Tech degrees will be offered by IIT Bhubaneswar in the near future.

Admission to these programmes is through the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), taken by students seeking admission into the IITs after completing 12 years of schooling. As of 2009, the total undergraduate student intake is 240, with 80 students in each of the above disciplines. The plan is to have 2,500 students within 3–4 years, which will expand to 10,000 students within 15 years^[11].

Students designated as reserved category candidates are also admitted, based on government of India guidelines. Accordingly, 15% of the seats are reserved for students belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC) and 7.5% for Scheduled Tribes (ST). As of 2009, another, 27% separate reservation exists for the Other Backward Classes (OBC).

The B. Tech. degree is based on a four-year program comprising of eight semesters. The first year of the B.Tech. curriculum has common courses from various departments. At the end of the first year, an option to change departments is given to meritorious students on the basis of their performance in the first two semesters. From the second year onwards, the students take courses offered exclusively by their respective departments that are known as depth courses. In addition to these, the students have to take a number of inter-disciplinary courses known as breadth courses, including courses in humanities and social sciences, and management and information technology.

During the 7th semester, undergraduate students are required to undergo co-curricular practical training in any Indian industry.

Research is included as a component in the M. Tech level, while doctoral degrees are based on research. IIT Bhubaneswar provides a monthly stipend of INR 15,000 to each postgraduate student.

IIT Bhubaneswar has begun two M. Tech degree programs in 2009,

• Master of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering
• Master of Technology in Information Technology.

The intake into each M. Tech program is currently 25 students per year. The M. Tech programs are typically completed in 4 semesters.

Students are admitted into various Ph.D. programs since 2009^[13].

As of 2009, the following five schools admit Ph.D. students,

• School of Infrastructure
• School of Electrical Sciences
• School of Mechanical Sciences
• School of Basic Sciences
• School of Humanities and Social Sciences

The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is a prerequisite for admission into the M. Tech program. Requirements for admission into the Ph.D. programs include a Masters degree and significant prior scholastic success. Students are required to undergo an interview before gaining admission.

Establishing an IIT in Orissa was a long standing demand for several decades. As the state ranked at the bottom in terms of terms of centrally funded academic and research institutions, there were strong allegations of Congress led central government neglect^[14][15]. There were several incidents of protest, both locally in Orissa^{[16][17][18][19][20][21]}, the National Students Union of India (NSUI)^[22], and eminent nonresident Indian academics. An organization called Agamee Orissa was formed, that spearheaded mass agitation throughout the state^[23][24]. There also have been stray incidents of violence related to the issue of Orissa's neglect.^[25] Politicians including the chief minister of Orissa, Mr. Naveen Patnaik, cast this festering issue as a sign of severe neglect of the state by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in New Delhi.^{[26][27][28][29][30][31]} In May 2007, this became a major issue in the Indian parliament.^{[32][33][34][35]} The opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) staged a walk-out in the Indian parliament, accusing the ruling UPA of neglecting the state's economic development.^[36][37][38] Sections of the media reported that the Congress party led UPA government had been embarrassed by this issue.^[39] Eventually, the HRD minister Mr. Arjun Singh relented, leading to the inception of IIT Bhubaneswar.^[40]

The decision to establish the first of six new IITs in Bhubaneswar, under the 11^th five year plan was officially announced in March 2008 by the Ministry of Human Resources and Development^[41] and the foundation stone laid in February 2009^[42].

IIT Bhubaneswar became the first of the new IITs to become operational. The first batch of undergraduate students were admitted for the academic year 2008-2009. Prof. Damodar Acharya served as the acting director of the new institution. Since 2009, the institution has been operating at a temporary location at IIT Kharagpur's Bhubaneswar extension campus, while the permanent campus is under construction.

In 2008, the first batch of IIT Bhubaneswar students had to take courses at IIT Kharagpur, which was designated as the mentoring IIT. There were forty students in each of the three disciplines, totaling 120 students. Accomodation for IIT Bhubaneswar students was provided at the Madan Mohan Malaviya Hall of Residence.

The emblem of IIT, Bhubaneswar was designed at NID Ahmedabad to reflect the holistic philosophy of the institution. The two surrounding semicircle form the environment and ambit of IIT, while the open book inside represents knowledge and source of wisdom. The symmetric petals are symbolic of freshness and inspire growth for infinite knowledge.

Students have access to a well equipped gymnasium, healthcare facilities, and a canteen, that are presently under construction.

Currently, there are six student societies at the IIT. They are,

As of 2009, students are housed in a location near the heart of Bhubaneswar city in flats with full dining, medical, and recreational facilities as well as internet access.

Nearby hotels include Trident, Swosti, and Mayfair. Also located in the vicinity are an Oxford Bookstore, a Cafe Coffee Day, Habibs, and Smokin Joes Pizza. The institute also provides free daily bus shuttle service for the students.

Image 1 of temporary student residential housing
Image 2 of temporary student residential housing
Image 3 of temporary student residential housing
Vicinity of IIT in Bhubaneswar by IIT students