The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a premier post-graduate institution of research and higher learning located in Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore), India. It offers postgraduate and doctoral research programmes to over 2,000 students working under the supervision of more than 400 faculty members in 48 departments ranging from aerospace engineering to molecular biophysics to management.

The Institute owes its existence the industrialist Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata (1839-1904) who constituted a Provisional Committee to prepare a plan for setting up of an Institute of higher education. On 31 December 1898, a draft prepared by this committee was presented to Lord Curzon, the Viceroy-designate. The Secretary of State for India requested the Royal Society of England for an expert opinion. The Royal Society in turn, sought the opinion of Prof. William Ramsay, a Nobel Laureate and the discoverer of Noble Gases. Prof. Ramsay toured the country and recommended Bangalore as the ideal location for the proposed institute. On the initiative especially of the Diwan of Mysore, Sir K. Seshadri Iyer, His Highness Shri Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, the Maharaja of Mysore donated 372 acres (1.5 km˛) of land in Benngaluru. Subsequently, the Government of Karnataka had gifted lands during the Golden Jubilee and Platinum Jubilee of the Institute making the current land holding of the Institute up to 443 acres.

The Institute has been able to make many significant contributions primarily because of certain uniqueness in its character. It is neither a National laboratory, which concentrates solely on research and applied work, nor a conventional University, which concerns itself mainly with teaching. However, the Institute is concerned with research in frontier areas and education in current technologically important areas. Because it is a relatively small institution, it is able to innovate and introduce newer systems of imparting knowledge and educational reforms such as offering courses under a unit system and trying out methods of evaluation, which are highly reliable.

Degrees offered

Degrees offered by the institute may be broadly classified into two categories: Degrees by Research (Ph.D, integrated Ph.D and M.Sc. (Engg.)), and degrees by coursework (M.E./M.Tech./M.B.A./M.Des.).

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

The Integrated Ph.D. programme is designed to offer exciting opportunities to motivated 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.

Two year programmes leading to M.E. or M.Tech by course work are available in almost all engineering departments. A unique feature of the ME/M.Tech. programmes at the institute is the credit system which allows students to tailor the courses to suit their aptitude and interest. Every ME/M.Tech. programme has 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. 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 Quality Improvement Programme (QIP).

The Department of Management Studies, one of the oldest management schools in the country (established in 1948), offers an MBA programme exclusively for engineering graduates. The Center for Product Design and Manufacturing offers the Master of Design (MDes) course. Started in 1996, the M.Des programme is a two-year full-time graduate programme.

Admission Procedure

Admission into IISc is highly competitive. Usually only the top 1 percent candidates qualifying the GATE examination are able to clear the cutoff for M. E. / M. Tech. admissions. Mostly, depending on the department and the number of students, the cutoff goes much higher. Admission to research programmes of the Institute is based on career analysis and interview in the campus. Candidates are called for interview based on the entrance test of the Institute or any other test recognised by the Institute (which depends on the choice of department and specialization). For M. E. or M.Tech., the admission is through the GATE examination conducted every year. In addition, a personal interview may also be required. For Master of Business Administration(M.B.A.), which has a ceiling strength of only 25 seats across India, the admission is through the Joint Management Entrance Test (JMET) examination, conducted jointly by IISc and IITs. In addition, a group discussion and personal interview is also conducted to select the candidates.