INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY KHARAGPUR

The Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, founded in 1950, is the first of seven technological institutes for higher learning set up by the Government of India. It is located at Hijli near Kharagpur in the Midnapore (West) district of West Bengal. In 1957 the institute became an autonomous body with the status of university and was declared an institute of national importance by an act of parliament. The institute campus grew around the once infamous Detention Camp of Hijli and sprawls over an area of 1400 acres of land gifted by the Government of West Bengal. The student population has increased from 224 in 1951 to 7000 in 2008, the faculty strength from 42 to 500. There are nineteen halls of residence for students, including four for girls. There are two outdoor stadiums, a swimming pool, a student center with a gymnasium, an indoor stadium and six canteens catering foods of all regions of India, a large open air theater and a spacious air conditioned auditioned auditorium, a hospital and a shopping center. The library allows direct access for fourteen hours a day and offers all modern facilities.

The institute provides instructions leading to degrees in various branches of sciences, engineering, technology and architecture. The institute is completely residential in character. It awards graduate, postgraduate and research degrees in various branches of engineering, sciences and humanities. It also provides short-term professional courses for executives and technologists from the industries and from Government departments. The institute runs a Quality Improvement Program for the benefit of teachers of Engineering Colleges all over the country. The objective of the institute is to foster in its students a spirit of free and objective enquiry, to install into the minds of young learners a sense of purpose and to help them to develop a balanced and integrated personality.

The postgraduate courses train for careers in research and development. The research programs of the institute cover a wide span from applied industrial problems to those of a fundamental nature. Special emphasis is laid on inter-disciplinary programs.

The method of instruction aims at developing the student’s initiative and ability to deal with new situations with confidence and judgment. The program of instruction is not simply burdened with formal lectures. There is an even load of industrial training and fieldwork and adequate provision for seminars, tutorials, and guided studies to promote and habit of independent thinking.

The examination system, based on the principle that all terminal scores should count towards the final assessment, is in line with the integrated content of the curriculum. It tests the student’s systematic progress and total ability rather than his chance achievements in a single examination.

From the session 2009-10 IIT Kharagpur is introducing M.Sc.-Ph.D. Dual Degree programs in Chemistry, Geological Sciences, Geophysics, Mathematics and Physics instead of M.Sc. Two Year programs. The admissions to these programs will be through JAM-2009. A student admitted to a Dual Degree program will be allowed to enroll for Ph.D. provided he/she has certain minimum CGPA at the end of the fourth semester; otherwise he/she will have to leave with a M.Sc. degree. A student may also on his/her own, decide not to continue with the Ph.D. program and leave with a M.Sc. degree after the end of the fourth semester.

Department of Chemistry

The Department of Chemistry with its multifaceted research activities and excellent facilities provides one of the best academic environments in the country. The department is pursuing research in both basic and applied areas of Chemistry. Over 120 students are currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program and about 80 students are pursuing their Masters degrees. The average number of publications in highly reputed international journals from the department exceeds 150 per year.  The faculty members are engaged in a large number of sponsored research grants from extramural agencies. The department is equipped with state of the art instruments inclusive of single crystal X-ray diffractometer, high resolution NMR, micro Raman and high performance computational facilities.

The department offers (i) M.Sc. Integrated 5-year program in Chemistry, and (ii) M.Sc.-Ph.D. dual degree program in Chemistry. A major highlight of the integrated M.Sc. program is a judicious amalgamation of science and engineering subjects with core chemistry courses and a research intensive final year project, while that of the Dual degree program is that it offers a borderless course structure with opportunity to pursue cutting edge interdisciplinary research.  The Dual degree program has course work for the first two years with a research project from the third semester.

Every year the department attracts a good number of students with high JAM ranking from reputed colleges all over the country. The Masters and Ph.D. graduates from this department find placement in high ranking universities/institutes in India, USA and Europe as well as in industry.

Department of Geology and Geophysics

The Department of Geology and Geophysics offers M.Sc.-Ph.D. Dual Degree courses in (i) Geological Sciences and (ii) Geophysics. The aim of these two courses is to groom students to enter upon careers in the field and in the laboratory. Over the years a large number of graduates of this Department have come to occupy important positions in professional organizations like the ONGC, GSI, AMD, etc., in several universities and research organizations both in India and abroad. The Department counts among its faculty and alumni one Padma Shri, five Bhatnagar Prize winners, two Vice-Chancellors, one Director General of GSI, Directors of AMD and ONGC, and fellows of the National Academies of Science and Engineering. Students will have the opportunity to participate in activities of the Earth Science Study Circle, which promotes both curricular and extra-curricular activities.

The Department is actively engaged in carrying research wok in the field of paleoclimatology, micropaleontology, isotope geology, ground water geology and geophysics, seismic reflections and refractions, numerical modeling and inversion of geophysical data, seismic and electrical tomography, seismic and electromagnetic wave propagation, earthquake and engineering seismology, radionuclide pollution and modeling, gravity magnetics, magnetotelluries, deep crystal studies, electrical and electromagnetics, structural geology, Precambrian geology, igneous and metamorphic petrology, economic geology, geochemistry, environmental earth science, sedimentary geology, photo-geology and remote-sensing, stratigraphy, biostratigraphy, vertebrate paleontology, and well-logging, etc. The Department has National AMS and EPMA facilities and is included in the global seismological network with the setting-up of a broadband seismological observatory. The Department runs a collaborative research and training program with Cambridge University (U.K.). The Department has contributed textbooks to the national and international Earth Science community.

Department of Physics

The Department of Physics and Meteorology started its academic programs right from the inception of IIT Kharagpur. The distinctive character of this department has made it especially conducive to post­graduate studies and research. There are 28 faculty members, two research associates and about 65 research scholars pursuing Ph.D. in the department. The department offers (i) 5-year integrated M. Sc. Program in Physics, (ii) M.Sc.-Ph.D. Dual degree program in Physics, (iii) 2-year M. Tech in Solid State Technology, and (iv) Ph. D. in Physics.

In the initial two years of the M.Sc.-Ph.D. Dual degree program, students are offered basic courses (Theory/ Laboratory) on classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, Electronics, Electrodynamics, mathematical methods, computational methods, modern optics, nuclear and particle physics, condensed matter physics, atomic and molecular spectroscopy etc. Besides the above basic courses, electives from the variety of areas of physics, such as, astrophysics and cosmology, superconductivity and magnetism, soft condensed matter physics, nanoscience and technology, gravitation, frontiers of radiation science and technology, high-energy physics, non-linear optics, photonics, semiconductor physics, surface physics, quantum field theory etc. are also offered to bring the students up-to-date with the current status of these areas.

In the second year of the M.Sc.-Ph.D. Dual degree program, students are required to undertake one year long project (either theoretical or experimental), which involves investigative work leading to a dissertation. Also, the students are trained to use various experimental equipments like spectro-photometer, diffracto-meter, Gamma ray spectrometer, impedance analyzer etc. It is observed that such training helps the students in acquiring a placement in research and development (R & D) sector of the different industries in India and abroad. The department has excellent infrastructural support including modern computers and modern instruments in different teaching laboratories. Advanced research facilities are available in the department. The advanced research facilities of the other departments are also available for uses whenever needs arise. The faculty of the department is actively engaged on a broad range of research activities, almost evenly distributed between experimental and theoretical areas of research. The major research areas however, include Atomic physics, Atmospheric Sciences, Astrophysics and Cosmology, Biophysics and Complex Systems, Chaos and Non-Linear dynamics, Condensed Matter Physics, Ferroelectrics, Fluid mechanics and turbulence, Gravitation, High-energy and Particle Physics, Magnetism including Spintronics, Nanotechnology, Nuclear Physics, Photonics & Optoelectronics, Quantum computation and information, Quantum and Non-Linear Optics, Renewable Energy sources Semiconductor devices, Surface physics, thin films etc. There exist very good intra- and inter-­departmental interaction leading to a healthy research environment. Faculty of the department is involved in various R & D projects in the above mentioned areas, which have both national and international collaborative elements. The department has a number of theoretical and experimental projects in different branches of physics funded by various national agencies under the supervision of different faculty members.

The department organizes various conferences and workshops and arranges periodic visits by the experts from India and abroad. It also benefits from the inter-institutional MOU that IIT Kharagpur has with other reputed national/international institutions (IUCAA and PAC) through its activities in the areas of Astrophysics and Cosmology. Besides these students are up-dated on recent developments in various fields of physics through regular seminars and group discussions. Lastly, the social activities arranged by the Physics society bring the students and staff members in close and informal contact to create an atmosphere of interactive research and free exchange of knowledge.

Further information about the Department of Physics & Meteorology can be had from the following link: http://www.phy.iitkgp.ernet.in/

Department of Mathematics

Since its inception in 1951, the department has been offering different undergraduate and postgraduate programs as per the need of the time and availability of its expertise in different topics of Mathematics, Statistics and Theoretical Computer Science. Over the years it has pioneered in publishing internationally acclaimed research articles in different topics of pure and applied mathematics, statistics and theoretical computer science. Today many of its alumni are occupying very high positions in reputed educational/ R & D institutes in India and abroad.

The department offers (i) five-year integrated M.Sc. Course in Mathematics and Computing (ii) M.Sc.-Ph.D. Dual degree program in Mathematics, (iii) Two year M.Tech. program in Computer Science and Data Processing, and (iv) Ph.D. in Mathematics.

The department has four computer labs with several UNIX based powerful workstations with compilers for running simulation and image processing programs. All these systems are connected to the institute LAN.

The department has ongoing research projects in areas of fluid mechanics, remote sensing, fuzzy decision making and convex problems. The major thrust areas of the department are functional analysis and fluid mechanics. Besides the faculty and the research scholars are engaged in carrying out active research in various other current areas in pure and applied mathematics, statistics and theoretical computer science.

For more information see www.webmath.iitkgp.ernet.in

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR M.Sc.-Ph.D. DUAL DEGREE STUDENTS

(i)       Merit-cum-means scholarship of Rs. 1000/- p.m. up to 25% of the students.

(ii)     SC/ST students whose parental income is not more than Rs. 50,920 per annum are entitled to free seat in hostel, free basic menu and Rs. 250 p.m. as pocket allowance.

(iii)    All admitted students will be given waiver of tuition     fee for the first two years.

(iv)   Students not covered under items (i) and (ii) will be paid scholarship of Rs. 1000/- p.m. for the first four semesters provided they give an undertaking to continue with the Ph.D. program.

(v)     A student enrolled for Ph.D. program will get a fellowship of Rs. 12,000/- p.m. for the first two years of his Ph.D. program and Rs. 14,000/- p.m. for the next two years, provided he/she has a CGPA of 8.0 or more at the end of four semesters, otherwise he/she has to qualify in GATE/NET/NBHM.

Fees and other payments*:

* Tentative and subject to change.