The New (Indian Institute of Technology) IITs may outperform some older IITs.
New Delhi: In a talk given by Prof Sarit K Das, Director IIT Ropar said, “ While the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT) is a byword for technical education and research, The California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech), a younger institute, at times punches above its weight and manages to perform better than MIT, the reason is that while MIT aims to excel in every discipline, Cal Tech focuses on selected areas. Newer IITs must follow the Cal Tech model.”
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are autonomous public technical and research universities located across India.[1]They are governed by the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961, which has declared them as institutions of national importance and lays down their powers, duties, and framework for governance. The first five that were set up-Kharagpur(1951), Bombay(1958), Madras(1959), Kanpur(1959) and Delhi(1961) are referred to as older IITs. IITs at Ropar, Bhubaneshwar, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Jodhpur, Patna, Indore and Mandi are referred to as second-generation IITs.
These second-generation IITs are now punching above their weight, in both International (QS Rankings) and National( NIRF Rankings). They are gaining positions in these rankings due to their focus on research and teaching innovation.
“We can think out-of-the-box, which probably some established and older institutes may not be able to. For example, IIT Hyderabad introduced-Fractal academics, which is a first for any institution in India. In this system, instead of , say, a three-credit course that runs for the whole semester, courses are divided into modules so that a Mechanical Engineering student can take Computer Science or Physics classes as well,” said Prof B S Murthy, Director IIT Hyderabad.
Prof Sudhir Jain, Director IIT Gandhinagar said that IIT Gandhinagar is not in competition with older IITs, it is instead redefining IITs. We created a Padosi Gram Sahyog Samiti to help and support nearby villages; we identified their needs and supported them with essentials as well as moral support. We also advanced summer vacation, and during that time we selected eight faculty members and asked them to experiment with online teaching. The institution also identifies 21 students from a financially poor background and give them a laptop.”
Director IIT Ropar, Prof Sarit K Das said: “In research, IIT Ropar was the top IIT in the country, even ahead of older IITs in the country, in the recent Times Higher Education Ranking”. “In the 300-350 ranks, the main two Indian institutes were IIT Ropar and IISc Bangalore, all others were beyond 350. This means we must have been doing something good.”
“In some older IITs, structures are rigid and new things are not adapted easily, I am sure within the next five years some of these new IITs will replace the older ones in rankings.”