IISERB Review

3rd year onwards the student selects their major subject and so the work load increases. The institute is situated outside the Bhopal city, about 20 kms, and so going to the city is bit difficult. But the State government will soon start public transport buses.

The course curriculum is equivalent to the international standards including all the basic and advanced level courses which are offered at top universities like Cambridge, University of California Berkeley, MIT, etc. The institute follows semester system with midsem and endsem exams. There are also small quizzes in between the semester which carries weightage in the final grade. The courses are highly research oriented (both theoretical and experimental), where students are required to read research papers and then present their ideas. In last year the student spends majority of time in research labs for completing their MS project.

Students usually go for a Ph. D. after their MS, but there are few students who join companies as data scientists. People also go for jobs in the R&D department of companies. In our batch all students were given monthly stipend of ? 5000/month.

Many events like science fest, cultural fest, Institute Day, Fine arts and literary competitions, and celebration of major Indian festivals like Diwali, Navratri, Saraswati puja, etc. in our community center.

Fees are less compared to mostly all national institutes. Hostel charges are very less compared to the facilities they provide. Mess fees are just about ?3000, and the food quality is nice. Also students get to use gym and sports facilities which is included in overall fees. For current fees structure you should refer to the IISERB website.

All the students in our batch were awarded scholarship. But it was not the case for new batches there only some students were awarded scholarship. There is a State Bank of India branch in IISERB, which provides student loan at low rates.

As IISER Bhopal is a research institute, all the professors have fully equipped advanced labs. The institute also provide funds for maintaining these labs. For extracurricular activities there are grounds and courts for cricket, basketball, football, badminton and table tennis, with full time coaches. Also the student council conducts e-sports tournament.

Hostel is compulsory for all the students. The students in first and second year get one room for two students and 3rd year onwards single rooms are alloted. All the rooms are equipped with LAN ports and whole hostel is wifi enabled. Students can also avail free room service.

The alumni network is very good and the seniors are really very helpful. They help us with university selection in US, Canada and other countries based on their knowledge. There is also a dedicated social network for IISER Bhopal alumni.

I was first shortlisted to give IISER entrance exam, based on my performance in 12th an JEE Main exam. Then based on the meritlist of IISER entrance exam I was alloted seat in IISER Bhopal. I had the option of choosing engineering but I wanted to study basic and applied science, a so IISER Bhopal was a perfect choice for me.

The faculty in each department are highly qualified with double or triple postdocs. They are also affiliated with national and international research institutes. These faculties are very good at teaching and use multimedia tools and labs to explain concepts.