IIT Delhi Courses

It is no surprise that IIT Delhi is a dream institute for tech aspirants across the country. As per the latest QS World University ranking, the institution is ranked at 185. This stellar ranking makes it the second-best public university in India, right behind IIT Bombay. It ranked 47 in Asia as per the 2022 ranking list and was adjudged the 1st position, per India Today in 2020.

According to NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) undertaken by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the institution holds pole positions across categories. In engineering and management, it holds 2nd and 8th rank, respectively. Overall the NIRF placed IIT Delhi as the 3rd best institute in the country. As per the NIRF parameters, the institute has scored the highest under two categories: Research & Professional Practice and Outreach & Inclusivity.

Apart from this, IIT Delhi has been consistently ranked by various other rankings and surveys, including Times Higher Education World University Rankings and Outlook- ICARE, to be one of the best places to study.

In keeping with the stellar academic output of the Institute, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has conferred upon it the elite 'Institute of Eminence' tag, making it one of the only eight public institutions in the country with the honour. The tag ensures that the university can admit international students in a more autonomous nature and recruit foreign faculty in greater numbers and is aimed at helping the institute have a more global presence. With a diversified student body and high research output, as noted by the QS World Rankings, the institute aims to maintain its prolific track record while improving upon the same.

The history of IIT Delhi is almost inseparable from the history of engineering education in India. The institute was envisaged as an outcome of the Sircar commission report, which recommended the setting up of IITs in India to fulfil the growing need for advanced education in engineering in the country. Established in 1961 as the then College of Engineering, IIT Delhi's foundation stone was laid by H.R.H Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in 1959. The institute was built as a collaboration between India and UK and was affiliated with the University of Delhi.

The first batch of admissions was held in 1961. Back then, the institute was operating out of the Delhi Technological University campus. In 1963, the name College of Engineering (former name of IIT Delhi) gave way to the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, and the institution was declared an Institute of National Importance. This allowed the institute to function as a deemed university with autonomy over the admission process, academics and degree.

Fast forward to this day, the Indian Institute of Technology, a.k.a. IIT Delhi, is a brand in its own right. It has awarded over 48000 degrees across a wide range of disciplines, including engineering, management, social sciences, and humanities. Out of the total number of degrees awarded, the total number of PhD degrees stands at 5070. Currently, IIT Delhi offers courses across six schools, sixteen departments, and ten centres.

The main campus of IIT Delhi is located in the pristine Hauz Khas area, New Delhi. The institute is flanked by historical monuments like the Qutub Minar and Lotus Temple. In fact, other reputed institutes like the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) are anchored in this area.

The IIT Delhi campus is built upon a space of 325 acres and divided into multiple zones depending upon the functional nature of the space. However, the campus is broadly divided into four zones:

• Student residential zone - Consisting of 11 hostels for boys and 2 for girls, the zone is the focal point of all residential activities of the students of the institute. It is interesting to note that all the hostels are named after the various mountain ranges found in India, for example, Vindhya, Aravali, Shivalik, and Satpura.
• Staff and faculty residential zone - This zone comprises the residential facilities for the faculty in the university. It is occupied by the teachers, lecturers, and other academicians employed by the institute.
• Recreational zone - This zone consists of the various extra-curricular facilities that the university has to offer. These include the arenas for sports like football, cricket, lawn tennis and basketball, the swimming pool, and the student activity centre (SAC).
• Academic zone - The most important zone of the institute comprising the offices, lecture theatres, libraries, and departments.

Apart from the main campus, IIT Delhi has two other campuses, namely the Sonipat campus and Jhajjar Campus.

Sonipat Campus: Established in 2018, this new campus is focused primarily on the Executive MBA and faculty development programs. The campus also acts as a site for research in advanced technology and promotes start-ups and extensive industry collaboration. The facility currently houses more than 100 start-ups apart from corporate events and also contains a health research centre.

Jhajjar Campus: The Jhajjar campus of IIT Delhi resulted from the association between the institute and AIIMS. The campus functions primarily as a biomedical research park along with PhD programs.

Apart from the campuses mentioned above, IIT Delhi also has four institutes that are externally funded. These are:

• Bharti School of Telecommunication Technology and Management.
• Amar Nath and Shashi Khosla School of Information Technology.
• Kusuma School of Biological Sciences.
• Centre of Excellence in Cyber Systems and Information Assurance.