Overwhelming Response: IIT Madras Receives Over 6,000 Applications For 30 Seats In New Programme

Over 6,000 applications have been received for just 30 seats sanctioned for IIT Madras' first-ever blended medical degree.

"We have received applications in a 1:20 ratio for the first batch. The admissions will be based on the scores in the IISER Aptitude Test (IAT). The course will begin on 31 July," IIT Madras director V Kamakoti said while explaining various initiatives taken by the institute to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

This programme is one of the many interdisciplinary initiatives being promoted under the NEP.

Students enrolled in this programme will have the opportunity to study a wide range of subjects, including anatomy, organ physiology, mathematical modelling of organ systems, pathology of organ systems, as well as fundamental engineering principles, basic sciences, and machine learning, among others.

IIT Madras has collaborated with seven hospitals and recruited doctors as professors of practice to instruct the students, according to Boby George, the head of the Department of Medical Sciences and Technology at IIT Madras.

The institute is planning to launch classes on its first-ever international campus at Zanzibar in Tanzania on 25 October.

In the first year, the institute will offer an undergraduate programme and a postgraduate programme in data science and artificial intelligence. These courses will be available to students from all countries, including India. Admission to the courses will be based on a screening test.

The institute also intends to introduce a BSc programme in mathematics and computing with BEd to train excellent mathematics teachers at the school level. Additionally, starting next month, the institute plans to provide basic electronics training to 25,000 students from 250 government schools annually.