IIT-Delhi campus. (Express Photo)
Students pursuing BTech in National Institute of Technology Trichy (NITT) can now seek direct admission to PhD in the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi. This has been made possible as the two institutes signed a memorandum of understanding. IIT-Delhi already has a similar arrangement with NIT Agartala and NIT Warangal and Director of IIT-Delhi V Ramgopal Rao said that he would “like to invite other NITs also to enter into a similar academic partnership with IIT-Delhi.”
Under the collaboration, meritorious BTech students — with a CGPA of 8.00 at the end of their sixth semester — of NITT will be provided an opportunity to carry out part of their studies including their summer project work and fourth year at IIT-Delhi. The students who “demonstrate sufficient merit in coursework and research” during the fourth year of the BTech will join the PhD programme at the IIT without the need to qualify GATE or any other national level examination.
During their stay as visiting students, IIT-Delhi will not be charging any academic fees, since they will be paying their regular academic fees at NIT Trichy. They, being BTech degree students, will also be provided either on-campus or off-campus paid hostel accommodation by IIT Delhi for one-year, claims the IIT.
It is envisaged that this scheme will also help NITT BTech students to enhance their chances of qualifying for the PMRF fellowship for PhD at IIT Delhi.
IIT-Delhi and NIT Trichy will exchange BTech, dual degree MTech students, research scholars, and faculty. The students under the exchange programme will be classified as special exchange students and they will be permitted to take courses on credit/audit, as well as participate in research activities/internships/project work. The selection and nomination of students will be open throughout the academic year, the IIT informed.
The faculty from both the institutes will also collaborate in the joint submission of research project proposals, supervision of exchange students and joint research in the disciplines of mutual interest.