The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) is an elite engineering and technology school located in Chennai (formerly Madras) in southern India. It is officially recognized as an Institute of National Importance by the Government of India and is regarded as one of the finest engineering institutions in India. Founded in 1959 with technical and financial assistance from the Government of the erstwhile West Germany, IIT Madras was third among currently ten Indian Institutes of Technology (including 3 new IITs at Hyderabad, Patna and in Rajasthan) established by the Government of India through an Act of Parliament, to provide world-class education and research facilities in engineering and technology. IIT Madras, is one among the foremost of institutes of national importance in higher technological education and in basic and applied research. In 1956, the German Government offered technical assistance for establishing an institute of higher education in engineering in India. The first Indo-German agreement in Bonn, West Germany for the establishment of the Indian Institute of Technology at Madras was signed in 1959.

Academics Activity

IIT Madras offers undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees across 15 disciplines in Engineering, Sciences, Humanities and Management. About 360 faculty belonging to various science and engineering departments and centres of the Institute are engaged in teaching, research and industrial consultancy.

The academic calendar is organized around the semester. Each semester provides a minimum of seventy days of instruction, in English. Students are evaluated on a continuous basis throughout the semester. Evaluation is done by the faculty, a consequence of the autonomous status granted to the Institute. Research work is evaluated on the basis of the review thesis by peer examiners both from within the country and abroad. Ordinances that govern the academic program of study are prepared by the Senate, the highest academic body within the Institute.

Undergraduate academics
Admission to Undergraduate Curriculum
JEE: The Joint Entrance Examination to the IITs is conducted every year and forms the basis of admission to the undergraduate programs. It is considered an extremely competitive exam.
HSEE: IIT Madras offers a unique and innovative Five Year Integrated Masters Programme, leading to M.A. degrees in 3 disciplines: Development Studies, Economics, and English Studies.

Graduate academics
Admission to Graduate Curriculum
GATE: The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering is the entrance exam used to govern admission to post graduate engineering programs at the IITs.

JAM: The Joint Admission to M.Sc. is the entrance exam used to govern admission to post graduate science programs at the IITs.

Management programme
Admission to MBA Curriculum
JMET: The Joint Management Entrance Test is the entrance exam used to govern admission to the MBA programme at the IITs. It is followed by a group task exercise and a personal interview.
 

Credit system
Like other IITs, IIT Madras follows a credit system for evaluating academic performance. The GPA ranges on a scale from 0 to 10. Each course carries a certain number of credits (usually 1 to 4). The student has to secure a minimum number of credits over the duration of the degree, that depends on the program, the department, and specialization. The following letter grades are awarded for each course:

The U grade is failure in the course, and W is the failure to satisfy attendance requirements; in either case, the course is considered failed. The GPA is computed as the cumulative credit-weighted average of the grade points: