Life at IISER Berhampur

The college management committee is very much helpful to the students. The only bad thing is IISER Berhampur has no permanent campus till now though it started functioning from 2016. I hope we will get our permanent campus within the next two years.

Each year is divided into two semesters i.e, even & odd semester. Each semester lasts for 4 months including mid semester & end semester examination. The CPI is based on relative grading system. It is a five year course in which the first two years a student have to study Physical, Chemical, Biological & Mathematical Sciences to build a proper base for research and understanding his preference to a particular subject. Then in 3rd & 4th year he has to take a subject as major from the above mentioned subjects and acquires deep knowledge on that subject. The final year is completely dedicated to research. The student has to publish his paper on the subject he has chosen for research. Then after he will get his degree.

The students passing out from any of the IISERs are mostly do their PhD in there respective field in various universities of the world. Till now no direct campus placement is available for IISERites. It is because after passing from any of the IISERs a student mostly decides to be a Scientist. So he wants to pursue higher Education. All IISERs provide Summer & Winter Internships.

All the National Festivals along with Annual Sports Meet (Lakshya), Cultural Fest (Kyearat), Robotics Workshop, Telescope sessions, Science Fest(STREAM) etc. are the main events observed at IISER Berhampur. These events keep a student active and fresh throughout the year and gives him the opportunity to find out the hidden talent inside him. Along with this some religious festivals are also celebrated by the students.

The Fee Structure for BS-MS Dual Degree Programme is feasible. The semester fee for a semester is around ?44, 000 along with around ?16, 000 as Mess Fee for 4 months. But for SC & ST category students the semester fee is around ?11, 000. So average Fee for a year is around ?1, 20, 000. The mode of payment is completely online which contains Net Banking for semester fee & Net Banking, UPI & Card payment for Mess Fee. The student has to give around ?4000 each month for Mess Fee within the said dates and he has to register for the next semester by giving the semester fee in the first week of last month of the current semester. No additional fee is required for securing admission.

All IISERs offer two types of Scholarships in BS-MS Dual Degree Programme. One is KVPY fellowship and another is INSPIRE fellowship. If a student qualifies the KVPY exam conducted by IISc Bangalore he wiil get an amount of monthly ?5000 for first 3 years and monthly ?7000 for the remaining two years. The INSPIRE fellowship is given to that student who has been in the top 1 percentile list of his state in his 10+2 examination in the same year in which he joins IISER or if he secures the All India Rank below 10000 in JEE Main or Advanced in the same year he joins IISER. If a student qualifies for INSPIRE fellowship he will get an amount of monthly ?5000 for five years and ?20000 as mentorship amount every year if he does summer internship. The student need not to apply for these scholarships. The institute shortlists the students who are eligible for which scholarship according to the above mentioned criterias every year and asks them to submit their bank details the ammount gets directly paid to the students' account.

As IISER Berhampur starts functioning very recently i.e, it has no permanent campus. Currently it is running in Transit campus i.e, in the campus of Govt. ITI, Berhampur. But the campus contains all the the basic requirements for the students. The labs are well equipped with modern research equipments. The sports room also contains various sports equipments. The gender ratio is little bit higher for boys as there are less number of girl students. There are various clubs such as Physics club(137 inverse), Chemistry club(Chemshala), Biology club, Math Club, Astronomy club(Naxatra), Eco club(Oasis) etc. are present in the institute. These clubs are run by students and work for the betterment of students in different fields. There also a senate functioning for the well being of students. Every year student representatives are elected on the basis of online voting and they work hand in hand for the improvement of students. Students from all religions are allowed here and they always live peacefuly with each other.

Hostel is compulsory in all IISERs. A student can't reside at his home or PG or private hostels. All the students are given accomodation in the hostels of the institute. At IISER Berhampur normally the rooms are 2bhk rooms equipped with all basic electrical appliances & have marbled floors. All rooms contain attached bathrooms. Each student is given a bed, a study table, a chair and an almirah by the institute. In one room there are 2 to 3 people reside according to the room's size. The hostels also comprise of a big hall for dining, a water cooler and an inverter for each floor, 1 or 2 washing machines, Table tennis court etc. Hostel fee is included with semester fee and it is nearly ?2, 500 per semester.

Since IISER Berhampur is just 4 years old, no BS-MS Student has been passed out. We all the four batches live together hand in hand. The seniors are very much helpful and treat juniors as their own brothers and sisters. There is a perfect coordination between the juniors and seniors. No ragging case has been found from the inauguration of the institute.

I have a deep interest in research in Physics. So during my 10+2 level I have decided to do graduation in Physical Sciences. For this I came to know that IISc, IISERs, NISER, CEBS Mumbai, IITs etc. are the best institutions in India for research. So after completing my 12th exam I attempted different entrance exams to get a seat in one of these colleges. There are 7 IISERs in India currently. These Institutes take students by 3 channels i.e, KVPY or JEE advanced or IISER Aptitude Test(IAT). I have qualified in IAT. During the form fill up for IAT the student have to choose different IISERs as per his preference and he will get a seat according to his performance in the exam, his preference and the availability of seats in his desired IISER. As I am a resident of Odisha, I have opted IISER Berhampur as my first preference as it is the nearest IISER to my home and there will be no language problem with me here with the locals. In the IAT I have been selected in the second round selection and got a seat in IISER Berhampur. Apart from BS-MS Dual Degree Programme, it also provides PhD and Post Doctoral degree. But as a first year student of BS-MS Dual Degree, I don't know much about the selection process for these.

The faculty members of our institute are appointed by Ministry of Human Resource & Development, India. All faculties contain illustrious careers in their respective fields. To be a faculty in any of the IISERs a person has to complete his Post Doctoral degree in a notable University of the World. There are nearly 5 to 6 faculties in each subject of IISER Berhampur which contains 4 professors for 4 subjects and others are Assistant professors. They always provide an intense knowledge and deep thought on their respective subjects and insist students to carry on research. They are always friendly to the students and clears there doubts with very good explanations.