Student review - IISER Bhopal

The curriculum is well acquinted with theoretical as well as experimental learning. It includes all the historical studies as well as new discoveries in the fields. A 3 month long summer break is part of the academic year to allow students to take up internships and explore the world outside.

The internships are usually research-oriented, even though, some corporate opportunities are also available. for research - MITACS Global Link (Canada), DAAD-Wise (Germany), Charpak (France), JNCASR, IAS, IISERs, NITs, IITs, etc with stipend anywhere between 0 to 2000 USD. for corporate - JIO, Reliance, Tata, Aditya Birla Group, etc.

Only final-year students are eligible for campus placements. most students at iiserb are research orinented, so even though the institute has a placement cell, not many students take corporate offers. They usually end up taking PhD positions across the globe. The companies that usually come for their placement drive are Barklays, Dr. Reddy's Lab, Nomura, Delloite, SBI. The highest package was approx 28lpa, and the median package is approx 8lpa.

The fee structure is semester-wise, with Rs. 49800/- per semester, and it is increasing almost every batch of admissions. The tuition fees is waived off for SC/ST Reservation, which then comes down to about 17400/- per semester. The institute in itself does not provide any scholarships, but can be applied through various national organisations or the NSP. The course is fully covered under the SBI Scholar Loan Scheme.

All the student activities are foreseen by the SAC (Student Activity Council), which has various councils and clubs under it. Cultural fest - Enthuzia Student Development fest - MUN Social Initiative fest - Mahua Tech Fest - Arageddon Science Fest - Singularity Art fest - Arts n Letters

The institute provides hostel accomodation in the campus itself. The cost very nominal with approx 4200/- per semester. The mess is also in the campus itself and monthly charge is 3500/-. The room is double occupansy.

I applied for various colleges across India, but ended up choosing IISER Bhopal. The main reasons were its prominent focus on research from undergraduate level onwards. It is designed for research oriented education, giving students access to labs, faculty and projects. The interdeciplinary approach allowed me to not only study Biology, but also gain insights in chemistry, EES, CS, Physics and maths. The addmission process for IISER Bhopal, is to clear the IAT (IISER Aptitude Test), score a good rank and then undergo the counscelling process through the JAC.

The whole BSMS program is primarily research orinented learning. The course is semester wise, with Quizes, MidSem and EndSem exams. The grading policy depends on the instructor who is teaching the course. The course curriculum is like, compulsory courses in the first year, then you can choose 3 pre-major subjects in the second year, and then persue a major from the third year.