Life at IISER M: A hitchhiker's guide

The curriculum in terms of syllabus of the IISERs is just like any other BSc and MSc colleges in the country, and is nothing special. In fact, it can be quite overwhelming sometimes, and personally needs to be revamped a lot. But the other aspect to curriculum, which encourages research, is unparalleled and unlike any other. Interdisciplinary courses are taught with equal importance as department specific courses, and interdisciplinary studies are encouraged as well. The frequency of exams is again which I feel should be looked at, but instructors can choose not to take 2 midsems and take no exams at all. Overally, if you want to take up a PhD later on, you will be quite prepared to take up a position elsewhere I feel after studying here (not because of the syllabus, but the structure of the curriculum).

Internships form a central part of the IISER curriculum, with students undertaking internships either in India/abroad during the Summer/Winter breaks (3 months and 1 month each). A 2 month internship is mandatory for all students atleast once during the BS-MS program. Internships you look for on your own however, by emailing professors/research groups and asking if you can work in their laboratories, and you can do them in IISER M or anywhere else. Internships can be paid/unpaid (depends on your prof) but it is not high--just enough sometimes to meet barely meet your living expenses, that's all (stipends in academia are like that only). The outcomes/goals of these projects depends on your prof and the project at hand, and is something which varies from person to person. Many of these involve work with actual research problems scientists work on in real life, and can be quite engaging to work on, sometimes leading to publications or the like.

The fees is on the higher side considering that this is an Institute of National Importance. For the 1st semester I had to pay Rs 44190 (tuition fees, hostel fees and all other fees combined), and from thereon, every even semester my batch pays Rs 37500 and in the odd semesters we pay Rs. 40190. This includes all kind of fees you need to pay (except for mess fees: that is handled by the Mess Committee and varies every month, with an average of Rs 4000-4500 per month for a 3 meal plan). You need to pay the consolidated amount every semester unless you are from a reserved category that gets tuition fees exemption, which constitutes the majority of this component (around Rs. 33500). The tuition fees increases every year by 10%, and right now the total fees is somewhere near 55k for the latest MS24 batch. Hostels are mandatory so you need to pay hostel fees. There is a merit cum need financial help available available for EWS category and other reserved categories and is around Rs 2500 if you have a CPI >= 8 (it is lower for caste based reservation). But do not rely on it - IISER M Accounts is extremely slow when it comes to payments. Mess also provides financial help if needed but it is very limited. If you need help in applying for external scholarships (such as bonafide certificates and the like) or for educational loan then of course you will receive plenty of help from administration. One final thing I would point out is that compared to other IISERs, IISER Mohali has the lowest fees.

We have 3 fests/festivals whatever you want to call it--Insomnia, the annual cultural fest in Oct/Nov, the Inter INCI Cultural Meet (IICM) (INCI stands for IISER, NISER, CEBS and IISc) which is a cultural meet for all these institutions, and the IISM, the sports equivalent of IICM. Students were trying to get a Science Fest started from this year so let's see how it goes. These contribute immensely to our co-curricular activities along with the various student clubs in almost every domain--music, dance, gaming, coding, fashion etc. I am personally involved in a lot of them. Our Sports Department is also quite well funded with classes and practices conducted every other day. We have a large central stadium for all sports tournaments apart from a large green campus where you can run/cycle in from time to time. Classrooms are well equipped with smart boards and projectors, and is well complemented by a huge library (one of the largest in the country) with a number of books and journal subscriptions.

Hostels are given in campus and are mandatory, the fees of which is included within the total fees and registration happens altogether during academic registration. Mess is operated by a cooperative mess and another by a contract mess, both of which are decent. Compared to other messes in the country our mess is quite good in terms of food and quality. 1st and 2nd years are given double occupancy rooms, and 3rd year onwards you get single rooms. All rooms have a balcony, a wardrobe, table and chair and a bed. No ACs though (although unofficially you can buy your own heaters/coolers). About 4 bathrooms in each floor with 24x7 hot water even in summers. Hostels are wing separated into girls and boys (unofficially people do indulge in wing crossing). Overall hostels are quite good in our institute, with decent fooding options (provided you get your food before 12 AM, after which you need to order from outside.)

I did not want to apply to other colleges to be fair. I wanted to join an IISER for my higher studies (or maybe IISc/NISER). I couldn't get into IISc/NISER since I did not qualify, but I qualified the entrance test for IISERs (IAT: IISER Aptitude Test for all the 7 IISERs in the country) and got in, ultimately ending up at Mohali during the counselling process. I was studying at Jadavpur University for a couple of months before joining IISER Mohali, and because IISER was my dream, I left JU for IISER M. Whatever I am, a lot of it is because of my education at IISER, something which I perhaps would not have got at JU (no hate towards JU though--it is a great place as well) and I am thankful for it in many ways. There are currently 2 ways to get into IISERs: IAT, and JEE Advanced. For Advanced , you need to get a rank below 10000 to sit for counselling, and in IAT it depends--generally a general rank of <=2000 should get you an IISER. One thing--OLDER IISER DOESNT MEAN BETTER IISER. It COMPLETELY depends on your research interests (which depends on the Faculty at each IISER) and is completely a personal choice. I prefer Mohali in many ways over other IISERs like Pune/Kolkata for I feel our Astro dept is very good compared to the rest--we can even claim an astronomy minor if we want to here. So it is completely a personal choice. Counselling can be stressful, but it is a life changing experience.

Faculty student ratio depends on department, and while it is decent in Physics and Maths, it is not quite so in Chemistry and Biology because of the sheer size of the number of students in the departments. This is expected to decrease with the introduction of a cap in number of students choosing a major in their 2nd year. The Faculty is very good in terms of research but honestly in teaching they can be quite bad at times except for a few exceptions of course. I won't name them for privacy concerns (it's better you get to know them when you come here ;) ). We have 3 exams in a semester: 2 midsems and 1 endsem, and how hard they can be depends on the faculty taking the course. In general, any course and it's pace/how good grading is depends completely on the faculty. The course curriculum can feel quite heavy at times, but it is not significantly different compared to other colleges. The main thing about IISER is the exposure to academia it provides, which is unparalleled in almost any other college. You get time in summer and winter simply to internships which are very much encouraged. Number of failures in exams depends on relative grading and final Grade Finalization Meeting (but again honestly, don't depend on it).

Nightlife is safe and quite involved. Clubs conduct events everyday, and there is no curfew in hostels. Main gate has a curfew for going out in night (12-6 AM), but that's all. IISER M has a very good advantage of being located very near to the city and the markets, so it is well connected to Mohali or Chandigarh and it's amenities. People can go to canteens or the gym or the stadium or club rooms or simply take a walk around to relax and enjoy after classes. Inside campus is totally safe at any time of the night. Outside it is recommended not to roam around at late in the night but it is not completely unsafe--basic precautions should suffice just like any other city. Library is open till from 9AM-6AM the next day and so you can spend quite some time over there as well.