Open House by International Relations Cell, IIT Kharagpur

On the 17th of March, 2022 International Relations Cell, IIT Kharagpur conducted an Open House on Semester Away Internship Program (SAIP) & New Curriculum at Netaji Auditorium. The event took place in Hybrid mode to accommodate the students of First Year with the other students on the campus.

This Open House took place to address the various changes that have been made in the UG curriculum which is foreseen to change the dynamics of the academic programs at IIT Kharagpur. These changes in the curriculum are brought in to benefit the students with flexibility and opportunity in the academic sessions that follow. This event provided the students with an opportunity to get their doubts solved and can make use of the new changes that will endow them with more opportunities.

It was graced by the presence of

• Prof. Siddhartha Mukhopadhyay (Chairman, Committee for New Curriculum)
• Prof. G P Raja Sekhar (Dean, Faculty of Sciences (FoS))
• Prof Venkappayya R Desai (Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture (FoE&A))
• Saswat Chakrabarti (Dean, Faculty of Bio-Technology and Bio-Sciences (BTBS))
• Prof Joykrishna Dey (Associate Dean, Faculty of Sciences (FoS))
• Maddali Ramgopal (Associate Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture (FoE&A))
• Pranab Kumar Dutta (Associate Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture (FoE&A))
• Soumen Das (Associate Dean, Faculty of Bio-Technology and Bio-Sciences (BTBS))
• Shiv Brat Singh (Associate Dean, Faculty of Bio-Technology and Bio-Sciences (BTBS))
• Rajakumar Ananthakrishnan (Chairperson, Career Development Center)

The event started with Prof. G P Raja Sekhar, Dean FoS taking us through the motivation behind the new curriculum that is being National Education Policy 2020 with its focus on features such as flexibility, no hard separation, and multidisciplinary and holistic education. In brief, the points that were covered in the Open House are:

• Major changes have been introduced in the curriculum of 1st Year UG, to make the courses more relevant and skill-oriented for students.
  • The DIY Project has been a significant step in this direction, which focuses on making students learn hands-on and fosters innovation and creativity.
• The entire structure of 1st Year has been divided into multiple courses, many of which have a separate theory and lab components, with proper credit allocation.
• The credit system in 1st year has been designed keeping in mind the special provision of branch change provided to students based on their performance, however, only theory components are included in the evaluation of this performance.
• Curriculum change in First Year Syllabus since 2020. Proper credit allocation between different courses has been done. Only theory credits are to be counted for branch change based on merit.

Students Away Internship Program :

Students can apply for a semester abroad after their 5th semester but not later. It is highly appreciated if they are mentally prepared about the same from the 2nd year itself. Students can take 3 additional credits per semester subject to approval, prerequisite, etc. Students can take 6 additional credits in the 8th semester depending on their academic performance.

• Channels for SAIP/SAPP :
  • • Career Development Centre.
    • Institute International Relations Office.
    • Self arrangements
• SAIP can be a replacement for :
  • • 8 months on SAIP
      • • Mandatory Summer Internship of 8 weeks of 2 credits.
        • One depth or breadth elective of 3 credits.
        • Project 1 of the 7th semester of 4 credits.
    • 6 months on SAIP :
      • • One depth or breadth elective of 3 credits.
        • Project 1 of the 7th semester of 4 credits.

Additional Course Credits – in house channel

There is a scope for acquiring additional courses credit to meet the requirements of breadth electives.

• Max. 2 summer projects both for a span of 8 weeks.
• Max. of 2 summer courses.

Student’s Career Orientation

Students can choose subjects as per their choice to orient themselves along with Professional Practice (PP) or Innovation and Research (IR).

• Professional Practice (PP): Depth (5) and Breadth (5)
• Innovations and Research (IR): Depth (7) and Breadth (3)

The stage was open for questions and a healthy discussion took place between the audience presence in Netaji and the audience in MS Team in Online mode with the panel.

Awaaz, IIT Kharagpur congratulates all the Members of the International Relations Cell for pulling off this feat and wishes best for their future initiatives!