Frequently Asked Questions
Misc
How can I meet any of the faculty members?
How can I meet any of the students?
How do I reach the CSE department?
What are the computing facilities in the department?
How do I contact the Department?
What are the employment opportunities in the Department?
What are the benefits of joining as a project staff?
Where can I obtain current openings for Project Staff?
Admissions
General
How does one obtain admission to courses at IIT Madras?
Undergraduate
What is the pattern for JEE and when is it held?
What is the cutoff marks in JEE for getting into the CSE department?
What is the intake for the B.Tech. program?
Is there an option for a B.Tech student to get converted to a dual degree student?
Postgraduate
What is the intake for M.Tech. program?
What were the previous years GATE cutoff scores for the M.Tech program?
Is there an interview/written test for M.Tech. program?
Research programs
What are the categories of admission for M.S./Ph.D.?
What is the difference between HTRA/HTTA and Project admission?
Is there a provision to upgrade M.S. admission to Ph.D. admission?
How does one obtain admission to the M.S/Ph.D. program?
What is the syllabus for the written test/interview?
What is the intake for MS/PhD?
When does the Department call for admissions to research programs?
Acedemics
General
What are the academic programs offered by the Department?
What facilities are available for financial assistance?
Can I get TA duty of my choice?
What are the extra-curricular activities in the department?
What the the ordinances for academic programs?
Can I do courses offered by other departments?
What are the placement statistics?
What are options for graduates of the Department after obtaining their degree?
Undergraduate
What are the courses offered?
What are the options for a B.Tech student after completing his/her degree and
what is the current trend among students ?
What is the B.Tech curriculum ?
Postgraduate program
What are the highlights of the M.Tech. program?
Can I take undergraduate courses?
Can I pursue the M.Tech project work in an area of my choice?
Research programs (M.S./Ph.D.)
What are the highlights of the M.S. program?
How is an advisor alloted to a student? (MS/PhD)
What is the procedure for research programs?
What is the comphrehensive exam?
Can a research scholar go for internship?
How long does it take to get a research degree?
Research
General
What are the research areas in the Department?
What research is done in undergraduate programs?
How can I work on sponsored research projects?
M.S. program
What are the minimum requirements for M.S. program?
Ph.D. program
What are the minimum requirements for Ph.D. program?
Misc
How can I meet any of the faculty members?
You can meet any of the faculty by fixing an
appointment; the best way to do this to email them. If you come without appointment,
you may have to wait in vain...the faculty generally have tight schedules.
How can I meet any of the students?
Again, the best way is to email them. Most of
the students have a webpage. Else, contact the CS office
here.
How do I reach the CSE department?
The CSE department is located within two interconnected buildings: the Computer
Sciences Block or CSB (which includes the main CSE dept and the Computer Centre),
and the second floor of the Building Sciences Block or BSB.
The Department offices are located in the CSB building, whereas most of
the faculty offices are in BSB.
How to reach either building depends on from which side you are coming;
the best way is to ask someone in the campus for directions. Note that
the entrance through the CSB block is closed after 5 PM on weekdays and
throughout weekends. The BSB entrance is open 24 hours.
A map showing the location of the Department can be found here.
What are the computing facilities in the department?
The Department is connected to the IIT network; fast
ethernet and wireless connectivity are available. Almost all machines
in the labs run some version of Linux. Both centralized and
de-centralized computing facilities are available. Many of the labs
have high end nodes for number crunching, in addition to user
workstations. Many of the labs have their own mail/web servers and
these are maintained by students in the lab. Microsoft Windows, Mac OS and Solaris
platforms are also available.
In addition, the IIT Computer Centre has high end computing facilities accesible
from within the Department.
How do I contact the Department?
Please see the
Contact page.
What are the employment opportunities in the Department?
For faculty openings, please see the
IIT Madras faculty
openings page. The Institute has a standing notification for
openings for the post of Assistant Professor.
The Department has several sponsored projects from a
vareity of agencies, both Government and private. A qualified person
can join as a Project Staff in one of the sponsored projects, and
employment is provided by the Centre for Industrial
Consultancy and Sponsored Research, IIT Madras. Please visit the Employment Opportunities page for current project
openings in the Department.
What are the benefits of joining as a project staff?
Joining the Institute as a project staff gives
an opportunity to work on cutting edge research projects under a faulty
member. Project staff can even attend courses at the Institute.
However, they are not on the rolls of the Institute and must meet the
admission criteria to join as full-time students. However, project staff can join
the M.S. or Ph.D. program part-time.
Where can I obtain current openings for Project Staff?
Please visit the Employment Opportunities page.
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Admissions
General
How does one obtain admission to courses at IIT Madras?
Admission process for all the IITs is through
national level entrance exams: more information can be found here:
Admission
tests, Acedemic
Programs
Undergraduate (B.Tech., Dual
degree (1st to 4th year))
What is the pattern for JEE and when is it held?
The pattern for JEE might change every year. There is no fixed pattern.
JEE is in general held in the month of April. The date for JEE will be
announced in leading newspapers and the application forms are
distributed around the month of December the year before.
What is the cutoff marks in JEE for getting into undergraduate programs
at in the CSE department?
The cutoff marks vary every year. For the last two years, the closing rank for a general
category candidate has been ??? and ??? for B.Tech and ??? and ??? for dual degree.
What is the intake for the B.Tech. program?
The current intake for the B.Tech. program is 40 per year.
Is there an option for a B.Tech student to get converted to a
dual degree student?
Yes, at the end of third year, a student can switch to dual degree if he or she wishes to do so.
The student should have satisfied some minimum requirements for doing this.
Postgraduate (Dual degree 5th year/M.Tech.)
What is the intake for M.Tech. program?
Open category: 40, defence:5, QIP:2, sponsored: 3
What were the previous years GATE cutoff scores for the M.Tech program?
The admission to the M.Tech program is solely based on GATE Score, the cutoffs for which have been as follows:
GATE 2007: Cutoff score:
GATE 2006: Cutoff score:
GATE 2005: Cutoff score:
Is there an interview/written test for M.Tech. program?
No. The admission to the M.Tech. program is based entirely on the GATE score.
Postgraduate Research Programs (M.S./Ph.D.)
What are the categories of admission for M.S./Ph.D.?
Broadly, there are four categories: (1) regular
(HTTA/HTRA), (2) project (3) external and (4) part-time.
A regular candidate obtains financial assistantship from the Institute.
The scholar is expected to work for eight hours a week as a
teaching assistant/research assistant for the Department. Note.
HTTA stands for Half Time Teaching Assistantship (for M.S. scholars) and HTRA stands for
Half Time Research Assistantship (for Ph.D. scholars.).
In the project category, a scholar is paid a salary from a sponsored
project through the centre for Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored
Research, IIT Madras. The scholar is expected to work on the project
and report to a faculty member (usually the scholar's advisor.)
The external category is for employed candidates. The candidate is
jointly supervised by an advisor from the faculty, and another advisor at
the place of employment. The student has a minimum on-campus residential
requirement period (typically for completing course work and comphrehensive
examination) after which periodic visits to the Department are required.
External registration is provided only to employees of organizations
where suitable facilities for research are available.
Part time scholars work under a faculty member. This type of admission is restricted
to people within the vicinity of Chennai. Most of these students carry out their research work in the weekends
in the Department.
Please see the research page for more information.
What is the difference between HTRA/HTTA and Project admission?
Please see the question on categories of admission.
Is there a provision to upgrade M.S. admission to Ph.D. admission?
Yes, at the end of the fourth semester, with prior
approval of the GTC, M.S. scholars can upgrade their admissions to
Ph.D. Such students, on successful completion, will graduate with a
Ph.D. degree from the Institute.
How does one obtain admission to the M.S/Ph.D. program?
Admission is through an entrance exam/interview
conducted by the Department. IIT Madras will call for admissions for
the MS/PhD programs in leading newpapers. This is also available on the
IIT website. After you apply, if you are shortlisted, you will be asked
to appear for a written test/interview at the Department at a specified
date and time. If selected, the applicant will be asked to join the
Institute on a given date.
Please see the selection criteria at the IIT
Madras admissions page.
Note. M.S. admission requires a valid GATE score. The test/interview
is in addition to the GATE score. The GATE score is only to shortlist candidates
who are eligible to appear in the test/interview. After that, admission depends
solely on the performance in the test/interview.
What is the syllabus for the written test/interview?
The test will cover core areas of Computer Science;
including data structures, algorithms, computer acrhitecture,
mathematical foundations for computer science. There is no fixed
pattern. Short answers, multiple choice answers, long answers,
pseudocode etc. should be expected as probable questions.
What is the intake for MS/PhD?
Intake varies from year to year. It is approximately 10 for M.S. and 6-8 for Ph.D.
When does the Department call for admissions to research programs?
M.S. admissions are called for twice a year: in June and
in January. The information is put on the Institute website and also in
leading newspapers.
Ph.D. applications are accepted throughout the year.
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Academics
General
What are the academic programs offered by the Department?
The Department offers the 4-year B.Tech. program,
the 5-year Dual Degree program, 2-year M.Tech. program, and M.S. and
Ph.D. programs. The Dual Degree program awards both B.Tech. and M.Tech.
degrees at the end of five years. B.Tech., Dual Degree and M.Tech. are course
oriented programs, whereas M.S. and Ph.D. are research programs.
The programs are in Computer Science and Engineering,
and has no specialization as such. Please see the IIT Madras Academics
page for more details.
What facilities are available for financial assistance?
Post graduate programs M.Tech., M.S. and Ph.D. have
financial assistance from a variety of sources. These include
scholarships offered by the Ministry of Human Resource Development and
research grants from Department projects. Recipents of
scholarships/financial aid are expected to work as teaching assistants
in the Department
or research associates in sponsored projects. Dual degree students are also
eligible for these scholarships in their fifth year.
Facilities are
available for travel grant for attending national and international conferences. See the research page for more details.
There are other scholarships available, check the IIT Madras website here.
Can I get TA duty of my choice?
Yes. You can give your preferences to the faculty member in charge of alloting teaching assistants.
What are the extra-curricular activities in the department?
The CS club regularly organizes different sports tournaments, trips etc. Apart from that, several computer science
oriented events are organized as part of Shaastra, the IIT Madras Technical festival. Also Saarang, the IIT Madras cultural
festival sees active participation from the department.
What the the ordinances for academic programs?
See the IIT Madras Acedemic Ordinances website here.
Can I do courses offered by other departments?
The student can take courses in other departments, subject to approval of the Faculty Advisor.
What are the placement statistics?
Approximately, they are as follows (in percentage):
Core companies (but more or less software development): B.Tech.:73; Dual:73; M.Tech.:74
Analytics/finance: B.Tech.:15; Dual:18; M.Tech.:3
Operations research: B.Tech.:8; Dual:98
VLSI: M.Tech.:17
Consultancy: B.Tech.:3
Networks: M.Tech.:17
What are the options for graduates of the Department after getting their degrees?
Many graduates (B.Tech.,M.Tech.,M.S.,Ph.D.) join companies like Google, Microsoft etc., where they may work as programmers,
analysts, designers or researchers. Many go on for higher studies. Many students get absorbed into finance and banking companies.
Another recent option is entrepreneurship and joining technology start-ups - a number of companies have been started by CSE alumni,
including Midas Communications, Banyan Networks, NMSWorks Software, Solnet Technologies, Terafast and Wellspring. Other start-ups from
IIT-Madras include Benchmark Electronics, Novatium Solutions, Vortex Engineering and ISoftTech.
Also see a B.Tech. specific question below.
Undergraduate (B.Tech., Dual degree(1st to 4th years))
What are the courses offered?
Please see the Department Courses
page. Students can also take
courses
offered in other departments.
What are the options for a B.Tech student after completing his degree and
what is the current trend among students ?
A student can opt to work for a core company after his undergraduate program. These typically
include but not limited to Micorsoft, Yahoo, Google, Amazon, Oracle etc. Selection procedure
for any company is through campus interview. In the last two years about ?? % of our students
have taken up job assignments in core companies.
Recently investment banking companies have been actively seeking students of computer science.
These typically include Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, Tower Research Capital etc.
In the last two years about 10% of our students have taken up assignments in investment banks.
To go abroad for an M.S. or a Ph.D is another major option. In general students of IIT stand a
better chance for an admission into a good Ph.D program when compared to the rest of the crowd.
In the last two years, roughly 33 % of our students have gone abroad for higher studies.
Also, several students have joined for the MBA program at IIMs or elsewhere.
What is the B.Tech curriculum ?
It evolves over the years. Every student must take a list of core courses which typically include
fundamentals of computer science, digital logic, data structures and algorithms, communication systems,
computer organization, automata theory, operating systems, compilers, database systems,
software engineering and computer networks. Additionally a student has to take a set of departmental
electives and some free electives. Besides, a student must also complete a project in his eighth semester
towards the fulfillment of his degree requirements. Apart from this, a student must complete three courses
in his minor area. The minor area must be different from computer science.
Postgraduate (Dual degree(5th year)/M.Tech.)
What are the highlights of the M.Tech. program?
The M.Tech. program is a two-year course oriented program (as
opposed to the M.S. program, which is a research oriented program.) The
student has to obtain XYZ credits by taking approximately 10 courses
(4 core and 6 elective courses). The course work is spread accross the
first two semesters with an option of taking one elective in the
third semester. This is followed by a project in the third and fourth
semester in which the student can take up a project of his or her interest,
supervised by a faculty member. Many good M.Tech thesis have made their ways as
papers in leading international conferences and journals.
There is also a provision to upgrade the M.Tech. program to a Ph.D.
program.
Can I take undergraduate courses?
No. Only post graduate courses (with course id greater than 500 or above) can be credited.
But undergraduate courses can be audited (you can sit in the class and listen to the lectures.)
Can I pursue the M.Tech project work in an area of my choice?
The student can choose an area of his or her choice, subject to the consent of the Faculty Advisor. Students can collborate with
other departments; again, this is subject to the consent of the Faculty Advisor.
Postgraduate Research Programs (M.S./Ph.D.)
What are the highlights of the M.S. program?
The M.S. program is a postgraduate research oriented
program. The M.S. scholar works under the supervision of a faculty
member. The scholar has to obtain a minimum number of credits by taking
courses. The highlight of the program is the independent research work
taken by scholar, leading to a dissertation at the end of the program.
Moreover, in the fourth semester, an M.S. scholar has an option to
upgrade to the Ph.D. program without having to go through the admission
procedure.
How is an advisor alloted to a student? (Ms/PhD)
The student can specify a preference of advisors
from among the faculty. Before this, it is expected that the student
has some idea of what area he or she wishes to work on, and which
faculty member he or she wishes to collaborate with. Prospective
students can visit faculty homepages and their respective lab webpages
to learn more about their work. Once admission to the
Department is confirmed, it is reccomended that the student visit the
Department or at least contact prospective research advisors.
The final allotment of the advisor is decided by the Head of the
Department.
What is the procedure for research programs?
An M.S. scholar will have a Genetal Test Committe
(GTC) consisting of faculty members from the Institute. The GTC will
meet every year for the first two years and every six months afterwards
to analyse the progress made by the scholar. Typically, the scholar
takes a number of courses as suggested by his or her GTC members. After
the successful completion of the course work, the scholar does
independent research, culminating in a dissertation which is sent to
external experts for review. Based on the reviewers comments, the GTC
decides if the work done is satisfactory for awarding the M.S. degree.
The scholar may optionally be asked to appear for a viva-voce.
A Ph.D. scholar will have a Doctoral Committe (DC)
consisting of faculty members from the Institute. The DC will meet
every year for the first three years and every six months afterwards to
analyse the progress made by the scholar. Typically, the scholar takes
a number of courses as suggested by his or her DC members. After or
during the coursework, the scholar has to take a seperate comprehensive
exam conducted by the Department. The scholar has to clear the
comprehensive exam in two attempts, else the registration will be
cancelled. The scholar then does independent research, resulting in a
dissertation which is sent to external
experts for review. After incorporation the reviewers' comments, the
scholar appears in a viva voce before an expert panel, to defend his or
her thesis. After this thesis defence, the DC decides if the work is
satisfactory for awarding the Ph.D. degree.
What is the comprehensive exam?
The comprehensive exam or qualifying exam is an examination which forms part
of the Ph.D. program. The scholar has to appear and clear the exam in two
attempts and within three semesters of registering for the Ph.D. program, else
the registration will be cancelled. The scholar will be examined on basic
computer science including algorithms and data structures, computer architecture,
discrete mathematics and one elective subject of the students choice.
Can a research scholar go for internship?
Yes. M.S. and Ph.D. scholars can go for internship.
How long does it take to get a research degree?
Unlike course orineted programs, there is no fixed
time for research programs. Typically, an M.S. scholar takes about
three years and a Ph.D. scholar takes about four years to get their
degrees.
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Research
General
What are the research areas in the Department?
The research areas in the department are broadly:
- Intelligent systems: artificial intelligence, statistical machine learning, natural language processing
- Human computer interaction: speech processing, image processing, computer vision, multimodal interfaces
- Data and knowledge engineering: database management systems, data mining, ontologies, symantec web
- Theoretical computer science: unconventional models of computation, cryptography, graph theory, automata
- Networks and distributed systems: wireless systems, network management systems, optical networks, sensor networks
- Software systems: software engineering, distributed objects, object oriented programming, compilers and programming languages design
- Hardware system design: software aspects of VLSI design, reconfigurable hardware design, VLSI implementations of
speech and image processing algorithms
Also see the research areas page and the research page.
What research is done in undergraduate programs?
Undergraduate students can work on
research assignments as part of their mini-projects or final year
projects. They can collaborate with M.S. or Ph.D. scholars for the same.
How can I work on sponsored research projects?
The Department has several sponsered research
projects from agencies like Dept. of Science and Technology, Govt. of
India, DRDO etc. and from private organizations. A research scholar
(M.S./Ph.D.) has an option of obtaining admission under the project
category, after which the scholar's financial assistantship comes from
the project grant. In such cases, the advisor of the scholar is
(usually) the faculty member in charge of the project.
M.S. program
What are the minimum requirements for M.S. program?
Please see the IIT Madras admissions page here.
Ph.D. program
What are the minimum requirements for Ph.D. program?
Please see the IIT Madras admissions page here.
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036
Phone: +91-44-22574350 Fax: +91-44- 22574352 email: csoffice@iitm.ac.in
