Students joining the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras will have the flexibility of choosing up to 50% of their electives from any of its 16 departments. Students can also opt for a semester-long study in a foreign university.

Normally, students have to take 16 electives, of which they can choose eight from any department they wish or from any other approved institution of their choice.

Students can earn 72 credits by pursuing courses such as the ‘History of India’, Psychology, Economics, Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning.

A student who chooses four courses in a contiguous area will receive a minor in that field. The institute’s website has the details of the curriculum and the syllabi.

V. Jagadeesh Kumar, Dean (Academic Courses), said, “If a student interested in building things builds a robot, the student can avail himself of credits for the same. Students can earn as much as 36 credits in all departments. Certain departments are offering up to 48 credits for such activities”.

However, these are not part of a class but are done for fun. “If it clicks, it can be converted to credits under the IIT-Madras system,” he said.

Since the institute had signed agreements with many foreign universities, including in Europe, the United States and a few other countries, students would also have the flexibility of doing an entire semester in any of these universities.

The courses that the students pursue in these foreign universities would be transferred to their curriculum in the institute, he said.

A candidate who wants to pursue an MBA, apart from a B. Tech, may do so by spending an additional year and receive a degree in both programmes.