IISc: True Centre of Science Education & Research in India
Origin of IISc has an interesting story:
Jamshedji Tata was the visionary who thought of changing India into an economically independent country by making it steel-rich.
He was on a voyage to Germany in 1893, when he met another visionary – Swami Vivekanand.
Swamiji pointed out how he could not expect honest opinion and results from an European country whose business interests are in conflict with India’s interests – and the imperative need of the hour is to empower Indian youth.
Thus, the idea of establishing Indian Institute of Science (IISc) was hatched. IISc admitted first batch of students in 1911.
Today, IISc is a renowned institution. Some deem it even better than the prestigious IITs as it has a purer scientific approach to things. It not only offers BS (Bachelor of Science) degrees in both core and interdisciplinary sciences but is also credited with more research work than any of the IITs in the Core Sciences.
According to the QS World University Rankings 2014, IISc was at # 11 in the World and #3 in Asia for Citations per Faculty. Its faculty is known to have high collaboration with the government research projects and grants as well as the industry.
Unlike the IITs, most of the IISc alumni stay in India and often take research positions at government or corporate research organizations. Some of its most famous alumni include the likes C V Raman, Homi Bhabha, C N R Rao, and Vikram Sarabhai. We all know Homi Bhabha idea the famous Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) while Vikram Sarabhai laid the foundation of the space programme of India.
The IISc campus is simply beautiful. It has about 110 species of woody plants. You can find many indigenous and exotic plant species here in the fully residential campus spread across 400 acres. The roads meandering through over 40 departments in the campus have been named after the dominant tree species lining them, such as Amra Marg, Arjuna Marg, Ashoka Mark, Badami Marg, Gulmohar Marg, Mahogany Marg, Nilgiri Marg, Silver Oak Marg, and Tala Marg.
Situated in the heart of Bengaluru city, the institute has a self-contained campus with as many as 16 canteens (cafeterias), 4 dining halls, 1 multi-cuisine family restaurant, a gymnasium and sports complex, a football ground, a cricket ground, 2 shopping centers, a library, 9 men’s hostels, 5 women’s hostels, residential areas for faculty and staff members – and even an airstrip of its own.
IISc has carved a name for itself in specialist fields like space, advanced computing and nuclear technologies.