T he Union ministry of human resource development set up two science institutes in Calcutta and Pune in July 2006. They were patterned after the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. The Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER) are research universities of the highest calibre where teaching and education are integrated with state-of-the-art research. These institutes nurture both curiosity and creativity.

The speciality of the institutes is an integrated five-year masters degree in science. The first two years of the programme (following Class XII) are devoted to core courses in the basic sciences and mathematics. This ensures a broad foundation that enables students to choose their major subject. From the third year, students specialise in their chosen areas. Apart from the integrated MSc course, IISER also offers a post-BSc integrated programme and PhD.

One of the objectives of IISER is to make education and a career in basic sciences more attractive by providing opportunities in the integrated learning of sciences and breaking the barriers of traditional disciplines. It promotes a flexible and borderless curriculum in all disciplines of basic sciences. Apart from providing classroom instruction, IISER promotes students’ skills in scientific inquiry, problem solving, communication, computational sciences, electronics and instrumentation, workshop and glass blowing practices. IISER proposes to create advanced teaching and research laboratories where students will have an opportunity to pursue laboratory experiments as well as carry out advanced research under the mentorship of world-class teachers.

Eligibility

nStudents who wish to pursue a career in scientific research and teaching and have passed Plus Two (or are appearing), may apply on plain paper giving their name, address, phone number, e-mail as well as the name, address and phone number of their school. They should attach a Class X marksheet and mention the roll or registration number of their qualifying examination (IIT JEE-2007, KVPY-2005, Olympiad-2007) and send the application to the director, IISER, IIT Extension Centre, HC-VII, Sector-III, Salt Lake, Calcutta-700106. The name of the qualifying exam should be mentioned on the envelope. For further details, log on to http://www.iiserkol.ac.in.

Entrance exam

nApplicants need to qualify in either the Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojna test (KVPY), the second stage of the Indian National Olympiad, IIT-JEE or be toppers of the CBSE or ICSE Plus Two exam. For further details, refer to the websites of the tests (www.iisc.ernet.in/kvpy, www.hbcse.tifr.res. in/olympiad and www.iitkgp.ernet.in/jee).

Pattern of exam

nKVPY tests a candidate’s comprehension and analytical abilities. It is an objective-type exam designed to assess mathematical and reasoning skills.

How to prepare

nFor maths, applicants can revise from books by Hall and Knight and S.L. Lony. They can also consult books like Quantitative Ability by R.S. Agarwal and Mathematics by Tata McGraw Hill. Students can practise reasoning exercises from Test of Reasoning by R.S. Agarwal, and books by Edgar Thorpe and Tata McGraw Hill publishers.