IIT-Madras has maintained its position as the top higher education institution in India for the sixth consecutive year in the National Institutional Rankings Framework (NIRF) 2024, released by the Ministry of Education. The institute also continues to lead in the ‘engineering’ category for the ninth year running and has secured the second spot in both the ‘research’ and ‘innovation’ categories.
Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director of IIT-Madras, shared insights on the institute’s sustained excellence and future goals in an interview with News18.
Key Factors for IIT-Madras’s Success
- Strategic Planning:
- IIT-Madras employs a home-grown strategic planning process involving young faculty members, ensuring that strategic goals are aligned with long-term outcomes.
- The institute’s focus on national priorities, such as quality education and innovation, has been pivotal. Initiatives like online courses and scholarships for underprivileged students reflect this commitment.
- National Priorities and Innovation:
- IIT-Madras aims to foster 100 start-ups annually, with a significant portion of graduates becoming CTOs.
- The institute is proactive in patenting innovations, aiming to file two patents daily.
- Gender Balance:
- The Women Leading IITs (WLI) initiative aims to improve the gender ratio among faculty, promoting women into leadership roles within STEM fields.
Addressing Challenges in the NIRF Framework
Prof. Kamakoti praised the NIRF for its transparency compared to international rankings, emphasizing its focus on perception and citation metrics. He believes that local relevance contributes to global recognition, and views rankings as a useful external audit.
New Initiatives and Focus Areas
- Sports Excellence Admissions:
- IIT-Madras introduced admissions based on sports excellence to address mental health issues and encourage a balanced lifestyle. National champions in various sports now have reserved seats, with an emphasis on holistic student development.
- Core Disciplines and Job Market Trends:
- Despite the high demand for AI and ML roles, Prof. Kamakoti stressed the importance of core engineering fields like civil and mechanical engineering. He advocates for entrepreneurship within core disciplines and warns against the short-term focus on high salaries.
- Placement Trends:
- Even with a dip in placements at top IITs, Prof. Kamakoti reassures that students with a CGPA of 8 or higher will find employment. He acknowledges that PhD students often face longer job searches due to the nature of research work.
IIT-Madras’s consistent performance in the NIRF rankings and its innovative approaches reflect its commitment to educational excellence and societal impact.
