FAQs

General Information:

1. Where is IIT Gandhinagar located, and how well is it connected?
The Institute is located at Gandhinagar, Gujarat, on the banks of the river Sabarmati at just a 20 minute drive from Ahmedabad Airport and approximately 45-minute to 1 hour drive from Ahmedabad Railway Station. Auto rickshaws and taxis (including Uber/Ola) to get to campus are easily available. Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar are twin cities and are very well connected through Air, Rail and Road. You may like to have a look at the map.

2. What are the various facilities available to students?
IITGN has excellent hostel facilities including air conditioned and furnished hostel rooms, conveniences and facilities (including eat right certified dining halls and eating joints, shops, student lounge, mini-library and pantry in student hostels etc.). Academic area is just a short walk from the hostels and has modern classrooms (with audio-visual and active learning systems), laboratories covering a range of topics and cutting-edge research areas, and multiple auditoriums. There is a well-equipped library, an upcoming state of the art sports complex, medical centre, counseling services etc.

For more information, please click here.

3. Where can I find detailed information about academic programs and educational initiatives of IITGN?
IITGN has a flexible and broad-based curriculum UG geared towards long-term success in their respective careers. This includes very liberal branch change policy, numerous elective courses, interdisciplinary minor programs, dual major and dual degree programs, advanced pedagogical initiatives including active learning and learning-by-doing approaches in several courses. The Institute has created several special platforms to execute this: a creative learning centre, a writing studio, a 24-hour tinkerers lab managed entirely by the students, etc.

For more information, please click here.

4. What are some of the ways in which IITGN supports students from financially weaker backgrounds?
IITGN believes that financial constraints should not become obstacles in the academic pursuit of any student. We have an extremely liberal financial aid and scholarship programs that ensure that no student feels disadvantaged due to their financial situation. IITGN provides very generous grants and loans as per the need of the student to support academic requirements, excellence activities (including international internship), and in some cases personal expenses. This includes a flat Rs. 2 Lakh per year (for 4 years) for all top 1000 JEE advanced rank holders and students who have represented India in one of the recognized international olympiads.

For more information, please click here.

5. What are some of the resources/initiative available for ensuring overall student well being?
IIT Gandhinagar’s student centric approach is widely recognized for helping create a nurturing, safe and vibrant environment for its students. A high emphasis on student emotional well-being with its very proactive counselling services consisting of professional counsellors, faculty advisors, student guides that keep in touch with every student. In addition, physical wellbeing (sports) and nutritional well being (fresh, nutritious and hygienic food options) are also heavily emphasized. For more information on counseling services, please click here.

6. What are some of the areas in which IITGN has been trendsetter?
IIT Gandhinagar is a nationwide leader on two fronts, its holistic, well rounded, and modern undergraduate curriculum, and its student-centric approach resulting in a nurturing, safe, and vibrant environment for its students. IIT Gandhinagar’s unique innovations include:

a) A five-week immersive foundation program (for all undergraduates) to nurture creativity, communication skills, ethics, teamwork, social engagement and physical fitness.
b) An international internship program that results in more than 40% of our undergraduates receiving international exposure before they graduate.
c) A flexible and broad-based curriculum that enables students to learn topics and streams of their interest.
d) A unique explorer fellowship program that enables students to travel the length and breadth of the country in teams.
e) Advanced pedagogical initiatives including active learning and learning-by-doing approaches in several courses.

For more information please refer
http://sites.iitgn.ac.in/explorer/
http://sites.iitgn.ac.in/foundation-programme/
https://www.iitgn.ac.in/student/lifeoncampus/ie/

7. How is the food at IIT Gandhinagar?
IIT Gandhinagar is the first and only educational institute to be certified by FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) as ‘Eat Right Campus’ with 5 star rating. IITGN ensures high standards for the quality of food served at its dining halls and the other eating joints. Appropriate measures are taken to maintain cleanliness and hygiene. All the food joints of the campus have valid FSSAI license. The institute focuses on the healthy food habits; the menu served in the mess is tailored every month by the student mess council for a balanced diet that provides the body with essential nutrition (link to the representative mess menu ). Besides, all the food joints use fortified foods (+F) such as double fortified Salt, Rice, Wheat Flour, Oil and Milk, to further enhance the food nutrition. Further, students desirous of having non-vegetarian dishes, can opt for the same by sharing their preference with mess secretary in advance against nominal additional payment. IIT Gandhinagar mess also serves Jain food to the students preferring it.

For more information please click here.

8. What is the climate like in Gandhinagar?
Gandhinagar has generally a dry climate apart from the monsoon months of June to September where the atmosphere remains slightly humid and warm. March to June are hot summer days with average maximum temperature above 40°C while the months of November to February are winter with temperature ranging between 15°C to 30°C, which can occasionally drop to 5°C.

9. What are the modes of transport from IIT Gandhinagar to the main city?
The Institute shuttle provides free bus services at regular intervals on all days of the week for commuting to Gandhinagar City as well as to Chandkheda, Ahmedabad.

For more information on the bus shuttle services, please click here.

10. How big is the institute campus and what are the facilities for going from one place to the other within the campus?
The institute is spread in 400 acres along the bank of Sabarmati river. However, the academic area, the hostels and the housing area are located at walkable distances in three different pockets. Nonetheless, there is a free Eeco Shuttle that has routine-runs throughout the day (at 15 min intervals during peak working hours) to commute IITGN community members within the campus. Further, students can avail rent-free institute bicycles kept at hostels to commute within the campus.

For more information on the bus shuttle services, please click here.

10. How are the computer/internet facilities on campus?
Computer facilities at IITGN have been developed with high-end hardware, a wide range of software and excellent connectivity. The LAN setup integrates the entire IITGN Community into a single unit. The institute premises and the student hostels are Wi-Fi enabled. We also have enterprise licences for various important scientific software packages.

12. How safe is IITGN campus?
Both the campus and the city are extremely safe and Gandhinagar is well known for being one of the safest cities in India. Moreover, 24 X 7 trained security guards from a reputed agency in all hostels and academic buildings and CCTVs in most prominent locations add to the safety. The student body is also very responsible and helps uphold the fear-free culture.

Hostels:

1. How many hostels are there in IIT Gandhinagar?
Currently we have Eight hostels.

2. What are the basic amenities in hostels?
Hostels of IIT Gandhinagar are fully furnished with facilities such as air conditioning in every room, 24x7 WiFi, LAN connections in every room , single seater rooms, double seater rooms, sick rooms, 24x7 electricity, common room , washroom, specially designed washroom for specially abled, hot water supply, security service 24x7, drinking water cooler, laundry service, elevators, fridge, microwave oven, induction cooktop in pantry area etc. There are also a number of stores including general store, grocery store, hair saloon, and cafes and eateries within the hostel complex.

3. How far are the hostel blocks from Academic area?
The hostel blocks are at walking distance of about 350 meters from the Academic area.

4. What are the arrangements of food and snacks at hostels?
IITGN ensures high standards for the quality of food served at its dining halls and the all other eating joints on campus. There are two dining halls in the campus run by two different caterers. However, a standard mess menu is offered at both the messes in order to have a healthy competition. The students are free to exercise their right for choice of any of the messes through a mess allocation process, which is done twice every semester by the Student Mess Council. The Monthly Menu is prepared by the Mess Council and approved by the Warden, Dining Facilities (link to the representative mess menu ). The HFMC (Hostel Facilities Management Committee) comprising students, staff and faculty oversees the effective functioning of student mess and all eating joints/shops at hostels. Apart from the student mess, there are several other shops/stores/eating joints such as Amul, Shri Sainath Canteen (A), Tea Post, Dawat Foods, Nutirich Juice Shop, etc are available at the hostels and these remain open till late night/early mornings

For more information, please click here.

5. What would be the likely monthly living expenses for a student?
The institute fee covers for all major expenses of students such as hostel accommodation, mess and laundry services. Hence, the basic and routine monthly expenses are minimal and individual-specific.

For more information on UG fee structure, please click here.

6. What about medical facility?
Qualified medical practitioners along with one physiotherapist are available at the institute to provide medical care and advice to students, staff and faculty. The Institute dispensary also has basic physiotherapy equipment and a trained assistant. Hospitalization expenses of all students are covered under a medical insurance policy. Trained male nurses are available full-time to provide emergency first-aid and for routine medical services. They also assist in maintaining medical supplies and keeping medical records. Medical kit for minor injuries are available at Sports fields, Gymnasium and with Security guards of each hostel. The Institute has agreement with the nine known hospitals of Gandhinagar/Ahmedabad that admit IITGN students without any advance deposit. Also, Hospitalization expenses of all students are covered under a medical insurance policy (as per the terms of the policy).

For more information, please click here.

7. What to do in case of medical emergency? Whom to contact?
The Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) for medical emergency is shared with all students though the Student Affairs Office along with the emergency contact numbers. Further, two nurse practitioners (available on call 24x7) reside on campus to handle medical emergency. Contact details of Dispensary staff/ Health committee members are made available on the notice board of each hostel. In case of an emergency, we have a 24x7 hour Ambulance facility. The Institute has an agreement with the nine known hospitals of Gandhinagar/Ahmedabad that admit IITGN students without any advance deposit.

8. Does the Campus have any emergency vehicle facility?
Yes, the campus has 24x7 Ambulance service for any emergency needs.

9. Is there any bank facility in campus?
Yes, we have a branch of Canara Bank and ATM in the academic area.

10. How are the Laundry Services for students?
The institute has an agreement with a laundry contractor to provide laundry services on campus. The laundry operates within the campus and provides timely services to students at very reasonable rates. The laundry charges for the semester are covered under the semester fee and there is no restriction on the number of clothes that can be given for laundry. The collection and delivery schedule for laundry services for each of the hostels is shared with all students by the student Welfare Secretary.

For more information on UG fee structure, please click here.

Academics:

1. How good is the academic infrastructure? What kind of Labs does IIT Gandhinagar have?
IIT Gandhinagar has well setup Labs for each department. Besides these, there are student run labs to promote innovation and research in the college. A design and innovations lab is in place for students wishing to prototype ideas developed as a part of projects.

2. What facility is provided by library at IIT Gandhinagar?
The Central Library of IIT-Gandhinagar supports the main objective of the institute to become a world class institution in Engineering, Sciences and Humanities & Social Sciences. The library has a rich collection of books on Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, and Humanities & Social Sciences. The collection includes reference books, text books, CDs etc. We are constantly in a process of increasing our collection of books further.

IIT-Gandhinagar library has also started subscribing to research journals in electronic as well as printed formats. E-journals available with various reputed online scientific databases such as American Chemical Society, American Physical Society, American Mathematical Society, Annual Reviews, ASME, IEEE, JSTOR, MathScinet, Nature, Science-Direct and SpringerLink and can be accessed. It has an excellent arrangement with all IIT, IIM and IISER libraries for resource sharing.

For more information, please click here.

3. What is the opening hours of IIT Gandhinagar Library?
Library opening hours are from 9.00 am to 2.00 am (Monday – Friday) and 9.00 am to 9.00 pm (Saturday, Sunday& holidays) during semesters, 9.00 am to 9.00 pm (Monday – Sunday& holidays) during vacations. Library opens for 24x7 for two weeks during Mid-sem and End- sem exams.

4. What are the policies and criteria of library for IIT Gandhinagar students on the following perspective?
a) How many books one can get issued at a time and what is the allowed days for returning of books?
A person with a valid IITGN Library membership can issue 6 books and 8 books in a semester (for 15 days each book) respectively, 1 loose magazine/journal (for 5 days) and two children’s books (for 15 days).

b) Is there any type of late fees if someone returns the borrowed (issued) book after the stipulated days for returning of books?

For more information, please click here.

5. What are the undergraduate/postgraduate programs offered at IIT Gandhinagar?
1) B.Tech
Artificial Intelligence, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science & Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering and Mechanical Engineering
2) B.Tech-M.Tech
Computer Science & Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering

Post-Graguate:
1). M.Tech
Biological Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science & Engineering, Earth System Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Materials Science & Engineering.
2). PGD.IIT
Biological Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science & Engineering, Earth System Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Materials Science & Engineering.
3). M.Sc.
Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Cognitive Sciences.
4). M.A.
M.A. in Society and Culture.

PhD:
Basic Sciences, Biological Sciences and Engineering, Cognitive Science, Earth Sciences, Engineering (disciplines stated above) and Humanities & Social Sciences.

6. What is Dean’s List, How can I become eligible for?
Dean’s list is awarded to those students who achieve certain level of academic excellence in an academic semester. A letter of appreciation from Dean of Academic Affairs is provided to such students on days of National Importance i.e Republic Day (26th January) and Independence Day (15th August).

Criteria for students to get Dean’s list are below.

Minimum SPI of 8.5 in that semester.
There should be no Fail/Non-Pass/Not-Completed grade in that semester.
Grades in all Credit courses must be : B- (BC) or higher.
Student must not be placed under any probation.

7. What are the different awards at the Institute for the academic excellence?
There are many fellowships, scholarships, Internships etc. for UG and PG students who perform well in academics. For more information please click here.

8. More details about faculty at IIT Gandhinagar?
IIT Gandhinagar has outstanding faculty members including both senior academicians and young PhDs. The faculty of IITGN are highly qualified having their masters, doctoral degrees or/and having conducted research in top universities in the World. The faculty at IITGN is young and vibrant and is highly approachable. The institute has high number of visiting faculty, which are renowned in the world for their proficiency in the subjects, and the conglomeration of visiting foreign faculty, research scholars enriches the learning experience among students. For more information please click here.

9. What are the branch change policies?
IIT Gandhinagar has adopted a very liberal branch change policy based on academic performance. IIT Gandhinagar believes that students should be able to pursue the branch of study they are interested in, and that they should be allowed to change their decision after the completion of the first year (the complete first year UG curriculum is common across different branches of engineering).

10. What is GPS system and what are the criteria for a student who is under GPS to come out of it?
Guided provided scheme (GPS) is a set up for student those who have low performance in academic area. Students who fall under this provision are regularly monitored by their faculty advisor throughout the Semester. These students are advised to clear their backlog first before taking other courses and are permitted to take only a maximum number of 21 credits. This plan has proved to be very effective over the period of time.

11. How many maximum total credits one can take in a semester (a normal student) and a student in GPS?
A normal student is allowed to take maximum of 28 credits in a semester whereas a GPS student is allowed to take maximum 21 credits.

12. Do we have Honours and Minors? What are some of the other innovations in Education that IIT Gandhinagar has initiated?
Yes, Institute also offers minors in Computer Science, Management, Humanities, Materials Science, Chemical, Electrical and Mechanical engineering to undergraduate students to improve interdisciplinary knowledge of the students. Honours are also offered to undergraduate students in their respective branches. The institute has also started a concept of short courses and workshops that provide students with additional information inside and outside their branch.

13. What is ‘SELF LEARNING MODE’?
Institute doesn’t have any compulsory attendance. Attendance issues are left on the instructor’s discretion. Instructor decides attendance policy for his/her course. But students those who are absenting themselves for more than three classes in first week or six classes in first five weeks are fall under this mode where they are not allowed to submit any assignments, not allowed to appear in quizzes and mid-sem exam. If he/she do so his/her assignments etc. would not be graded. Student in this mode is only allowed to appear in end-sem exam and his/her grade in that particular course would be only decided by end –sem score alone with compare to other students.

14. What is ‘Peer assisted learning (PAL)’?
Peer assisted learning (PAL) is a unique initiative is taken by IIT Gandhinagar to help first year students who find difficulty to adapt English as the medium of curriculum. In this initiative, a group of first year students who find challenges with English language are assigned to peers educators. These peers engage such students through interactive discussions in English and curriculum related topics. This program is also extended to second year students who may require any such assistance.

15. What are the differences between regular and elective courses?
Apart from regular branch courses a student have to complete 4 HSS(Humanities and Social Sciences) courses, 2 (BS) Basic Science courses and 4 open electives (which may or may not be related to your branch) during his/her end of B.tech program. One can do minor in any branch by completing a fix number of courses. His /her 4 open elective can be counted for minor degree as well.

16. What are short courses? Can these credits be used in final credits required for graduation claim?
Short courses are a series of lectures apart for regular curriculum. Each short course worth one credit and it will be displayed on the final grade sheet. These lectures are conducted by guest lecturers on different. Each short course has duration of 8-10 hours for 1-2 days.

17. What is the full process to add/drop a course?
A student can drop any courses during his/her semester if he/she is finding difficultly with it or timing of course is clashing with other courses. In lieu of dropped course(s) he/ she can add any other course(s) which should not clash with other course(s). There is a period of 8-10 days in starting of semester and after mid-sem exam in which you can avail this facility.

18. How many maximum course one can convert to Pass/Fail option and what are the criteria related to this process?
Pass/fail is a policy of institute in which a student can submit request to convert his/her earlier registered courses with passing grade(s). Each student will have maximum two courses for this option in his/her entire program. The tagged courses will be dropped from CPI calculation.

Extra-Curricular Activities:

1. How are the sports facilities?
One highly qualified physical education instructor, assisted by one qualified sports intern manage the Physical Education Section. The institute also engages part-time coaches to train students in various sports such as Football, Cricket, Volleyball, Athletics and Basketball. The institute has lush green Football and Cricket fields, Volleyball, Basketball, Badminton Courts, Athletics tracks, Table Tenis facilities etc. New sports courts have been constructed adjacent to the hostel premises. A modern multi-purpose gym is available along with a gym instructor. Students even play some of their own favorites such as Gully cricket and Frisbee in their free time. A Sports Complex with state of the art facilities is under construction and is nearing completion.

For more information, please click here.

2. How involved are the students in extracurricular activities?
The institute believes in all-round development of the student and hence the students are encouraged to participate in various extra-curricular activities that interests' them like music, dance, drama, arts, social-welfare, etc.

For more information, please click here.

3. Is Sports compulsory for the first years?
The institute believes that sports play a major role in the development of personality of the students. Hence, all the first year students are required to devote a minimum no. of hours towards sports for their PE (Physical Education) course.

4. Do we have indoor sports facilities?
We do not have indoor sports facilities as of now but currently second phase construction is going on where sports complex with various indoor sport facilities such as wooden badminton court, squash court etc. are being constructed. Arrangements are made at nearby sports academies for facilitating the training of interested students for these sports.

5. Are sufficient sports equipment available to students?
Yes, high quality sports equipment is procured every year for the students as per the requirements shared by the student sports secretaries/captains.

6. Do we have instructors available for various sports?
Yes, we have part-time coaches available for all sports from 6.00 pm to 8.00 pm (Monday to Friday).

7. Do we participate in local tournaments?
Yes, teams from IITGN for various sports participate in local and state tournaments; inter college sport festivals, intra college sports festivals, Inter-IIT sports meet etc.

8. Do we get funding from institute to participate in various tournaments?
Yes, Institute financially support teams from various games to participate in tournaments and inter-IIT sports meet.

9. Is it allowed to change sport at any time we wish to?
Yes, IIT Gandhinagar’s policy is very liberal toward sport selection. A student can jump from one sport to another whenever he/she wants to prior to that the students are given one week of practice session on the chosen sport before they finalize their choice.

10. Do we have proper staff to look after sports fields?
Yes, we have three groundsmen for maintenance of sports fields who work under close supervision of the PTI. Also we have one faculty advisor for sports section who advises on sports related issues.

11. Do we have student council for sports?
Yes, we have Sports Council for sports as well, with one secretary and one captain for each sport (for both boys and girls team). For more details, please click here.

12. Which are the current clubs at IIT Gandhinagar?
There are cultural and technical clubs at IIT Gandhinagar.

Cultural Clubs:

• 16 Pixels| Photography Club
• Abhinaya| Drama Club
• Cinematheque| Movie Club
• Palette| Art Club
• Sargam| Music Club
• Step Up| Dance Club
• The Literary Society| Literary Club
• Vinteo| Film-making Club
• Orenda| Gender and sexuality Club
• Quizzing Society

Technical Clubs:

• Metis| Coding Club
• Mean Mechanics| robotics Club
• DigiS| Digital Sports Clubb
• Odyssey| Astronomy Club

For more details, please click here.

13. How to be a member of a club/organization at IIT Gandhinagar?
At the start of every academic year secretary of each club share an invitation form to student community. A student is free to choose any club from cultural or technical club by filling invitation form.

14. How many clubs can I join in a semester?
A student can join as many clubs as he/she wants. But it is often suggested that he/she does not join more than 2 clubs in a semester considering academic courses as well.

15. Can I start my own club?
Yes, you can start your own club. For that you need to start with an interest group or hobby club then find a good number of people who are interested in your proposed club. Then you have to draft a proposal considering aim of your club to student senate and after approval from authorities, you can declare it officially.

16. How can my club get financial assistance for organizing an event?
The club has to first make a request to the respective club secretary by giving him/her appropriate reason for organizing of event. Then the request will be approved by cultural/technical secretary followed by Dean of Student Affairs. The entire requests for financial assistance are accomplished by the DoSA (Dean of Student Affairs).

17. How can I become the secretary of a club?
At the start of every academic year nomination form is shared to whole student community. The selection of the secretary of a club is done by the cultural or Technical Secretary on the basis of an interview which includes remark by the outgoing secretary of the club.

The institute highly encourages and promotes students initiatives. In fact, all the major activities around students are initiated by them, for example the intra-college sports festival Halla-Bol, intra-college cultural festival Jashn, cultural festival Blithchron, Technical summit Amalthea etc. intra-college science and technology fair - Ignite are student run.

For more information please click here.

Placements and Internships:

1. What is the situation on placements and internships so far?
IITGN students have been placed in a number of lucrative companies. The institute has collaborations with many foreign institutes providing students great internship opportunities of working at best institutes and companies across the world.

For more information please click here.