Academic Affairs

Office, Academic Affairs

The Office of Academic Affairs manages all activities related to academics such as orientation for new students, admissions, registration, academic counseling, preparation of academic calendar, course contents & manuals, class and examination time tables, processing of results. The office timings are from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM on all working days. The Office of Academic Affairs is headed by the Dean, Academic Affairs (DoAA).

Students can submit all papers for signatures of the Dean, Academic Affairs such as leave requests, request for bonfire certificate, request for duplicate identity card, etc., to the dispatch section of Office of Academic Affairs between 4:00 PM and 5:00 PM on all working days. Students are allowed to meet officials of Office of Academic Affairs between 05:00 PM to 05:30 PM.

Academic Programmes

IISER Bhopal currently offers (i) Four year Bachelor of Science programme in Engeneering Sciences and Economic Sciences streams for students who have completed their 10+2 with mathematics as one of the subjects, (ii) Five years Bachelor of Science and Master of Science (BS-MS) Dual Degree Programme in Natural Science stream for students who have completed their 10+2, (iii) Integrated Ph.D. programme for students who have completed their Bachelor’s Degree in relevant disciplines, and, (iv) Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) programme for those who have acquired a Master’s degree/equivalent in various disciplines.

Further provision exists in the Institute to introduce new programme/disciplines, as appropriate.

BS-MS (Dual Degree)

Presently, the five year BS-MS (Dual Degree) programme is offered in Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Mathematics, and Physics.

KYPY and INSPIRE scholars admitted to IISER Bhopal will draw fellowship/scholarship as per the rule of the funding agency. The fellowship/ scholarship is directly disbursed by the funding agencies.

BS-MS (Dual Degree) programme consists of mandatory, common courses (core courses) for all disciplines during the I and II semester (1st year), a subset of all courses on offer which will enable a student to qualify for a choice of ‘Major’ (called pre-major courses) during the III and IV semesters (2nd year) and departmental courses (professional courses) during the remaining six semesters (3rd year onwards).

First year offers a set of core courses of about 40 credits across disciplines.

Pre-major year has a total of 21 credits per semester, with 6/7 credits from each of the chosen pre-major disciplines. Student can explore courses from three disciplines in the pre-major year, which enables students to make an informed choice of major/minor discipline in the third year.

Third year onwards, students register for professional courses consisting of discipline dependent mandatory and elective courses for 18-22 credits per semester. During the final year, students are required to register for MS thesis with a faculty supervisor, relevant to their major discipline.

In addition to majoring in one of the disciplines, BS-MS students can also minor in another discipline by fulfilling criteria specified by individual departments. The curriculum and other criteria for successfully completing the BS-MS programme in various disciplines are documented in the BS-MS (Dual Degree) Programme Manual.

The Institute encourages and rewards academic excellence exhibited by its students. To this end, Professor C.N.R. Rao Education Foundation Prize with a prize amount of Rs. 5000/- per semester is awarded to students(s) scoring the highest CPI in Natural Science Stream during the first year (in both the first and second semesters) of the BS-MS (Dual Degree) Programme. Also, the Academic Excellence Award with a prize amount of Rs. 5000/- per semester is awarded to students(s) scoring the highest CPI across all streams during first year of undergraduate study.

The academic excellence in the graduating batch is recognized by various prizes like President’s Gold Medal, Director’s Gold Medal, and Proficiency Medals in each discipline.

BS Programme

Presently, the four year BS programme is offered in Chemical Engineering, Data Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Economic Sciences discipline to the students who have passed (10+2) with mathematics as one of the subjects.

BS programme consists of mandatory, common courses (core courses) for all disciplines during the I and II semester (1st year), a subset of all courses on offer which will enable a student to qualify for a choice of ‘Major’ (called pre-major courses) during the III and IV semesters (2nd year) and departmental courses (professional courses) during the remaining four semesters (3rd and 4th years). Students pursuing the BS Programme can also earn a ‘minor’ degree in other disciplines after fulfilling the prerequisites laid down by the respective department.

After spending four years in BS programme, students have the option to obtain BS-MS (Dual Degree) by spending an additional year devoted to courses and research project.

Integrated Ph.D. Programme

Presently, the Institute offers Integrated Ph.D. programme in Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics.

The goals of the Integrated Ph.D. programme are the development of scientific manpower of the highest quality, to cater to the needs of industry, R&D organizations and educational institutes. The programme is aimed at providing young motivated individuals with a rigorous training, desired level of understanding and scientific maturity and a solid base at an early stage to enable them to pursue a research career. The detailed guidelines and criteria for successfully completing the Integrated Ph.D. programme in various disciplines are documented on the Departmental websites.

Integrated Ph.D. programme consists of course work during the first two/three years of the curricula. All students are paid institute assistantship of Rs. 10,000/- per month subject to maintaining a minimum CPI of 7.0 on a 10 point scale during the first three years of the programme The assistantship is enhanced to the level of MoE’s PhD fellowship after the candidate qualifies Ph.D. candidacy.

A student must attain a minimum CPI of 7.0 in the first two years in order to continue his/her candidacy for Ph.D. Students having CPI less than 6.0 at the end of fourth semester may either exit the programme or continue to work towards obtaining an MS degree.

All students are awarded with an MS degree at the end of third year of the programme.

The course work is followed by qualifying comprehensive examination, research work, seminars, and a thesis. Integrated Ph.D. students from all disciplines will have to register for a minimum of 48 course credits and a minimum of 40 research credits. In order to graduate, they should have a total minimum of 128 credits. The curriculum and other criteria for successfully completing the Integrated Ph.D. programme in various disciplines are documented in the Manual.

Doctoral Programme (Ph.D.)

Presently, the Institute offers Ph.D. programme in Biological Sciences, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Economic Sciences, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, Mathematics and Physics.

Ph.D. programme consists of course work, qualifying/comprehensive examination, seminars, and a thesis. Ph.D. students will have to register for course work comprising a minimum of 16 to 24 credits and a minimum of 40 research credits. In order to graduate, they should have a total minimum of 96 credits (coursework and research work). Besides the mandatory requirements, students are encouraged to participate in several professional activities such as workshops, review meetings and conferences. All doctoral students are also expected to participate in the undergraduate teaching programme of the Institute as a part of their training. The curriculum and other criteria for successfully completing the Ph.D. programme in various disciplines are documented in the Ph.D. Manual.

Academic Sessions

The typical distribution of an Academic Year is as follows:

Odd Semester	Winter Break	Even Semester	Summer Break
August to December	December	January to April	May to July

Academic Calendar: 2019-20-I Semester

Events	Important Dates
Registration	Jul 29 - 30, 2019 (Mon - Tue) BS/BS-MS (Dual Degree) Students
	Jul 31, 2019 (Wed) Integrated Ph.D. and Ph.D. Students
Late Registration	Aug 07, 2019 (Wed)
Classes Commence	Aug 01, 2019 (Thu)
Add/Drop	Aug 01, 2019 (Thu) - Aug 10, 2019 (Sat)
Last Date for Dropping Overload Course	Oct 31, 2019 (Thu)
Last Date for Document Submission	Sep 30, 2019 (Mon)
Mid-Semester Examination	Sep 21-29, 2019 (Sat-Sun)
Mid-Semester Recess	Oct 07-13, 2019 (Mon-Sun)
SRS	Nov 04-08, 2019 (Mon-Fri)
Last Day of Classes	Nov 20, 2019 (Wed)
End Semester Examination	Nov 23-Dec 01, 2019 (Sat-Sun)
Make-up Examination	Dec 6-7, 2019 (Fri-Sat)
Last date for grade submission of make-up exam	Dec 9, 2019 (Mon)
Vacation	Dec 02-Dec 31, 2019 (Mon-Tue)

Curriculum

The curriculum at IISER Bhopal is based on the credit system. Each course is allotted credits based on the number of lecture, tutorials, lab hours and self-study hours per week.

There is a continuous evaluation by means of quizzes, assignments, mid-semester, end-semester examinations and laboratory work throughout the semester. At the end of each semester, the student gets a SPI (Semester Performance Index) which is an average of the grades in each of the courses he/she has registered for in that semester weighted by the credits of the courses. The CPI (Cumulative Performance Index) is a weighted average of all the SPIs (till date) weighted by the number of total credits in a semester. A detailed descripting of the grading system and SPI/CPI is as follows.

Grading System

There are six letter grades: O, A, B, C, D and F. The letter grades, their descriptions, and their numerical equivalents on a scale of 10-points (called grade point) are as follows:

Letter Grade	Description	Weight (grade point)
O	Outstanding	10
A	Excellent	10
B	Good	8
C	Average	6
D	Poor	4
F	Fail	0

O grade is intended to recognize and encourage outstanding performance in a class. This grade is to be used sparingly.

In addition, there is an I grade which stands for Incomplete. Besides, these grades, there are two other grades S and X. S stands for Satisfactory and X for Unsatisfactory.

Note: The Institute does not declare percentage or award any division to the undergraduate students. Notionally, the CPI may be multiplied by a factor of 10 to obtain the numerical percentage.

SPI and CPI

Semester Performance Index (SPI) is a weighted average of the grade points earned by a student in all courses credited and describes his/her academic performance in a semester. It is calculated as follows:

where c_i = credit for the i^th course; g_i = grade points secured by the student for the i^th course. Summation is over all the courses credited by the student in that semester. ‘S’ and ‘X’ grades shall not be considered in the computation of the SPI.

Cumulative Performance Index (CPI) indicates the overall academic performance of a student in all courses registered up to and including the latest completed semester. It is calculated as follows:

where c_i = credit for the i^th course; g_i = grade points secured by the student for the i^th course. Summation is over all the courses credited by in all the completed semesters. ‘S’ and ‘X’ grades shall not be considered in the computation of the CPI.

Summation is over all the ‘n’ courses credited by the student in all the completed semesters. Whenever a student is permitted to appear for re-examination in a course, then the new letter grade replaces the old letter grade in the computation of CPI.

The minimum CPI required for completing the BS-MS (Dual Degree), Integrated Ph.D. and Ph.D. programmes are 5.00, 6.00 and 7.00, respectively. The maximum CPI that can be earned is 10.00.

Shiksha – The Academic Automation

The students must register online in the Academic Automation Portal ‘Shiksha’ (shiksha.iiserb.ac.in). Shiksha portal monitors the entire progress of the students from the date of registration till the award of the degree. The system manages details regarding registration of courses and grades of the student during the semester.

The grade report, with details of courses registered and grades obtained, SPI for each semester and the CPI based on the grades of all courses taken up to and including the semester, will be available to the student on Shiksha portal once the result for that semester are declared officially. The student can download the same from their respective shiksha logins. The results will also be shared on the parent’s email id. At the end of the programme hard copy transcript will be provided.

Attendance

The importance of maintaining a steady attendance in classes cannot be understated. It is advised that students do not miss classes due to trips home or otherwise. Also, it is absolutely compulsory for all students to appear for examinations. In case of unavoidable circumstances leave may be taken as per rule. Before proceeding for leave, an application has to be submitted to the Dean's Office in the format provided, with supporting documents.

Absence for a period of 4 weeks or more without submitting leave application will be considered as unauthorized and will lead to removal from the rolls.

The lack of attendance will be condoned only in cases of medical reasons, and only if supported by approved leave letter and medical certificate and fitness certificate from Institute's medical practitioner and submitted within 2 days of joining back.

Detailed rules for attendance in the Institute are placed in Appendix I.

Members of the Office of Academic Affairs

Lecture Hall Complex

All the lectures will be held either in the Lecture Hall Complex (LHC) or in designated classrooms of the Academic Buildings, as marked in the time-table. All laboratory courses will be held in the core/professional laboratories of the respective department.

LHC Hours

Monday - Saturday	8:00 AM – 1:00 AM
Sunday/Holiday	10:00 AM – 7:00 PM

Staff of LHC

National Academic Depository

National Academic Depository (NAD) is an initiative of Ministry of Education to provide an online store house of all academic awards. NAD is a 24X7 online store house of all academic awards viz. certificates, diplomas, degrees, mark-sheets etc. duly digitized and lodged by academic institutions / boards / eligibility assessment bodies. NAD not only ensures easy access to and retrieval of an academic award but also validates and guarantees its authenticity and safe storage.

For more information related to National Academic Depository, please visit http://nad.gov.in.