New Delhi: The Kusuma School of Biological Sciences at IIT Delhi has launched a new academic program, i.e., an M.Sc. in Biological Sciences. The program will commence from the academic year 2024-25.

Admissions to the two-year Masters program will be through the Joint Admission Test for Masters (JAM 2024). There are 20 seats under the new academic program.

IIT Delhi is a rich example of an academic environment where students routinely cross disciplines to address scientific questions. The existence of over 30  academic entities in various areas of science and engineering and the active collaborative environment between these units has created a vibrant ecosystem, which is ideal for fostering conceptual understanding as well as education in modern, interdisciplinary biology.

Speaking about the new M.Sc. in Biological Sciences offered by the Kusuma School of Biological Sciences at IIT Delhi, the HoD of the School, Prof. Bishwajit Kundu said, “This program is a highly selective opportunity for bright, enthusiastic students who wish to study interdisplinary biology at the postgraduate level”.

Prof. Manidipa Banerjee, Program In-charge (M.Sc. in Biological Sciences), said, “We have ensured a balance of coursework to prepare students for employment in the modern biotechnology market, as well as to provide a strong foundation towards higher studies and discovery research in interdisciplinary biological sciences”.

The unique features of this program, compared to other M.Sc. programs in this domain in the country are as follows:

(i) This curriculum will have a strong emphasis on quantitative biology as a core topic to fill  the gap in big data analysis and presentation in the current job market.

(ii) Students will have an open basket of electives to choose from.

(iii) This program will have a strong emphasis on “learning by doing”, not by instruction. All core courses in the program have a practical or analytics-based component, not a single pure theory course is proposed.

(iv) Students will be encouraged to undertake projects/internship in academic laboratories, as well as in start-up/industry settings in the last semester, which will increase their real-world exposure and eventual employability.

ENDS