Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram explained

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Vithura, Thiruvananthapuram (IISER Thiruvananthapuram or IISER-TVM) is an autonomous public university located in Vithura, Kerala, India. The institute is one of the seven IISERs established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, to bridge the gap between research and basic sciences' education at the undergraduate level. All IISERs are declared as Institutes of National Importance by the Parliament of India in 2012 through the NIT Amendment Act.^[6]

IISER Thiruvananthapuram awards Bachelor of Science and Master of Science (BS-MS) dual-degrees, and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. IISER TVM is to offer five new BS-MS programmes (i² Sciences) and new two-year M.Sc programmes in 2021.^{[7] [8]}

History

Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) were established in 2006 through a proclamation of the Ministry of Education, Government of India to promote quality collegiate education and research in basic sciences. Each IISER is a degree-granting autonomous institution with a prime focus to integrate science education and research. IISERs receive generous funding from the Government of India.

Soon after MHRD's announcement in 2006, two of these institutes were established at Pune and Kolkata in 2006. This was followed by another institute at Mohali in 2007, and two more at Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram in 2008.^[9] More recently, two more IISERs were established at Tirupati and Berhampur in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

Campus

IISER TVM campus is located in the foothills of the Western Ghats mountain. Spanning around 200 acres, Vithura (IISER) is located 40 km from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

Organization and administration

Governance

The institute is administered by a Board of Governors with Madhavan Nair Rajeevan as Chairperson, S. Murty Srinivasula as Deputy Director, a 13-member Senate, and the Director, Prof. Jarugu Narasimha Moorthy.^{[10] [11]} The deans are M. P. Rajan (Academics), Ramesh Chandra Nath (Students Affairs), Hema Somanathan (Research and Development) and Anil Shaji (Planning and Development).^[4] Previously, the board of governors was chaired by Tessy Thomas.

Departments

Division	Departments, Centers, and Units
School of Biology[12] [13] [14]	Cytoskeleton and Cell cycle Laboratory Drosophila Circadian Clock Laboratory Animal Behavior and Ecology Laboratory Genome Stability Laboratory Immunology Laboratory Microbiology Laboratory Molecular Virology Laboratory Plant Molecular Genetics Laboratory Prokaryotic Development Laboratory Stem Cell Laboratory Structural Molecular Biology (SMB) Laboratory 'Vanasiri' (Evolutionary Ecology Laboratory)
School of Chemistry[15]	Inorganic chemistry Organic chemistry Physical chemistry Theoretical chemistry
School of Mathematics[16]	Positive Operator Theory Partial differential equation Stochastic process Numerical Functional Analysis Financial Mathematics Control theory Differential games Combinatorial Number Theory Group theory Linear algebra, Commutative algebra and Homological algebra Ramsey theory
School of Physics[17]	Condensed matter physics High-energy Physics Optics Statistical mechanics Gravitational wave astronomy Nanoscale materials Quantum information theory Solar cells

Academics

Academic programs

• Dual-degree Bachelor of Science & Master of Science (BS-MS): The 5-year dual degree BS-MS program is the flagship program of all IISERs. The first two years of this program involves coursework in all subjects (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology, Humanities and Interdisciplinary courses). For the next two years, the students choose courses in a 'Major' and a 'Minor' subject as per their research interests. The final year is solely spent on a research project in their Major subject.^[18] Admissions to the BS-MS program is highly competitive, with only the following students eligible to apply:

1. Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) Basic Science Stream: Students who possess KVPY scholarships (in SA / SX / SB streams) in the current admission year
2. Joint Entrance Examination (Advanced)

Students who secure a place in the common rank list of Joint Entrance Examination (Advanced) for admission to Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs)

1. State and Central Boards (IISER Aptitude Test): Students who secure a specified cut-off percentage (published each year) in their Higher Secondary (Class 12) Board Exams may be considered for admission after clearing IISER Aptitude Test. This is currently done in co-ordination with the other IISERs through a Joint Admission Program.^[19]

• Doctoral of Philosophy (Ph.D.): Admission to the doctoral program is after a Master's degree in science. Besides the students of the dual-degree BS-MS program, postgraduate students with a master's degree in science from other Universities/Institutes can also be admitted to the doctoral program. The program will involve mandatory course work, a qualifying examination, thesis research under the guidance of a faculty member, an open seminar and a dissertation defense examination, leading to the award of a Ph.D. degree. The quantum of course work will vary depending on the background of the student. Besides individual research, students will be involved in several professional activities such as seminars, workshops, presentations and review meetings. All doctoral students will assist faculty members in teaching during the course of the doctoral program.
• Integrated Doctor of Philosophy (Int. Ph.D.): Admission to this program is after a B.Sc. degree in any of the basic sciences subjects. Students of this program start by attending classes with third year students of dual degree BS-MS program. After completing the specified graduate coursework and clearing a comprehensive exam, the students begin their Ph.D. research under the guidance of faculty members.^[20] The duration of this program ranges from 6 to 7 years, depending on the required coursework and nature of research.

Rankings

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram was ranked in the 101-150 band in India by the National Institutional Ranking Framework in overall ranking in 2020. Nature Index ranked IISERs as a whole at 4th in the World's 'Top 30 academic institutions under 30' in high-quality research output.^[21] It also ranked IISERs at 37th in its overall list of World's Top 200 rising academic institutions.^[22]

Student life

Notable achievements

• The Gravitational Wave Group at the School of Physics (part of the Indian Initiative in Gravitational-wave Observations (IndIGO) comprising scientists from nine institutions working under the LIGO) Scientific Collaboration (LSC), IISER TVM also contributed to historic discovery of gravitational waves.^{[23] [24]}
• IISER TVM students builds an affordable radio telescope.^{[25] [26]}

Conferences and workshops

• Indian Strings Meeting (ISM), 2018^[27]
• Chromosome Stability 2016 ^[28]
• All India Cell Biology Conference ^[29]
• Cryo Electron Microscopy and 3D Image Processing of Macromolecular Assemblies and Cellular Tomography (CEM3DIP)^[30]
• Workshop on High Performance Scientific Computing^[31]
• International Symposium on Clusters, Cluster-Assemblies and Nanomaterials (ISCAN)^[32]
• Indo-UK Workshop on Stochastic Partial Differential Equations and Applications^[33]
• 8th Asian Photochemistry Conference 2014 ^[34]
• GW@ASI2014: Satellite workshop on Gravitational Wave Astronomy at the ASI Meeting ^[35]

See also

• List of autonomous higher education institutes in India
• List of universities in India
• IRINS profile
• IISER Admission
• ISER Comprehensive overview

External links

• Official website

Notes and References

1. Web site: Institute. Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram. 2012-06-14. 4 May 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120504013706/http://iisertvm.ac.in/institute. dead.
2. Web site: Officies - IISER - TVM. Iisertvm.ac.in. 1 August 2018.
3. Web site: Ex-Faculty members - IISER - TVM. Iisertvm.ac.in. 1 August 2018.
4. Web site: Deans - IISER - TVM. Iisertvm.ac.in. 1 August 2018.
5. Web site: NIRF 2022 . IISER Thiruvananthapuram.
6. Web site: NIT Amendment Act 2012.
7. Web site: Welcome IISER TVM. 2021-07-31. www.iisertvm.ac.in.
8. Web site: IISER TVM i2Science. i2Science Brochure.
9. Web site: IISER starts functioning from Vithura campus. 31 July 2016. 1 August 2018. Thehindu.com.
10. Web site: Board of Governors - IISER - TVM. Iisertvm.ac.in. 1 August 2018.
11. Web site: Senate - IISER - TVM. Iisertvm.ac.in. 1 August 2018.
12. Web site: School of Biology. Iisertvm.ac.in. 1 August 2018.
13. Web site: Faculty Members, Biology. 13 May 2019.
14. Web site: IRINS profile.
15. Web site: School of Chemistry. Iisertvm.ac.in. 1 August 2018.
16. Web site: School of Mathematics. Iisertvm.ac.in. 1 August 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20161122101342/http://math.iisertvm.ac.in/. 22 November 2016. dead.
17. Web site: School of Physics. Physics.iisertvm.ac.in. 1 August 2018.
18. G Mahadevan, The Hindu dated 8 August 2008 (Retrieved on 18 February 2009)
19. Web site: Joint IISER admission portal. Iiseradmission.in. 1 August 2018.
20. Web site: IISER ADMISSION 2018. Iiseradmission.in. 1 August 2018.
21. Web site: Nature Index 2018 Rising Stars Supplements Nature Index. www.natureindex.com. 2019-06-27.
22. Web site: Nature Index 2018 Rising Stars Supplements Nature Index. www.natureindex.com. 2019-06-27.
23. Web site: Gravitational Discovery - IISER TVM teams plays great role.. Thehindu.com. 1 August 2018.
24. News: Gravitational waves -IISER TVM. Newindianexpress.com. 1 August 2018.
25. News: Affordable radio telescope. Newindianexpress.com. 1 August 2018.
26. News: IISER team develops affordable radio telescope. Deccanchronicle.com. 1 August 2018.
27. Web site: thepchennai. 2018-10-07. Indian Strings Meeting 2018. 2020-07-23. THE Physics Community of Chennai. en.
28. Web site: Chromosome stability 2016 - conference. Conference.iisertvm.ac.in. 1 August 2018.
29. Web site: All India Cell Biology Conference. Conference.iisertvm.ac.in. 1 August 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20160404230130/http://conference.iisertvm.ac.in/cbc/. 4 April 2016. dead.
30. Web site: cem3dip workshop. Workshop.iisertvm.ac.in. 1 August 2018.
31. Web site: Workshop on High Performance Scientific Computing. Iisertvm.ac.in. 1 August 2018.
32. Web site: ISCAN. Conference.iisertvm.ac.in. 1 August 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20160321195243/http://conference.iisertvm.ac.in/iscan/. 21 March 2016. dead.
33. Web site: Indo-UK Workshop on Stochastic Partial Differential Equations and Applications. Spde.iisertvm.ac.in. 1 August 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180202162245/http://spde.iisertvm.ac.in/. 2 February 2018. dead.
34. Web site: 8th Asian Photochemistry Conference 2014. Conference.iisertvm.ac.in. 1 August 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20150509025850/http://conference.iisertvm.ac.in/apc2014/. 9 May 2015. dead.
35. Web site: GW@ASIA2014. Conference.iisertvm.ac.in. 1 August 2018.