IIT Madras Begins Admissions to BS Degree in Data Science and Applications

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras BS programme in data science and applications has invited applications for the January 2023 batch. Interested candidates can apply for this programme through the website — onlinedegree.iitm.ac.in. The last date to apply is January 16.

Students from across the world can apply for the online course, however, they must have studied math and English in class 10. Students in class 12 can attempt the qualifier and have an admission letter from IITM while in school. All the exams will be held in person. The programme also permits learners of any age to apply, from varied areas such as arts, science, commerce, economics, medicine, law and engineering.

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Further, the programme has its own qualifier process, which consists of four weeks of learning in four basic subjects taught by IIT Madras and being tested on them. Those who get minimum pass marks of more than 50 are admitted to the programme. There is no limit on the number of seats, and hence all those who qualify can study in the programme.

The programme starts with foundation level, which teaches basics for courses in programming and data science, said IIT Madras. It is followed by diploma-level courses. The diploma in programming includes courses on data structures and algorithms, Java programming, web application development (front end and back end), database management, introduction to Linux programming and two full-stack development projects.

The courses in diploma in data science teach students about the foundations of machine learning, and expose students to the business side of data collection, organization, cleansing, analysis, and inferences, with a specific course on data visualization. In addition, two projects on the business side and ML implementation help demonstrate the student’s learning of the subjects.

Speaking about this programme, Prof V Kamakoti, director, IIT Madras, said, “This BS in data science is the first step in opening up IIT Madras in an inclusive manner to the learners across the country. Hands-on training in every single course, building strong foundations in learners, exposing the learners to cutting-edge technology and topics, and the rigorous assessment methods make this an employment-oriented programme in a domain where the projection is 11.2 million jobs in the next 10 years.”

Dr Andrew Thangaraj, professor in-charge, BS in data science and applications, IIT Madras, said, “The recent approval from UGC that students can pursue 2 degrees simultaneously has opened the doors to the lakhs of students in colleges who are already pursuing various degrees in engineering, arts and science colleges but would also like to equip themselves with programming and data science. This is also an invaluable opportunity for those who dream of a degree from an IIT but have not been able to gain admission through the regular routes of JEE or GATE.”

Dr Vignesh Muthuvijayan, professor in-charge, BS in data science and applications, IIT Madras, said, “The scholarships available to students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds are anywhere between 50 per cent -100 per cent, and more than 4,000 students are availing the same. The in-built qualifier process ensures that students do not have to spend on going to coaching classes, and the reasonable programme fee coupled with the scholarships ensure that the programme is affordable to anyone who has the motivation to work hard and learn from IIT Madras.”

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