The history of IIIT system begins with the establishment of IIIT Hyderabad in 1998 in Telangana. This was the first International Institute of Technology founded under not-for-profit public-private partnership scheme with state government and IT industry partners. Institute received its funding for infrastructure and land from Andhra Pradesh state government. The Secretary IT for the state government, Ajay Prakash Sawhney shaped the conceptual model and overseeing the initial development of the institute. Prof. Rajeev Sangal designed the syllabus and served as the first director of the institute until 10 April 2013. Initially, the institute was established under the name "Indian Institute of Information Technology" which was later changed to "International Institute of Information Technology" in 2001 when it attained the status of Deemed University. In 1999, IIIT Bangalore was established as a Deemed University in de-novo category by government of Karnataka with a similar partnership model. Senapathy Gopalakrishnan became the chairman of IIITB. Initiatives were taken by state governments to establish three new IIITs at Pune, Bhubaneswar and Naya Raipur. In 2013, IIITBH was converted to a unitary university by government of Odisha under International Institute of Information Technology Bhubaneswar Act, 2013. IIIT Naya Raipur which was established under International Institute of Information Technology Act, 2013. In 2017, it was recognized as state university by University Grants Commission.
Education
IIITs offer bachelor, master and doctoral degrees with structures similar to technical universities. The flexible structure allows the student to enroll in courses from other streams also. Apart from the course curriculum, IIIT's have a great inclination towards research and allow undergraduates to carry out research as a part of their degree. Institutes like IIIT Hyderabad and IIIT Bhubaneswar are successful in providing quality of research exposure to students and have made their names to country's leading research universities.
Undergraduate degrees
The IIITs enroll students in 4-year Bachelor of Technology and Bachelor of Engineering degrees offered in the fields of Computer Science and Electronics and Communication. The students are allowed to enroll in different courses irrespective of their stream. The program also offers basic courses in sciences, engineering, mathematics and humanities. Unlike the conventional course structure of several institutes, the core subjects are taught since the first year. The core subjects are taught by respective departments whereas in IIIT Hyderabad, the courses are undertaken by respective research centers.
Master's degrees
The IIITs offer Master of Technology, Master of Science or by Research. IIIT Hyderabad offers Master of Philosophy for students with background in humanities and social science. It also offers part-time specialized programs for professionals like Post Graduate Student Status Programme. In 2001 IIIT Hyderabad launched Master in Information Technology program in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University.
Bachelors-masters dual degrees
Dual degree is an unconventional educational program in which student is awarded with conventional Bachelor's and Master's degree. Normal duration of program is five years. The students are required to take up research projects in the field of their specialization and defend their thesis in order to obtain the Master's degree. Dual Degree programs were introduced to promote research and allow graduates to complete their postgraduate studies from IIITs only. Only IIIT Hyderabad and IIIT Bangalore offer these programs.
Doctoral degrees
The Doctor of Philosophy degrees are also awarded by IIITs as part of doctoral education programme. In it, research scholars plan their PhD study based on their background. The candidates are also required to do necessary coursework and clear the qualifying exams. After working on dissertation, PhD candidates are required to successfully defend the accepted thesis in order to complete the degree. Apart from this, positions of Teaching Assistant and Research Assistant are also offered to candidates.
Admissions
Admission criteria and cut-offs are different for all IIITs.
All the IIITs provide on-campus residential facilities to students and research scholars. The hostels are equipped with basic facilities like laundry, gym and mess. All of the IIITs have separate grounds for football, cricket, badminton, basketball, volleyball and lawn tennis.
