CHENNAI : Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has, once again, swept the top honours in National Institutional Rankings Framework (NIRF), emerging as the undisputed leader in education in the country. The results of NIRF 2021 were announced today (9th September 2021) by Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon’ble Education Minister, Government of India.
IIT Madras has been ranked as No. 1 institute in India in both ‘Overall’ and ‘Engineering’ Categories in NIRF 2021. IIT Madras has bagged the Top Rank in ‘Overall’ Category for the third consecutive year and No. 1 in ‘Engineering’ category for the sixth consecutive year.
In the newly-launched category of ‘Research Institutions,’ IIT Madras was Ranked #2 in the country, behind only the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.
Congratulating all the Institutes that took part in NIRF Ranking, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon’ble Education Minister, Government of India, said, “I am happy to be part of the India Rankings 2021 along the side lines of the Shiksha Parv initiatives envisioned by our visionary Prime Ministry Shri Narendra Modi ji. He arranged for the Education Sector to have rankings in the country. This is the sixth year we are having this ranking framework. This is very essential in the 21st Century.”
Further, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan said, “We have 50,000 educational Institutions and 50 million higher education students. Ranking is inevitable and must. This year, 6,000 institutions took part. In future, almost all institutions must come forward.”
Moreover, IIT Madras has been recognized as an ‘Institution of Eminence’ (IoE) in September 2019, by the Government of India. As an Institute of Eminence, IIT Madras has set certain targets for next 5, 10 and 15 years in Academics, Research and Development, and Internationalization, among others.
Congratulating students, faculty members and other employees for their hard work that has resulted in such extraordinary performance, Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras, said, “We are delighted to maintain our pre-eminent position in the NIRF rankings yet again. IIT Madras continues to excel in teaching, research, and innovation, and has launched several new initiatives to implement the NEP. ”
Over the years the institute has grown from strength-to-strength. In February 2021, the Satellite Campus of IIT Madras was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India. Coming up at a cost of Rs. 1,000 Crore in the first phase, the upcoming ‘Discovery Campus,’ located at Thaiyur near Chennai, will accommodate the growing research infrastructure requirements of the institute.
With IoE funding, IIT Madras is creating Centres of Excellence to encourage inter-disciplinary research that can lead to path-breaking discoveries and innovations. These Centres are in emerging areas of science and technology, have strong international linkages, are highly outcome-focused, and will have intimate networks with the IITM Research Park and IITM Incubation Cell for commercialization of ideas, and with the Institute’s IP Office for patent filings and technology transfer/ licensing.
As an endeavor towards taking quality education to masses, the Institute also launched the World’s first-ever Online B.Sc. Degree in Programming and Data Science in June 2020. This unique offering removes all barriers of age, discipline or geographic location and provides access to a world-class curriculum in data science which is in huge demand for skilled professionals.
The Institute is steadily increasing the number of inter-disciplinary dual-degree (DD-ID) programmes, and online certification programmes for professionals, in emerging technology areas and those relevant to the development of the country.
IIT Madras, which has also bagged the top position in the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) for the last two years, has created a strong entrepreneurial eco-system that encourages students to become job-generators.
Started in 2015, NIRF outlines a methodology to rank educational institutions across the country. The parameters used for ranking broadly cover “Teaching, Learning and Resources,” “Research and Professional Practices,” “Graduation Outcome,” “Outreach and Inclusivity,” and “Perception.”
