MTech/ MS in India

Hi. I am Srikanth.I am pursuing MS by Research at IIT Madras in the Electrical Engineering department.I have completed my engineering from JSSATE,Bangalore in the Electronics & Communication stream.

This blog is intended to engineering students who would like to pursue post graduation (MTech/MS) in India (IIT/IISc).I bring to your attention the various post graduate engineering courses offered in the various IITs/IISc.

To start off ...

Information about the seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), and Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Institutes_of_Technology, http://www.iitm.ac.in/, http://www.iisc.ernet.in/

GATE examination ...
One has to take up GATE examination inorder to get admitted to any of these institutes for a post graduation degree.For more information on the nature of the examination, syllabus and the eligibility criteria,please check the 2008 brochure http://gate.iitm.ac.in/gate_web_2008/brochure/brochure.html and the gate website, http://gate.iitm.ac.in

A few words about the GATE examination and the required preperation...

GATE examination is held on the second sunday of February every year.GATE tests students on mathematics and the chosen stream.Most of the syllabus includes the basics which are covered in the first few semesters of engineering.Hence GATE examination can be taken in the fifth semester itself if not in the seventh semester or later. One year of preperation could be necessary depending on how well you have learnt the concepts in engineering.Solving previous years question papers would be useful.Since the examination is objective type, emphasis should be given to understanding the concepts and formulae.Since the syllabus is vast,trying to know a major portion of the syllabus resonably well,rather than knowing a few topics in depth becomes important if you have to get a good score to get admitted. If you have done engineering well, you can easily clear the examination with good scores.The examination is not very difficult.

Kind of courses that are available .....

MTech/ME -

All IITs and IISc offer an MTech/ME programme,a two year course, which allows you to specialize in any one of the sub-streams in your field of engineering. The choice of sub-stream should be done when you are applying to these institutes and should be done carefully.It is important to choose a sub-stream which interests as it would be stressful otherwise.The sub-streams in electrical engineering, for example are communication and signal processing,microelectronics and VLSI design,control and power systems. The selection to this programme is mostly based on the GATE scores and may not require any further written test/interview. The cut-off for various sub-streams varies across various institutes.

This programme is good in the sense that it involves a lot of coursework with assignments which exposes you to various topics in your sub-stream along with a project of one year duration allowing you specialize in the field of interest.Also, there is scope for taking courses across departments enhancing your knowledge base. This programme is suitable for people who would like to have broad knowledge in the area. Since your knowledge base is large you could fit into a wide range of companies.The structure is similar to engineering curriculum which we are so used to.

http://www.iitm.ac.in/M%20Tech/,http://www.iitd.ac.in/pg/index.html

CEDT of IISc also takes people for MTech in electronics design and technology.For details,

http://www.cedt.iisc.ernet.in/index.php?id=15&Cid=8&page=template&pid=4

In addition to the two year MTech,IIT Bombay offers a three year MTech programme called the MTech by Research Assistantship (RA). This is the same MTech programme but extended to three years with additional research responsibilities. The cut-off for this course would be slightly lower.The selection process includes a written test followed by an interview for the short-listed candidates.It offers the advantage of managing research labs,conducting experiments plus some research experience.
http://www.iitb.ac.in/academic/mtech.jsp

MS By Research -

IIT Madras,Delhi and IISc Bangalore offers an MS/MSc(Eng.) programme in addition to the MTech/ME programme.It is research based and is not time bound but maximum duration is upto three years. Here the emphasis is on research with less number of coursework.The research usually leads to publication in journals/conferences.The cut-off for this course is lower and admission takes place every six months,in August and January. The selection process includes a written test followed by an interview for the short-listed candidates.

This is suitable for people who would like to do something innovative and creative and get into research field. As you work closely with your guide, the learning involved could be higher. The research experience could be useful in the following ways, a)if you would like to pursue PhD further here or abroad, b)would help you to get into Research Labs/research positions in addition to normal positions in the companies, c) Finally it could be suitable for people who would like to have research experience without going far to get a PhD. On the flipside it is not timebound and requires more work that comes with higher learning.

http://www.iitm.ac.in/MS/ , http://www.iisc.ernet.in/admissions/

Scholarship .....
All students admitted to the above programmes get a monthly scholarship for which you will have to assist the professors in taking up the courses/labs. The fees for the above courses are not large and can be managed with the scholarship that you get.

Jobs ....

Job opportunities are good.

I end here, by saying that, if you feel that, you have it in you to specialize in techinical domain and contribute to the ever changing technology, just go for it, student life is lot more fun. At the same time, it gives you the freedom to work in the field that interests you and take up higher positions in whatever you do later on.

All the best! Have Fun! Bye

Srikanth