EDUCATIONAL PROCESS
BITS has been following semester system with continuous and internal evaluation since its inception. The educational programmes are
modular and flexible. Through its Practice School programme, BITS has established purposeful linkages with industries. The Institute has evolved a direction for Research which makes research relevant to the national
development and social needs. It has developed and adopted a unique academic administrative structure which makes all its innovations possible and workable
The Institute operates educational programmes at three tiers of education, namely, the Integrated First Degree programmes, Higher Degree programmes and the Doctoral programmes. All programmes in the Institute are designed to allow as many components of science and applied science as are necessary
for the graduates of the programmes to function effectively and efficiently in the technological society. All programmes contain certain structural commonality and the common courses are invariably operated together irrespective of the clientele who are required to take the courses. Similarly, irrespective of the ultimate degree for which a student qualifies, the large factor of this commonality between all students creates an educational basis which provides easy professional linkage, communication and group activity among students graduating in different degrees. This similarity among different students graduating with different degrees is further welded in a stronger professional bond when they work as internees in the Practice School stations or as members in a team working on mission oriented time-bound research and development projects.
The various structural flexibilities provide not only scope for multiple point entries but also enable the system to accommodate many legitimate educational and operational needs of students. Some of these aspects are described in various sections that follow.
PROGRAMMES OF STUDIES
All programmes of studies are based on the principle that a series of courses make up the hierarchy of the structure where each course is self-contained but nevertheless acts as a bridge between what precedes and what comes after.
A formal contact hour is such that a student is invariably required to spend several times of these hours towards self-study. Attempt here is
to awaken curiosity in the mind of the student and train him to think rationally and scientifically and enable him to face the unfamiliar. Through
the Practice School option, the flavour of the professional world is sought to be imbibed by the student as well as the teacher. Even many co-curricular activities are converted into a learning situation whereby the growth of a student becomes a continuing operation.
The Institute also conducts Off-campus WorkIntegrated degree programmes as a means of continuing education for employed professionals as part of the human resource development programmes of specific organizations at the various off-campus centres. In all these programmes, emphasis is on self-learning and the pedagogy attempts to incorporate as many modern technologies as desirable. While each one of these programmes requires collaboration of an organization, some programmes have a highly structured
collaboration with planned classroom activities and some programmes may have less structured planning. While a number of degrees are offered through structured collaboration with many collaborating organizations, there are also degrees, which are available in an open manner for a large number of organizations, each of which may sponsor only few students. For all these programmes, faculty/resource persons are drawn from the Institute and the participating organizations as well as other Institutions.
The Three Tier Structure shown on page II-3 gives all the programmes offered by the Institute.
Integrated First Degree Programmes
The Integrated First Degree Programmes are offered at the first tier with nomenclatures like B.E., B.Pharm. and M.Sc.. These are all level wise equivalent degrees. These are called integrated degrees for two reasons: (i) there are several common courses amongst these degrees, and (ii) no intermediate degrees, like, B.Sc. etc. are awarded. These degrees are
based on a modular structure and their academic requirements are spelt out in respect of the number of courses and units rather than the number of years. All these programmes are structured in such a way that normally a student will be able to finish a programme in eight semesters. Of course, the flexibility of the Institute allows a student to do his programme at a faster pace and finish it earlier than 8 semesters or at a slower pace to finish it later than 8 semesters.
(a) B.E.
These programmes in engineering are mathematics and hard science based and incorporate many up-to-date techniques of analysis and synthesis.
(b) B.Pharm.
This programme has been so structured that it not only meets the requirements of the Pharmacy Council of India but also has additional courses which give a shape and flavour of both engineering and fundamental sciences to the programme.
(c) M.Sc. (Programmes under Group B)
These are integrated degree programmes without any intermediate B.Sc. degree. While these programmes ensure the required science component in any comparable postgraduate science degrees of other universities, they also incorporate many courses which have been notionally considered to be the preserves of engineers. The integrated nature of the programmes and their analytical and engineering science contents give them a professional character and enable students to participate usefully in industrial jobs. While a good 10+2 input may be able to complete these programmes in four years, any person coming from 10+2+3 system with a B.Sc. degree admitted on advanced standing basis will require two to three years to finish the
programme. Almost all students who are admitted for these degrees also aspire and work for a second degree from B.E. and B.Pharm. degrees under the dual degree scheme.
(d) M.Sc. (Programmes under Group C)
These programmes are basically multidisciplinary and technological in character and are designed to meet the requirements of newly emerging professional activities. The areas which are currently incorporated in these degree programmes are Information Systems, Finance and General Studies. The programme on Information Systems gives among other things a good exposure to the students on computer software and software engineering techniques, both at the conceptual and application levels. The Finance degree has been designed to meet the manpower needs arising due to the new thrust given to growth patterns in the economy. The courses planned for this programme are of such a nature that they fulfil the requirements of financial institutions as well as financial management needs of any industry. This programme is complementary to the M.Sc. Economics programme.
INTEGRATED FIRST DEGREE PROGRAMMES
B.E.
Biotechnology, Chemical, Civil, Computer Science, Electrical & Electronics, Electronics & Communication, Electronics & Instrumentation, Manufacturing, Mechanical B. Pharm.
M.Sc. Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Economics, Mathematics, Physics
M.Sc. General Studies,Information Systems, Finance
Admission Process
Candidates should have passed the 12th examination of 10+2 system from a recognized Central or State board or its equivalent with adequate proficiency in English. Except for admission to B. Pharm.,the candidates should have Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics as subjects. For admission to B. Pharm.
candidates should have Physics, Chemistry, and either Biology or Mathematics as subjects. Admission to all the programmes is subject to the conditions given below:
Admissions will be made purely on merit. The merit position of the candidate will be based on the score obtained by the candidate in a Computer based Online Test (BITSAT) conducted by BITS, Pilani. The candidate should have obtained a minimum of aggregate 75% marks in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics subjects (if he/she has taken Mathematics in BITSAT) or a minimum of aggregate 75% marks in Physics, Chemistry and Biology subjects (if he/she has taken Biology in BITSAT) in 12th examination, with at least 60% marks in each of the Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics / Biology subjects.
Special features
Duration:
Planning has been made such that a student will be able to finish any of the integrated first degrees in 4 years (8 semesters). However, the flexibilities available and the modular structure of the system will allow individual student to have variation in the duration of his degrees. Some can finish earlier than 4 years and some may take more than 4 years. Students who take two degrees simultaneously under dual degree scheme will spend about 5 to 5½ years (10 to 11 semesters).
Practice School:
All the integrated first degree programmes have Practice School options.
Dual Degree:
Institute offers dual degree facility to number of students who are admitted. The features of dual degree scheme are described later in this part under the section ‘Flexibilities’.
Electives:
A student is required to complete at least 12 elective courses
under the categories of Humanities electives, Discipline electives and
Open electives. By judicious choice of these courses a student can obtain depth in his/her discipline and/or expand his/her horizon to gain exposure to one or more other areas of study.
