FOR the crème de la crème among those who clear class XII with science, a prestigious engineering or medical college used to be the norm of the day. Beedartha Goswami of Guwahati was going the same way, with plans to join the National Institute of Technology, Calicut. But Goswami’s heart lay in pure science. And when he received a call from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, there were no second thoughts.

It’s the same story for Goswami’s batch mates—46 of them—who started classes on August 17. “Almost all of us have left prestigious engineering institutes to be here,’’ says Goswami.

A similar trend is apparent in Kolkata—the only other city to boast of an IISER—as well, where students like Ujani Chakraborty, who had a decent rank in IIT-JEE, decided to join the institute. “I joined IISER because I wanted all-round knowledge in the basic sciences. I am interested in math and biology and may specialise in them,” she says.

Inducting its first students this year, IISER is the only school in India to offer an integrated five-year M.Sc programme for students clearing class XII. It plans to introduce a post-B.Sc integrated Ph.D programme as well as a standalone Ph.D programme, with the aim of producing research-oriented graduates for industry and academia.

IISER’s unique-factor is its integration of science education with research right from the undergraduate level. Moreover, the institute follows a borderless curriculum. The interdisciplinary approach enables a student interested in biology to pursue modules in mathematics or a physics student to conduct research related in chemistry-related topics.

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