Students wishing to pursue medical sciences will be able to do so in one of the best known institutions in the country. The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, on Wednesday, announced that it would start offering medical courses from next year.
At the convocation ceremony on Wednesday, which was held virtually, IISc director Govindan Rangarajan, spoke about the institution’s history. It started in 1909 with the establishment of the general chemistry department, quickly followed by electrical technology and organic chemistry department. “Even though we are called Indian Institute of Science, right from the beginning, we have had both science and engineering equally represented. Twelve years ago, a lot of interdisciplinary departments were created. Now, starting next year, we are planning yet another change. After about 100 years of excellence in science and engineering, we are planning to start a postgraduate medical school on campus,” he said.
This May, the then Union Minister of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal, chairing a meeting with the directors of IISc, IITs, IIITs, IISERs, and NITs, had announced that with regard to the National Education Policy – 2020, IISc and IIT Kharagpur would soon start courses in medical sciences.
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Expanding on research teams, Prof. Rangarajan said that apart from brain computation and data science, biomedical systems and devices, and cyber security, IISc was venturing into the new area of quantum computing which is becoming very critical for future technological progress. “There is one more area where we plan to venture into. We are going to start Kotak-IISc AI-ML Centre on campus in a new building,” he added. Supported by Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., the centre will focus on “creative education and innovative research on AI, ML, and financial technology solutions”.