Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani – Goa Campus

Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani - K K Birla Goa Campus

Motto	ज्ञानं परमं बलम् gyanam paramam balam
Motto in English	"Knowledge is the Supreme Power"
Type	Private
Established	Goa campus-2004
Chancellor	Kumar Mangalam Birla
Vice-Chancellor	Prof. Sauvik Bhattacharya
Administrative staff	3000
Undergraduates	2,215
Location	Goa, India Coordinates: 15°23′27″N 73°52′39″E / 15.39083°N 73.87750°E / 15.39083; 73.87750
Campus	Semi-urban,188 acres (0.76 km2)
Alumni	BITSAA
Affiliations	Campus of BITS Pilani
Website	Official website

Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani - K.K.Birla Goa Campus (also known as BITS Pilani, Goa Campus or BPGC) is a technical and science institute for higher education in India, located in Goa, India. Founded in 2004, the institute is one of four campuses of the university BITS Pilani. As a campus of BITS Pilani, Birla Institute follows the curriculum, teaching methodology, and educational practices of BITS Pilani, including the Practice school system.^[1] The Aditya Birla Group privately supports the residential features of the institute.

In April 2011, following the August 2008 death of the Chancellor, Krishna Kumar Birla, the campus was renamed to Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani K. K. Birla Goa Campus in his memory.^[2] In August 2011, the campus held its first ever convocation ceremony, during which 580 graduates were awarded their degrees.^[3]

Admission and demographics

Since 2005, admission to BITS campuses has been offered to students based on their performance in the all-India Entrance Examination, called BITS Admission Test (BITSAT). BITS Pilani also has the policy of accepting State and National Board toppers from India. BITSAT is a computer based test and is held at BITS authorised test centres. The examination chiefly covers topics, based on the NCERT higher secondary curriculum, in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, and reasoning and analytical skills in Logic and English. Any student having a minimum aggregate of 75% in Physics, Maths and Chemistry, and a minimum of 60% marks in each of the BITSAT subjects individually is eligible to apply to the campus.

BITS Pilani also offers direct admission to State and National Board top performers from India. BITS Pilani follows a strict No Reservation policy and admissions are made purely on merit of the candidate in BITSAT.

Autonomy

The academic course structure is governed by the university of BITS Pilani. However, each campus has its own autonomous administration, student welfare division, faculty recruitment and placement division.

Academics

Integrated first degree

BITS Pilani Goa Campus offers 4-year first degree programs and also 5-year M.Sc.(Honours) degrees through its dual degree system.^[4]

Higher degrees

BITS Pilani Goa Campus offers M.E. programs in the following fields^[9]

• Biotechnology
• Chemical Engineering
• Computer Science
• Design Engineering
• Embedded Systems
• Microelectronics
• Software Systems(Discontinued)

Dual degree system

In addition to the integrated first degree programmes, BITS Pilani offers a dual degree to the students of Master of Science programmes. The dual degree is offered in one of the engineering programmes after freshman year. The engineering degree being offered is based on the student's choice and his/her academic performance. Under the dual degree scheme, a student is offered two separate degrees on graduation : a degree in Master of Science (Hons.) and in Bachelor of Engineering (Hons.)^[10]

However, the programme increases the duration of his/her stay on campus by at least two semesters. The compulsory disciplinary courses of the second programme are completed in the seventh and eighth semesters. The final year (ninth and tenth semester) is dedicated for two, semester long, off campus industrial training internships or master's thesis.

Programme transfers

In addition to the dual degree system, one also has the vertical transfer system.

• If one is in the top 10 among full batch of students of the campus in terms of CGPA after their first year, then it is allowed for the student to take a B.E. + B.E. dual degree.
• If one is in the top 30 students of the campus in terms of CGPA after their first year, one can abandon their degree for another, i.e. transfer from one programme to another.
• MSc. + MSc. dual degrees are also offered.^[10]

Practice School

Practice School (PS) is a programme of the university of BITS Pilani. It is offered by the Pilani, Hyderabad and Goa campuses. The Practice school programme constitutes of PS-1 and PS-2.

PS-1 is offered in the summer following the second year and is 8 weeks long. The aim of PS-1 is to familiarise the student with the work environment and technical standards in the industry. PS-2 is offered in the final year and is five and a half months long. Students are intended to assume a significant role and are meant to work on developmental projects in the company. The primary aim is to prepare the students in their final year to the environment and industry standards similar to their eventual workplaces. Every student is assigned a PS mentor at the industry for guidance and monitoring progress.

PS is a mandatory course, and has to be credited by every graduating student (unless he/she is doing a thesis). The students are graded by the off-campus BITS faculty and the PS mentor. The allocation is based on the academic record of the student and is managed centrally. Every PS station roughly accommodates 6-7 students.

Students can also opt for a thesis instead of Practice School II where they will have to work under a professor either on campus or off campus (both in India and out of India) on some research area related to his discipline. In case of an off campus thesis, an on campus guide will co-ordinate with the off campus guide for a smooth process.

BITS also gives due importance to Humanities and Arts and it is mandatory for a student to take at least three humanity courses in total.

Campus

The BITS Pilani Goa Campus was designed by the Indian arm of the RSP design group.^[11] The campus is located in Zuarinagar, Goa, on the banks of the Zuari River, and houses 2,600 students.^[12] HolidayIQ.com, the popular holiday recommendation website, has listed the Goa campus of Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS Pilani) as No.7 in its list of beautiful campuses. BITS-Pilani's Goa campus stood out for its scenic beauty and panoramic view of picturesque surroundings encompassing the Zuari River, hillocks, waterways, forests and landscape.^[13] The BITS Goa Campus has a BCCI-recognized cricket ground maintained by the Goa Cricket Association that has hosted several national level tournaments such as the Vijay Hazare Trophy^[14][15] and a football ground maintained by Salgaocar F.C.

Festivals

• Waves - National Level Cultural Festival^[16]
• Quark - National Level Technical Festival^[17]
• Spree - National Level Sports Festival^[18]

Reputation and rankings

Rankings for BITS Pilani are given for all its campuses together (since 2001)

• A 2008 study by the Indian Semiconductor Association (ISA) found that BITS Pilani, IISc and the top five IITs accounted for 70–75 percent of Indian semiconductor research.^[24][25]
• Annual rankings of Engineering colleges in India have been published by India Today^[26] since 1997. BITS Pilani ranked in the top five from 1997 to 2004, but the school opted out of the rankings from 2005 to 2008 because of a pending court case between it and India Today.^[27][28] In 2009 the institute rejoined the list,^[29] ranked fifth-top engineering college in India in 2012.^[30]
• The Government of India's National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) rated BITS a five-star institution^[31] for the period ending 7 February 2007.
• BITS Pilani has been accredited by the NAAC with a CGPA of 3.71 (out of 4.0) with an A grade for the period 1 April 2007 to 8 March 2009. This grade is valid until 2014.^[32][33]

Gallery

• 

  B-Dome from main lawns

• 

  Inside the main building

• 

  Auditorium

• 

  Hostel

• 

  Hostel

See also

• Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani – Dubai Campus

References

BITSAT 2017 Admission Notification BITS is a prestigious institution imparting quality education in the field of engineering and technology

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani - Goa Campus.

• Official website
• The Times of India