The group of the Indian Institutes of Technology offers various courses at UG, PG and doctorate level and a majority of these courses belong to the stream of Science, Engineering and Technology. There are 23 IIT colleges in India, which offer more than 250 B.Tech courses across numerous specialisations and the seat intake capacity of these IIT colleges for various B.Tech courses is around 9611. If we take a look at the list of courses offered by IITs, courses like Bachelor of Science (BS), Dual Degree (BTech-MTech), Bachelor of Architecture (BArch), Dual Degree (BS and MS), and Bachelor of Design (BDes) are being offered under UG Programs and courses like Master of Science (MSc), Dual Degree (MSc-PhD), Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Design (MDes), Master of Philosophy (MPhil), and Joint MSc-PhD, are currently being offered under PG programs.

Though the IITs are known for their B.Tech, M.Tech and Dual programmes, there are few courses in IIT other than engineering such as Bachelor of Science or Bachelor or Master’s degree in Architecture. The IITs also offer some niche or best courses other than engineering, and this article tries to focus on some of them.

Earth Sciences, IIT Kanpur

Department of Earth Sciences at IIT Kanpur is one of the youngest departments in the country, which was established in 2014. With a vision to carry out interdisciplinary Earth Science teaching and research of contemporary relevance, this department of IIT Kanpur currently offers a diversity of Earth science courses at all academic levels. Apart from integrated BS-MS programs in Earth Sciences, M. Tech. program in Geological Technology, and Ph.D. program in Earth Sciences are also offered by IIT Kanpur under the Department of Earth Sciences.

Mathematics And Scientific Computing, IIT Kanpur

IIT Kanpur also offers BS degree in Mathematics and Scientific Computing. As per the vision inscribed on the official website of IIT Kanpur, the Mathematics and Scientific Computing programs can cultivate a mathematical attitude and nurture the interest of the students who opt for the specific specialization. Apart from motivating the young minds for research in mathematical and statistical sciences, the notion of this program is to train computational scientists who can work on real life challenging problems

Post Graduate Program in Medical Science and Technology, IIT Kharagpur

This department has emerged as an excellent platform for engineers, doctors, biologists and researchers from various disciplines to interact and work for the mankind. Commencing its journey in 2002 with 2 faculty members and 8 students, the department has progressed exponentially over these years. It is now equipped with 9 laboratories and 9 full-time faculty members along with several associated faculties from the other departments of IIT. Many of them are also from other reputed research and medical institutes of India. Apart from the 3 years Master program in Medical Science and Technology (MMST), some of the othwe programs offered by this department are M.tech in Medical Imaging, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Master of Science (MS).

Atmosphere and Ocean Sciences, IIT Bhubaneswar

The School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences at IIT Bhubaneswar has been set up taking the current climate crisis into consideration. With an aim to create well trained, educated and competent human resource to address various issues like protection of water and air as well as the development of renewable energy, this department offers both undergraduate and post graduate level degree programmes besides doctoral research avenues. Enabling the students to carry out cutting edge research in Earth System Sciences, the proposed programmes are designed to cater state-of-the-art education and training on both fundamental and applied aspects of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences.

Development Studies, IIT Mandi

IIT Mandi introduced a new Post Graduate Programme (M. A.) in Development Studies in August, 2018, which aims to create a pool of development practitioners who will be well equipped to participate in the process of sustainable development. This program also provides a unique opportunity to deal with development challenges in the Himalayan region, which has both local and global relevance. Another unique feature of this programme is to lay a significant emphasis on field research and the orientation of problem solving to achieve development goals.