IIT Kharagpur Campus Experience

Founded in 1950, IIT Kharagpur is the first IIT to be set up in the country and is recognized as an institute of National Importance by the Government of India.

Oldest IIT in the Country

Stepping into the IIT Kharagpur campus, you will realize nothing in your life would now be of the same scale as before. Life at IIT Kharagpur is larger than life, thanks to its 2200-acre campus, the aggressive competitive spirit among students and the vast pool of Technical programmers. Thousands of kilometres away from home, IIT Kharagpur is your home for the next four years. Life at IIT Kharagpur may seem daunting to many of you, but after a while, you get used to seeing the strange face that becomes familiar with time. Though IIT Kharagpur is the oldest IIT in the country, it has enabled itself to stay ahead of time and meet the expectations of aspirants. Every day at IIT Kharagpur is a new day with all sorts of lectures, technical events, seminars, guest lectures and activities. A few months into the course, you will feel you have seen it all that is when greater experiences and surprises await you down the line.

Student Life at IIT-KGP has two anchors - Hall and Gymkhana

The institute is fully residential. Students are accommodated in 21 Halls of Residence and the staff is provided with quarters. Accommodation for visitors is arranged in the Technology Guest House, CEC Guest House, Alumni Guest House or CTS Visitors Hall, or if the need arises, in the students' Hall of Residence.

Hall Culture

• Halls at Kharagpur: A place to live, nurture, grow and excel
• Belonging to one’s hall, often referred to as Hall Tempo, is soon inherited within each KGPian, and henceforth the hall becomes an integral part of one’s identity
• A broad spectrum of Inter Hall activities canvassed with Intra Hall activities

Hall Day

• A culture unique to IIT Kharagpur
• Theme-based celebration of each hall of residence towards the end of an academic year
• Celebration of sorts with people inviting their friends to their room and rejoicing about the year well spent

All the Halls of Residence and Guest houses have regular catering facilities. Other eating places are Sahara, Dreamland, Vegies, Super-Duper, Tikka, Billoo's Restaurant etc. Some joints located within the Institute premises serve tea, coffee, soft drinks and light snacks.

Technology Students Gymkhana

• Nerve Centre of all extra-curricular and co-curricular activities on campus
• Incepted in 1952
• Managed by the students, for the students, under the guidance & active participation of faculty and staff members

Sports

Inter-IIT, Athletics, Football, Aquatics, Hockey, Badminton, Lawn Tennis, Basketball, Table Tennis, Chess, Bridge, Water Polo, Cricket, Weightlifting, Volleyball.

Social & Cultural

Dramatics, Music, Dance, Debate, Illumination, Rangoli, Spring Fest

Technology

Kshitij, Knowledge Cup (Tech Quiz, Biz Quiz, Math Olympiad), Innovation Cup (Hardware Modeling, Ad Design, Product Design), Application Cup (Case Study, Chemical Innovation, Open Soft)

Community Service

Weekly teaching, Scholarship and study support, Support to women's self-help group, Medical camp, Backward caste certificate camp, Awareness campaigns, Cloth distribution, Village road-building.

Diwali Celebrations

Celebrating Diwali is a part of the student's life at IIT-KGP. Students prepare for over a month for a competition that takes place on the day of Diwali for best Illumination (lighting lamps - Diyas) and Rangoli. This is an inter-hall competition and the prize is awarded by Technology Students Gymkhana every year on the same day. Students exhibit extraordinary skills in conceptualizing, designing, executing and application of technological methods in this competition.

Library

The Central Library offers about 300,000 volumes in an open shelf system on different fields of science and technology, humanities and social sciences. The library subscribes to about 1400 periodicals. The library system is fully computerized and users can access foreign university libraries through wide-area network facilities.

Computer Network

The backbone of the lIT Kharagpur network is based on gigabit fibre optic technology. All the Departmental LANs are connected to the gigabit fibre optic backbone as separate VLANs. Three links are in use to provide email and Internet facilities. All laboratories, faculty and officers chambers, and All rooms in halls of residence are provided with Internet connectivity.

Academics

The academic progress of students is given the utmost importance. In the first year students are taught almost every basic subject from all the departments. Also, students are allowed to take up additional courses which are of their interest and not taught by their respective departments. Students are encouraged to undertake projects supervised by their professors. Some are even sent to foreign training to gain international exposure. Like everything in IIT-KGP, the academic syllabus too is dramatically huge. The academic competition is intense and will always keep you on your toes.

Every day was a new adventure with all sorts of workshops, seminars, guest lectures and even marathons going on every other day.