IIT Bombay launches Liberal Arts, Sciences and Engineering programme – Times of India

Selected students will get an opportunity to graduate with a BS degree in engineering sciences, natural sciences, social sciences, art, and design. Apart from these four options, the students can also design their own specialisation, said the director of the institute, Subhasis Chaudhuri. The batch that will join the B Tech programme this year, will get to opt for this programme at the end of the first year in 2022, he said, adding that they would prefer to have students on the campus to roll out this programme.

While the institute plans to introduce only 30 seats in the first year, the admission method is not yet finalised, said prof Anurag Mehra, who was the co-convenor of the committee which conceptualised the LASE programme. “There may be a basic condition on the cumulative performance index or an aptitude test, but a process will be devised soon, he added. “We are already offering broad options such as engineering, social and natural sciences, and even art and design, but if some students believe that their choice of courses does not fit in the existing tracks, they can define their own path. This will, however, be heavily based on faculty advice,” said Mehra. While the committee worked on designing the programme for a few years, the institute’s board and the senate approved it after the recommendations were submitted. The students will spend only four years on the campus, including the first year of B Tech.

LASE students will have to finalize their subject combinations with the help of their academic advisers by the end of the second year, said the director in a social media post. Students will take some prerequisite courses but otherwise have a large pool of special and open electives to choose from. “They will have the freedom to specialize in cutting-edge interdisciplinary fields in this program: artificial intelligence (AI) and EdTech or healthcare engineering (within engineering sciences) or biology (within natural sciences) are possible examples. All students will also complete a final-year project,” said the director.

“Interdisciplinary problems from climate change to AI to global pandemics, a combination of broad foundations and technical depth is urgently required. A look at the best institutions globally shows that such a combination is highly effective for innovation and leadership across disciplines,” he said. The institute is also in the process of revising their undergraduate curriculum and making it more flexible.