The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras or IITM) is an autonomous public technical and research university located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1959, it is one of the older institutes among the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and has been declared an Institute of National Importance under the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961. The institute is recognised as an Institution of Eminence by the Government of India.
| Name | Indian Institute of Technology Madras |
|---|---|
| Type | Public technical university; Institute of National Importance |
| Established | 1959 |
| Location | Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Campus | Residential, situated adjacent to Guindy National Park |
| Founding partner | Government of the Federal Republic of Germany (technical assistance) |
| Affiliation | Ministry of Education, Government of India |
| Status | Institution of Eminence |
IIT Madras was founded with technical and financial cooperation from the Federal Republic of Germany, formalised through an Indo-German agreement signed in the late 1950s. It was the third IIT to be established, after IIT Kharagpur and IIT Bombay. The campus is located in the Adyar area of southern Chennai, on land that was once part of the Guindy forest, and the wooded campus is known for its population of blackbuck and spotted deer.
The institute is organised into departments spanning engineering, sciences, humanities and social sciences, and management. It offers undergraduate programmes leading to the Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) degree, dual-degree programmes, postgraduate programmes including M.Tech, MSc, MA, and MBA, and doctoral (PhD) programmes. Admission to undergraduate engineering programmes is through the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE Advanced), while postgraduate admissions use national tests such as GATE, CAT, and JAM.
The institute hosts a research park, IITM Research Park, which was among the first university-linked research parks in India and supports technology incubation and industry collaboration. IIT Madras has also been a frequent top performer in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings published by the Ministry of Education.
The residential campus houses students, faculty, and staff, with a network of hostels (referred to internally as halls). The institute organises two major annual festivals: Saarang, the cultural festival, and Shaastra, the technical festival, both of which are student-run events that attract participants from institutions across India.
IIT Madras is a major centre for engineering education and research in India, with notable contributions in areas such as ocean engineering, aerospace, computer science, biotechnology, and electric mobility. Its alumni network spans academia, industry, government, and entrepreneurship in India and abroad. The institute's online BSc in Programming and Data Science has expanded access to IIT-level instruction beyond the traditional entrance-exam pipeline.