IIT Madras to offer data science and AI courses in IIT Zanzibar, headed by Preeti Aghayalam

Preeti Aghayalam will lead the first IIT to be built offshore, IIT Zanzibar, according to an announcement made by V Kamakoti, the director of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras). According to the IIT-M director, academic classes at the international IIT Madras campus will start on October 24, 2023, and there will be a total of 70 seats available for BSc and MSc programs in data science and artificial intelligence (AI).

IIT Madras, ranked top overall for the previous five years by the Indian Ministry of Education's National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF 2023), has become the first Indian university to open a campus abroad. According to him, the Zanzibar Government will support the campus administration and has donated 200 acres of land to IIT Zanzibar. He also mentioned IIT Madras as the knowledge partner.

The director stated that the land needed to build the main campus will be ready by 2026 at the earliest. The IIT Zanzibar admissions process has already started. The institute will provide a 4-year BSc in Data Science and AI and a 2-year MSc in Data Science and AI as two full-time academic degrees.

It also has plans to introduce three new undergraduate programs during the following two years. Agribusiness-focused academic offerings and MTech in Cyber-Physical Systems are also anticipated to emerge soon. According to the fee schedule, candidates who want to enroll in IIT Zanzibar's UG programs must pay US$12,000 annually, and those who wish to enroll in PG programs must pay US$4,000, not including hostel costs. The selection of students will be based on an interview round and a screening test created by IIT Madras faculty experts.