Chennai: The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has launched admissions to undergraduate programs for students who excel in National and International Olympiads, which are competitive examinations that assess and challenge students in various academic subjects and skills.
Called ‘Science Olympiad Excellence’ (ScOpE), this admission will be outside the JEE (Advanced) Framework, with the students to be admitted from the academic year 2025-2026, a statement from IIT Madras said.
Similar to admissions through Sports Excellence Admissions and Fine Arts and Culture Excellence modes, ScOpE will also have two supernumerary seats per program, of which One Seat will be exclusively for women students. The eligibility criteria, such as passing of Class 12 and age, among other criteria, remain exactly the same as that of JEE (Advanced) for the respective year. The candidate also should not have been admitted to an IIT in the previous years, it said.
The applications will be open for the First Batch from June 3, 2025. The detailed guidelines and business rules for ScOpE admission are available on the following website: https://ugadmissions.iitm.ac.in/scope," the statement added.
Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “The world's grandest puzzles aren't solved by memorizing textbooks, but by those who dare to dismantle them, piece by piece, and create new wonders for the future generations. With this vision, IIT Madras embarks on yet another new journey by offering admission to her much-coveted undergraduate programs for candidates with demonstrated excellence in Science Olympiads. "
Urging students all over the country who excel in Olympiads to apply under this initiative, Prof. V. Kamakoti added, “To those who've proven their brilliance on the international stage of science Olympiads, we don't just offer admission; we offer a sanctuary where their insatiable curiosity will find its most fertile ground amongst the blissful IITM flora and fauna.”
The allotment of seats under this scheme will be based on the ScOpE Rank List (SRL), which will be based on the performance and achievements of the candidates in five Olympiads (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Informatics, and Biology). The Business Rules will be provided on the website for details on the preparation of ScOpE rank list, the statement added.
The admission process through SCOPE would not be through the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) portal but on a separate portal (https://jeeadv.iitm.ac.in/scope) maintained by IIT Madras. The IITM-SCOPE portal is to be used exclusively for admission to various academic programs at IIT Madras under SCOPE admission only. The candidates are required to apply separately on the JoSAA portal for the academic programs at IIT Madras and/or other IITs where the seats are offered through JoSAA, it said.
Eligibility Criteria
The candidates should satisfy ALL the following criteria to be eligible to apply for SCOPE admission to IIT Madras:
- The candidate should be an Indian national (by birth or naturalization) or OCI/PIO candidate whose OCI/PIO card was issued before 4th March 2021. In addition to the above, in the last 4 years, the candidate must have participated in at least one of the following
- Mathematics: International Mathematical Olympiad Training Camps (IMOTC) organised by Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE)
- Physics, Chemistry and Biology: Orientation-cum-Selection Camps (OCSCs) for Science subjects, organised by Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE).
- Informatics: International Olympiad for Informatics Training Camp (IOITC) organised by the Indian Association for Research in Computer Science (IARCS).
